Project Leadership

MPM7002

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Week 8 – Final Lecture
• Conflict Resolution and Problem
Solving

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Schedule
Sunday, 8.30
Introduction to Project Management to 12.30 –
Session 1 Chapters 1 & 2 November 05,
Leadership & Governance with Ethics
2023

Project Leadership and Leadership November 19,

Session 2 Chapters 3 & 5 2023
Behaviours and Skills
December 3,
Session 3 Leadership Theories and Styles Chapter 6 2023
December 10,
Session 4 Emotional Intelligence & Personality Traits Chapters 9 2023
December 17,
Session 5 Power to influence and Resistance to Change Chapter 7 & 8 2023

Chapters 12 & January 7 ,

Session 6 Project teams & Teams Vs. Groups 2024
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Chapters 14 & January 14,
Session 7 Team Development Phases & Team Building 2024
15
Chapters 22 & January 21,
Session 8 Conflict Resolution and Problem Solving 2024
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Session 9 Discussions on Assessments
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Conflict Resolution
• Much of the work done to understand
conflict situations involves knowledge
of psychology.
• However, the leader needs to be
aware of the nature of conflict, how it
can be beneficial to project work and
how to create an environment that
avoids negative or damaging conflict
situations.
Conflict in the Workplace
• In the workplace, conflict usually
relates to people or groups having
incompatible goals and an inability to
resolve their diff erences.
• This means that it is difficult to find a
mutually beneficial solution to a
common problem.
Conflict in the Workplace

• This kind of situation needs to be

managed to prevent it getting out of
hand.
• Management of conflict involves
taking preventative measures as well
as working to resolve any conflict once
negative behavior is experienced.
Conflict in the Workplace

The conflict situation can manifest

through emotions that affect people in
one or more of the following ways:
• Behavioral – the way the conflict is
expressed through verbal/non-verbal
and intentional/unintentional behaviors.
Conflict in the Workplace

• Physiological – the way people feel

inside about the conflict situation; for
example, how does it affect their self-
image?
• Cognitive – the way people think about
the conflict; how do they assess or
appraise the situation to determine
relevance to their point of view?
Conflict in the Workplace
• Though there is this emotional
component, the root of the conflict can lie
in a challenge to people’s personal or
cultural values, their achievement of
goals and the way they want to achieve
their goals or in their understanding of
the facts.
• The sources of the conflict need to be
identified in one or more of these
categories if the situation is to be
resolved.
Conflict in the Workplace

• Conflicts over facts, goals and

methods are more likely to be
resolved in a straightforward manner
than issues involving values.
• This is because it is difficult to prove
values or beliefs to be ‘correct’.
Conflict in the Workplace

• Emotions are acceptable in the

workplace as long as they can be
controlled and utilized for productive
project outcomes.
• This indicates that some conflict
situations can provide a source of
emotional engagement that can be
applied productively to benefit a
situation.
Dealing with Conflict

• As a leader, you might be involved in

participating in conflict with others or you
might need to assist the resolution of
conflict between other people in the
team.
• Importantly, you need to be active in
removing the chances that conflict might
arise.
• There are a number of choices you can
make when you are involved in conflict
Choices When Involved in Conflict
(Ursiny, 2003)

• Avoid It
• Avoiding a conflict means disengaging
with it or trying to ignore it. Avoidance
tactics can be physical or emotional.
For example, we can ignore someone
or not answer their messages or
phone calls; we can be dishonest
when someone asks how we are
feeling or what we are thinking.
Choices When Involved in Conflict
(Ursiny, 2003)

• Give In
• Giving in can be a form of avoidance
but, by giving in, we make it clear that
we are allowing the other person to
win, even though we do not want to.
The other party might be aware we
have given in or they might not.
Choices When Involved in Conflict
(Ursiny, 2003)

• Be Passive Aggressive
• Passive-aggressive behavior involves
giving dual messages about feelings
of anger. It usually arises from an
inability to be honest about the anger
so that, superficially, action looks
positive and helpful (passive), but
underneath the actions can be
subversive or obstructive (aggressive).
Choices When Involved in Confl ict
(Ursiny, 2003)

• Bully the Other Person

• Bullying is a totally selfish action
where one person exerts himself over
another. For the bully, the end can
justify any means. Some people are
bullies so that they do not have to deal
with conflict – other people won’t dare
to challenge them, so they get their
own way.
Choices When Involved in Confl ict
(Ursiny, 2003)
• Compromise
• Compromises can be a positive way to
resolve conflict. Each party gives some
ground in order to allow everyone to
achieve some of their goals.
• Unfortunately, compromise can mean
each person loses some of their goals and
the compromise process attempts to
minimize these losses for all parties.
Compromise is usually the outcome of
negotiation.
Choices When Involved in Confl ict
(Ursiny, 2003)

