Leadership: 3 Important Activities Managers should do Daily

By Jacob Haney

Every new manager needs to know the three key activities they should be focusing on, which will make them successful as leaders.

Those three keys are:

building trust
building a network and
building a team

It is very rare that managers actually find the time to do all the work they have planned to do. Their time is mostly used to solve unexpected problems and to make sure that their team finishes their work on time, up to the standard and on budget.

Managers can sometimes feel desperate because urgent daily work hijacks the time they would use for their on-going work as managers and leaders. So, they push these key activities back. But, these activities are fundamental and substantial for a manager who wants to function effectively and be a good leader.

#1 Building Trust

To be a successful leader, you need to be able to influence others, and in order to achieve that, trust is the key. You cannot influence someone who doesn’t trust you. So, a manager needs to create a trustworthy relationship with everyone he or she is working with. To achieve that, they need to demonstrate the two basic components of trust; character and competence.

Character

Basic action and decision on values beyond self-interest and caring about work and the people who do the work. That’s character.

Competence

Competence understands the work well enough to make valid decisions, and having the courage to ask questions when something is not clear. If employees believe in your character and competence, they will put their trust in you.

#2 Building a Network

Every team of employees depends on the support of other people and groups. Effective managers need to build and maintain a network of people and groups that will help their team achieve their future goals. This is actually the main issue that troubles many managers because they believe that networking is a kind of manipulation, where they need to pretend to like someone just because they need something from them.

Try to go above that, because without networking, you will limit your capabilities. Build a network honestly, openly and with the right intent. This will benefit all sides.

#3 Building a Team

In order to build an effective team, team members have to be bound with a common purpose which is based on shared values. The bonds between members need to be strong so that they believe that they are all succeeding or failing together. A good team needs to have rules of engagement.

Smart managers and leaders combine all of these elements and then they manage through the team. In an ideal situation, team members value their membership and they’ll do everything in their power not to let others down.

Good Manager to evolve and develop attributes of Leadership

This now brings the question of when will the managers be able to focus on these activities and still do their every day’s work. The answer is that the three keys are not just some tasks you can put on your to-do list. Strong and effective leaders lead and manage their daily work. Managers need to continuously and intentionally evolve themselves over their career to fully develop the attributes of a leader.

About the Author:

Jacob Haney is a content writer at Research Optimus which provides research and analytics services to businesses in the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand from startups to corporates to medical research firms.
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March 9, 2016March 9, 2016 Linky

Time Management: Gantt Chart as a Planning Tool

By Linky van der Merwe

Most existing project managers would know that Gantt Charts are popular tools to use for a visual presentation of a project schedule. Although numerous software tools make provision for Gantt Charts, the most widely used tool remains Microsoft Project.

For new or aspiring project managers, it’s important to understand that Gantt Charts come about as a result of the Time Management activities in the Planning process on a project.

Schedule Creation

When creating a project schedule, the order of the planning activities is important as explained below:

Define activities by identifying all the specific actions to be performed to produce the project deliverables
Sequence activities by identifying the relationships among project activities.
Estimate activity resources by identifying the type and quantities of material, human resources, equipment etc to perform each activity.
Estimate activity durations by analysing the work effort needed to complete each activity with the estimated resources.
Develop the schedule – this is where activities are documented in a schedule (gantt chart) in the right sequence, with durations, resource assignments and constraints

History of the Gantt Chart

Wrike has created an interesting Infographic to display the origins or timeline of the Gantt Chart, the anatomy and how it’s used, as well as the benefits of using Gantt Charts on projects.

Wrike Project Management Software

March 4, 2016February 1, 2020 Linky

6 Email Productivity Tips

As project managers, we are all inundated with emails daily. Therefore, I want to share the 6 Time Management tips to manage your email from BrightWork to help us become more productive as professional project managers.

Tip #1

Set special time aside for emails and turn off all email notifications.

Tip #2

Clear your Inbox once a day or at least weekly. This one I struggle with, but I do manage to read and action all my emails daily.

Tip #3

Eliminate multiple folders for different type of emails. Create one ARCHIVE folder for emails you want to keep and use the Search function to find them. With my ‘blue’ analytical personality, I still prefer folders, hence, it takes longer to clear my Inbox.

Tip #4

If you get the same questions again and again or you need to share the same information weekly, create an email in drafts answering the common questions.

Tip #5

Don’t reply to an email when you are angry. I believe anyway that it’s better to deal with conflict in person and keep emails for information sharing that is unemotional; that is more professional.

Tip #6

Have a systematic, simple email management process in place.