• Problem Solve Together

• With this approach, it is possible that
none of the parties need to give up
anything. The discussion is a creative
exercise that strives to discover and
address the core issues.
• The result is to design an approach
that satisfies all parties.
Choices When Involved in Confl ict
(Ursiny, 2003)

• Honor the Other Person

• Sometimes we decide that our desire
is to give the other person what they
want and this is more satisfying to us
than getting what we thought we
wanted.
• In this way we honor them and our
reward is pleasing the other person.
Choices When Involved in Confl ict
(Ursiny, 2003)

• There are benefits and disadvantages

of using each approach in any
particular situation.
Drama Triangle

• Stephen Karpman suggests there are

three roles involved in a conflict-like
drama that represent dysfunctional
interactions that can work together to
reinforce the conflict or drama.
• He named the three roles: Persecutor,
Rescuer and Victim, and they can be
represented by a triangle of
interrelationships
Drama Triangle

• The Persecutor wants to be in a dominating

position, adopting a blaming or criticizing
position that keeps the victim oppressed.
• Usually the persecutor is driven by anger,
becoming the authoritative or ‘critical
parent’.
• The Victim is helpless, powerless, possibly
ashamed and oppressed.
• Often victims will look for a rescuer to help
them reinforce their negative feelings.
• The victim role blocks the person from
problem solving and decision making.
Drama Triangle

• The Rescuer provides the victim with

permission to fail, which keeps the victim
dependent upon the rescuer.
• Often rescuers feel guilty if they do not
rescue and sometimes the victim might
force them into a rescuer role.
• Rescuers might have a ‘need to rescue’,
possibly so they have a feeling of being
needed by the victim.
Getting out of the Drama

• The only way to stop the drama is for

one of the players to let go of their
role.
• This is usually done after realization
that the game is in play and needs
some understanding of how the
various roles operate.
Transactional Analysis

• Transactional Analysis represents a

model for understanding how people
behave in social situations, and it is a
method to help them to improve their
communication with others.
• The name ‘Transactional’ implies that
the approach relies on small ‘tokens’
of action in their behavior or
communication with others.
Ego States

• These ‘tokens’ or transactions are the

result of adopting one of three main
ego states or behavior modes. The
ego states are called Parent, Adult
and Child
Ego States

• Parent Ego State

• This is a set of feelings, thinking and
behavior in response to an
unconscious mimicking of how
parental figures in one’s life have
acted.
Parent Ego State

• Adult Ego State

• This is a state in which people
behave, feel and think in response to
what is going on ‘here-and now’
without any emotional ‘heat’ attached
to the communication.
Ego States

• Child Ego State

• The Child ego state involves reverting
to behaving, feeling and thinking
similarly to how one did in childhood.
Applying Transactional Analysis
Model
• The most productive response for any
future relationship is to maintain an Adult
ego state, ‘Yes, that is what we agreed
and I have had some difficulty working
through the extra data you gave me, I
have a couple more hours’ work to do
and then it is finished’.
• This response remains unemotional and
factual. It does not challenge your
position or allow your challenge to affect
my response, taking the emotional heat
out of the situation.
Reciprocal or Complementary
Transactions

• In this way, we can apply some

understanding of the ego states and
provided responses to analyze the
situation and produce an effective
outcome.
Reciprocal or Complementary
Transactions
• Examples of Reciprocal or Complementary
Transactions:
• A: 'Have you been able to complete the report?'
(Adult to Adult)
• B: 'Yes, it is finished, I have just emailed it to you.'
(Adult to Adult)
• A: 'I am going to the movies, would you like to
come with me?' (Child to Child)
• B: 'I’d love to – what shall we go and see?' (Child to
Child)
• A: 'Have you tidied your room yet?' (Parent to
Child)
• B: 'Will you stop hassling me? I will do it
eventually!' (Child to Parent)
Crossed Transactions

• Dysfunctional communication is
typically caused by a crossed
transaction where one person
addresses an ego state that is
different to the one their partner is in.
Crossed Transactions

• A: ‘Have you been able to complete that report?’

(Adult to Adult)
• B: ‘Will you stop hassling me? I’ll do it eventually!’
(Child to Parent)
• This conversation is likely to produce problems in
the workplace. ‘A’ might respond with a Parent to
Child transaction. For instance:
• A: ‘If you don’t finish the report, I will have to tell the
boss’ (Parent to Child)
• Another example might be:
• A: ‘Is your room tidy yet?’ (Parent to Child)
• B: ‘I’m just going to do it, actually.’ (Adult to Adult)
• This is a more positive crossed transaction.
Transactional Analysis Influences a
Win–Win Approach

• Transactional Analysis is supportive of

a win–win approach.
• This means that both parties have
their needs met, resulting in the
situation, ‘I am OK’ and ‘You are OK’.
• If the communication leads to any
party experiencing ‘Not OK’, then it is
ineffective and this leads to the
application of blame
Driver Behavior or Working Styles

• The drive to be ‘okay’ causes people

to develop strategies over time that
help them to cope with difficult
situations.
• These become helpful to them and,
when they understand them, they can
consciously use them as strengths
rather than be driven by them
subconsciously
Key Learning on Conflict Resolution

1. Conflict arises when we cannot find a

mutually beneficial outcome to a
common problem.
2. Some conflict can be beneficial
because it causes new perspectives
and ideas to be developed and
considered.
3. Conflict can be dealt with by
understandingthe underlying causes
and behaviors.
Problem Solving
Problem Solving

• Problems should not be seen as

something negative that must be
avoided.
• A problem may be defined as any
obstacle that stands in the way of
meeting the project’s objectives.
• A problem can also be seen as an
opportunity to improve the current
situation.
Problem Solving

• In many ways, project processes and

the tools and techniques used to
manage projects are parts of a
problem-solving system.
• A project is often just a big problem
that needs to be solved.
Problem Solving

• The nature of problems is that, often,

other smaller problems are hidden
within the problem to be solved.
• So, a project can contain many
problems that are hidden within.
• Project techniques can be used to
work through these embedded
problems,
Problem Solving

• It is important that the project manager

or project leader sets up a problem-
solving system and is able to identify
problems early and respond quickly to
opportunities with solutions and
options, and also to make visionary
decisions to keep the project on track
with minimal disruptions.
Problem solving and decision
making

• Problem solving is the process of

generating a number of practical and
technical solutions to solve a problem.
• Decision making is the process of
considering the wider aspects of the
situation and ensuring that the course of
action satisfies stakeholder
requirements and problem objectives.
Types of Problems

• The first step to take when

approaching a problem situation is to
determine what kind of problem it is.
• This will reveal important information
about the problem and guide the way
in which the problem should be
approached.
Types of Problems

• Known Problem, Known Solution:

• These are usually problems that have
already been solved.
• Possibly, there are elements of a
project that have been encountered
before, and tried and tested solutions
already established.
Types of Problems

• Known Problem, Unknown Solution:

• Once again, the problem is clear and
well specified, but this time the
solution is not clear.
• This situation suggests that the
solution has to be designed to fit the
problem, which could involve some
trial and error.
Types of Problems

• Unknown Problem, Known Solution:

• This situation suggests that a known
solution will fi an unknown problem.
• For example, if an earth-moving
machine won’t start, then a mechanic
would undertake a series of actions or
tests that would result in the machine
starting.
Types of Problems

• Unknown Problem, Unknown Solution:

• The majority of project-related problems
are in this category.
• If an unknown problem is thought of as
one that has not yet been agreed by the
stakeholders, then time must be invested
in identifying what each stakeholder
expects and mapping these into an overall
statement of the problem before
proceeding with developing a solution.
The Nature of Problems

• Tame Problems:
• These types of problem require a
linear and logical approach that
provides a rational and objective
solution.
• When faced with this type of problem,
the facts can be established and
tested, the solution can be designed
and the problem solved.
The Nature of Problems

• Wicked Problems:
• These are often the types of problems
that face a project leader.
• Due to the nature of issues that people
face, it is likely that the problem will
change as people attempt to introduce a
solution.
• These types of problems often do not
allow for the creation of a ‘perfect’
solution and it is not possible to test the
solution before it must be realized.
Problem-Solving Process

Problem-solving techniques can be

shown as a process or sequence of
interrelated actions or discrete steps:
• Define objectives.
• Identify problems or opportunities.
• Gather data and present information.
• Identify a range of possible solutions
that satisfy the problem’s objectives.
• Present solutions and options.
Problem-Solving Process

• The presentation of a number of

possible solutions is where problem
solving ends and decision making
starts.
• The decision-making cycle can also
be shown as a sequence of
interrelated actions
Problem-Solving Process

• Identify what decisions need to be

made and who has the authority to
make them.
• Gather information.
• Decide on the most appropriate
course of action.
• Present the decision and its
justifications.
Define Objectives and Problem
Definition

• The starting point for problem solving

is to define the project’s goals and
objectives, because problems and
opportunities can only be evaluated
against these objectives.
Different Types of Objectives in a
Project Context

• Corporate Objectives
• At the corporate level the objectives
are documented as the corporate
vision and values, which outline the
company’s long-term objectives and
how the company wants to do
business (governance and ethics).
Different Types of Objectives in a
Project Context