Click here for the Infographic: 6 Time Management Tips to manage your email

Let us know in the comments sections what other email tips you have!
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February 1, 2016February 13, 2022 Linky

Book Review: Leadership Toolbox for Project Managers

By Linky van der Merwe

The aim of the book, Leadership Toolbox for Project Managers, written by Michel Dion, is to help equip project managers to manage projects in a dynamic, complex and unpredictable environment. The book is focused on Leadership including self-awareness, vision, strategic thinking, decision making and interaction with others.

Career Advancement

Many project managers were experts in other fields before they learned the skills of Project Management. As project managers are assigned to more complex, strategic projects they need to add leadership skills to their Toolbox of Technical Project Management skills.

Michel emphasizes Continuous Learning as part of the Foundation you need before focusing on Leadership skills. What I liked about his book, is that he starts with looking at the leader as a Person, and looking after your own well-being first, instead of putting it as an after-thought at the end of the book. He gives guidance on modifying your behaviour with the key qualities of a leader and to develop a high level of self-awareness. He puts much focus on values and ethics that influence leadership actions and decisions.

I like his opinion that people is the critical asset to the project’s success, including the team, the project sponsor, users and any other stakeholders. And I agree that the value contribution of a project will be measured by all these people.

Leadership skills

Another important Leadership skill is Delegation for which Michel provides the questions to ask when delegating tasks. He explains how to create a learning environment and how to keep adding value while delegating.

Towards the end of the book Michel publishes interesting Leadership survey results about project challenges, strengths and weaknesses in being effective leaders.

Michel laid out strategic thinking and decision making in the project context very well, convincing the reader that learning leadership is a journey and not a specific formula that can be applied the same way on every project.

Recommendation

In my opinion, the only improvement that can be made to the book, is to provide some exercises or perhaps actions steps that the reader can take to help them along on their leadership growth journey.

I will recommend this book to all aspiring project managers as well as existing project managers who seek to develop their leadership capabilities to help them cope in the increasingly dynamic and complex project environments that we are having to manage projects today!

The book is available on Amazon: Leadership Toolbox for Project Managers: Achieve better results in a dynamic world by Michel A. Dion (22-Apr-2015) Paperback, as well as on Michel Dion’s website, Project-Aria.
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January 11, 2016July 2, 2024 Linky

10 Reasons Why There Is Always Need Of Project Management

By Shikha Menwal

At some point you might have wondered: “Do I really need a project management for my company?” Well, project management is to business what food is to the body. The former is integral to the survival of the latter. So, there goes your answer! But what really makes project management such a crucial tool for thriving in the industry? The reasons are plenty, but here are some major points that make project management such a critical ingredient in the recipe for entrepreneurial success.

#1 To avoid the likelihood of reworking!

Who doesn’t like to get things done in the very first go? We all want to avoid reworking the same thing. According to a survey conducted by Carnegie Mellon, 70% – 85% of the total rework cost in projects occur due to the failure to specify all the requirements during the analysis phase. Also, 25%-40% of money gets wasted as a result of having to redo a major chunk of work.

Project management encourages collaboration. Collaboration helps enlist all the requirements right in the beginning when details are discussed. You can avoid do-overs altogether and get it right the very first time.

#2 Getting off on the right foot!

No one likes to hear things such as ‘could have’, ‘would have’, ‘should have’. With a strong work foundation, you won’t have to hear such statements. Project scope definition, statement of purpose, identifying business risks and limitations, and defining the objective of project; all this is part project management and will ensure that you get off on the right foot. Business analysis and project management let you make necessary adjustments in the plan and see if the scope of a project sounds feasible or not.

#3 Exercising control over change!

When running projects, get ready to deal with many changes in requirements because things are never as simple as they seem. This is where change management philosophy comes in. It allows managers to find an exhibit through various conflicting priorities. They are able to seamlessly integrate new changes into ongoing activities without disrupting the flow of work.

#4 Improved communication at all levels

According to one of the studies conducted by PMI, it has been observed that around 90% of problems in most projects arise due to lack of communication. With right project management, teams get to know their responsibilities, priorities, and what is expected from them. It would lay down simple and effective channels of communication. It helps to align everyone’s understanding of overall work.

#5 Documenting successes and failures

Learning never stops! This is the prime focus of project management. Project reviews documents the highlights where teams have excelled and the areas where they could have performed better. As the project reaches completion, both positives and negatives can be documented for future reference. A project manager would know which mistakes to avoid and what practices should be implemented that proved successful in the past. It’s like implementing learnings from one project for future endeavours.