• Portfolio Objectives
• At the portfolio level the objectives are
documented in the statement of
requirements, which outlines what the
company needs to do to maintain
competitive advantage.
Different Types of Objectives in a
Project Context

• Business Case
• At the corporate strategy level the
objectives are documented in the
business case, which outlines how the
company can address the
requirements outlined at the portfolio
level and realize benefits for the
company.
Different Types of Objectives in a
Project Context

• Project Level
• At the project level the objectives are
documented in the project charter and
project plan, which outline the critical
success criteria the project has to
achieve.
Identify Problems or Opportunities
⚫ The problem-solving process starts
with the recognition that a problem or
opportunity exists and there is a need
to establish a solution that removes
the problem or exploits the
opportunity.
Identify Problems or
Opportunities
⚫ Within projects, problems and
opportunities can be identified by the
project management system in the
following situations:
⚫ Progress Meetings:
⚫ The discussion during a progress
meeting can identify potential problems.
For example, these could be late delivery
of a component, workers’ absence, lower
than estimated performance – all these
are compared to the baseline plan.
Identify Problems or
Opportunities
⚫ Non Conformance Report (NCR):
⚫ When the quality control department
finds work that does not achieve the
required condition as set out in the
project quality plan, or quality control
plan, it raises an NCR.
⚫ The NCR initiates a process to correct
the problem.
Identify Problems or
Opportunities
⚫ Problem Solving vs. Project Lifecycle:
⚫ The project lifecycle can be used to
subdivide the type of problem solving
by project phase.
⚫ This is a logical approach because, by
definition, each phase produces a
different set of deliverables and,
therefore, there will probably be
different types of problems to solve
Identify Problems or
Opportunities
⚫ Situation Appraisal:
⚫ What is wrong with the current
solution? What would happen if this
problem was not addressed?
Break Down the Problem
⚫ Define the Problem:
⚫ Once we have investigated the problem,
the definition of the problem should be
written down in clear and concise terms
that specifically state:
⚫ What is the expected benefit to be
achieved in solving the problem?
⚫ What are the objectives and measures
that will be applied to ensure success?
⚫ What are the mandatory constraints that
frame any solution?
SMART Objectives
⚫ Specific - The objective should clearly state
what must be achieved.
⚫ Measurable - You should be able to measure
whether you are meeting the objective or not.
⚫ Achievable - Is the objective attainable within
the set timescale and to the standards
expected?
⚫ Realistic - Can you realistically achieve the
objective with the resources you have?
⚫ Time Bound - When must the set objective be
completed?
Identify a Range of Solutions
⚫ Choosing from a range of solutions
can provide a better outcome than if
we had proceeded with our first ideas.
⚫ Allocating the design task to a number
of individuals or teams allows creative
options to be developed
Brainstorming
⚫ The most popular problem-solving
technique is brainstorming, though this
is now sometimes called mind shower
because some people think the
process is more like a ‘shower’ than a
‘storm’!
⚫ The process is usually used with a
group, but it can also work as a solo
technique.
Blocks to Problem Solving
⚫ Cognitive Block
⚫ Lack of mental ability, cannot understand the
problem, lack of ideas and, therefore, lack of
solutions.
⚫ Cultural Block
⚫ Taboos – the problem cannot be discussed,
therefore, the problem cannot be solved.
⚫ Stereotype Block
⚫ See what you expect to see, see the problem
only in terms of your discipline – do not consider
the whole project.
⚫ Saturation Block
⚫ Too much data, information overload – cannot
see the wood for the trees.
Blocks to Problem Solving
⚫ Ambiguity Block
⚫ Unable to accommodate uncertainty and
ambiguity, doesn't know what to do with
incomplete data, misleading data, and
too many options – tries to establish
order too soon which might limit
promising ideas.
⚫ Boss Block
⚫ The boss always knows the answer –
this effectively stops the team making
alternative suggestions.
Blocks to Problem Solving
⚫ Lack of Exposure Block
⚫ Although someone might have been working
in an industry for 20 years, is this one year’s
worth of experience twenty times over, or
twenty years of different experiences?
⚫ Risk Averse Block
⚫ Will not consider anything new for fear of the
unknown, prefers the status quo.
⚫ Indecisive Block
⚫ Too many ideas and options, cannot make a
decision – 'Well I think this is what has been
decided'.
Solutions and Options
⚫ The output from the problem-solving
process is a number of possible
solutions and options to solve the
problem or take advantage of the
opportunity.
Have a great week
• All the best for your assignments
• We will discuss them in detail soon
• 0777047626
• [email protected]

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