#6 Selecting the optimal course of activities

There can be multiple ways to achieve the same output! But, a project manager needs to know which way is the most optimal one. A project is about implementing a series of activities in succession. But, which course of action is likely to have least possible constraints and challenges? Project management answers such questions and enables you to select the most optimal series of activities in the right sequence.

#7 For maintaining focus

Focus is the essence that makes the impossible possible. Someone who knows the art of project management inside out will keep everyone focused by helping them see the bigger picture. Project management leads the team towards the end goal. It wards off unnecessary distractions that team members might face. It’s the way to making sure that each and every thing in the process is properly planned, documented, and completed on schedule.

#8 Time and budget limit

Any project execution is challenging, because it needs to be done within certain constraints. Project managers define the deadlines and decide how much cost is likely to be incurred. Project management is about achieving goals while staying within the said timelines and budget.

#9 Keeps everyone posted!

We know that projects happen to be multi-dimensional. Several departments work collectively for the attainment of common goals. Lack of coordination brings chaos, which is the last thing a project needs. Project managers coordinate work across all the departments and ensure everyone is aware of the progress. When everyone is on the same page, communicating changes and discussing further details becomes easier.

#10 Prepares everyone for the unforeseen events

Projects are bound to come across multiple challenges and risks. Project management prepares everyone to handle most unexpected happenings in the most natural way. Being prepared for anything will keep you going in the right direction.

In conclusion, by inculcating project management principles and theories, project managers can streamline all the tasks and guide teams to work collectively towards a single goal.

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About the Author: Shikha Menwal is a writer at ProofHub. Her academic credentials include a bachelor’s degree in computer sciences. From lifestyle, to technology, and management, etc. she has written about myriad of industries in her writing career during the last three years.

January 8, 2016March 31, 2019 Linky

2016 – A New Year like a Chapter in a Book

“The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals.” Melody Beattie

At the beginning of the year, most people are motivated for new beginnings. That’s why people have New Year’s resolutions. Unfortunately, most resolutions don’t last and people forget what they were motivated about at the beginning of the year.

I have done away with New Year’s resolutions a long time ago. Instead, I do what has always worked for me that is to identify my top 5 Goals for the year, then break it down to smaller goals that are SMART (Specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, time-bound). This keeps me focused on the things I would like to do and helps me to finish one thing at a time.

After a refreshing holiday away from home, spent in beautiful surroundings, I can honestly say that I’m looking forward to what 2016 holds. At work I’m working on an exciting Programme with multiple projects and there are many initiatives planned for Virtual Project Consulting this year.

My eldest son is in Matric, his final school year, and I’m astonished at how quickly his school career is going by. The other two children have their own interests, sports and activities that will keep my husband and me on our toes this year.

At Virtual Project Consulting we are working full swing on making new things a reality. We want to continue adding value to our existing and aspiring project management community. You can expect to see the following themes covered this year on our Blog from our own articles as well as from contributing guest authors.

Leadership
Social media in project management
Project management software, tools, recommended Podcasts
Project management as a career
Project management soft skills and more on personality profiling
Project management methodologies and processes
Change Management
Project Governance

There will be a special focus on project managers who are new to the profession and who are often called “accidental project managers”.

We will continue to bring you the most recommended resources on project management software, training, products, books and events. Also look out for more Success Stories being published from experienced project managers. Don’t forget about the Podcasts as well as free resources being shared.

I’m also excited to send you more details about the book: “Strategic Integration of Social Media into Project Management Practice” for which I’m a contributing author. The projected release date is March 2016.

I would like to wish each one of our readers a very successful, fruitful and fulfilling 2016! Please share in the comments what your goals are for the New Year.

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December 18, 2015February 13, 2022 Linky

Reflections on 2015

Another year is coming to an end which calls for a personal reflection on the year of 2015. What a wonderful journey it has been with numerous highs and very few low points.

Memorable moments

There were plenty of highlights in 2015. At work we concluded a 14-month long Programme successfully. I facilitated a number of closing workshops and project reviews on lessons learnt. Many new relationships were developed with a few growing into friendships that will outlast the projects. What will make this Programme very memorable, is the honour of receiving a CIO award for Delivery Excellence at the end.

As one Programme came to an end, I moved on to the next Programme with its own challenges, complexities and relationships to be formed with new team members. And in that lies the pleasure and fulfilment of being a professional project manager. There is never a dull moment and what an interesting journey to get to know new processes, systems and new people. To work with and appreciate all the talented individuals who are chosen to work on big corporate Programmes.

Virtual Project Consulting

As far as Online activities are concerned, our presence through Virtual Project Consulting, continued to grow as a website with the most comprehensive recommended resources about project management software, training, products, books and events.

In the blog section appeared several articles covering leadership, change management, project methodology, project success stories from experienced project managers, guest posts, reviews of different project software, how to compare online project management software, Agile project management and emotional intelligence among others. Podcasts of our Best Practice articles, as well as the Success Stories have been published.

Contributing Author

This year a Book opportunity presented itself to me through an invitation to contribute a Chapter to a book about the Strategic Integration of Social Media into Project Management Practice, due for publishing in 2016. This came about as a result of the extensive research I have conducted in prior years around the use of social media for small business marketing, and more specifically in the project management context.

Anniversary

On the personal front, I am privileged to share that 18 December 2015 is my 22 year wedding anniversary, and I consider it a blessing to be happily married with three children as a reminder of our faithful commitment to each other.

Game Changers

There were a few events that shifted my priorities this year. I worked with a coach who really helped to broaden my perspective, but at the same time, who guided me to focus on getting specific things done that will contribute greatly to growing my online business in future. Some strategic partnerships were also formed which could lead to interesting new opportunities in the new year.

I had my first experience of running my own webinars, of doing a Pilot training program and eventually developing a fully online, self-paced Growth Program for New Project Managers aimed especially at the many Accidental Project Managers in every organisation.

This makes me look forward to making more contributions to the project management field in future. Like a quote from Audrey Hepburn saying: “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says I’m possible”.

I will continue to live and work my passions and to always be grateful. I wish you a happy and fulfilling time with your loved ones over Christmas and a Prosperous New Year in 2016!

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November 30, 2015February 14, 2022 Linky

10 Principles for Effective Steercom Meetings

By Liz Dewing

Steering Committee effectiveness is achieved by keeping things: Sufficient, Objective, and Succinct (SOS)!

An Executive Sponsor’s worst nightmare is to be surprised by a development on a project….. particularly if that surprise occurs in a public forum when they haven’t had the opportunity to prepare themselves. One way to avoid surprises is to maximize the effectiveness of Steering Committees.

What are the needs

Executive needs are relatively straightforward:

To be kept up-to-speed on progress in general and security of benefits in particular.
To be informed about specific issues or obstacles that are hindering progress (and any significant risks threatening to materialize.)
Opportunity to collectively discuss and determine what actions can be taken to address these – with the RIGHT people at the RIGHT time.
To inform the project about anything forthcoming that may affect the work / require changes.
To achieve this in the least possible time.

On the other hand Project Teams need:

Decisions and Actions and commitment to doing it.
Information – to help move things along.
Guidance – about things they may not know with their limited organizational view.

Regular one-on-ones between the Sponsor and Project Manager can address the bulk of these needs. Where Steering Committee Meetings add real value is when robust collaborative discussion is needed amongst invested leaders who may have differing perspectives and agendas but who must arrive at mutually acceptable decisions in order for work to progress.

Ten Key Principles

Here are 10 key principles to support really effective Steercoms.

#1 Keep the attendee as limited as possible

Only those people who have designated authority to make things happen should attend Steercoms… they are NOT a place for people who simply need to be kept informed.

#2 Avoid repetition

Finalise Minutes and address and resolve actions from previous meetings BEFORE the next Steering Committee. Anything that remains unresolved can be discussed as an Issue.

#3 Avoid revisiting things

If a topic is coming up at Steercom over and over again it is an indication that there is an underlying issue that is NOT being adequately addressed. Identify it. Express it clearly, and escalate it.

#4 Keep an action focus

Make it easy for the Steercom members to make decisions by providing sufficient relevant information in the right formats and be very explicit about what is expected.

NOTE : Make sure the group understand the difference between discussion and decision. Many Steering Committees discuss things at length but fail to ever actually formalize a clear decision as a result.

#5 Keep the ‘routine’ consistent and predictable

Following a consistent process and format using a consistent process, format and tools, allows members to focus on content with full attention.

#6 Make sure mechanisms that are used are understood

For Example – Red / Amber / Green statuses are often interpreted very differently by different people.

#7 Celebrate achievement

This is so that successes become part of the routine as well as challenges – Steercoms that focus purely on problem-solving are very draining!

#8 Always be fully prepared

Minutes circulated and approved, progress on actions up-to-date and distributed for review, a detailed agenda and any pre-reading required sent out in advance, and an up-to-date dashboard available for review. Being prepared also means the Sponsor has had a briefing ahead of time and knows what to expect in terms of content AND potential for conflict.

Build a culture of preparedness and lead by example.

#9 Insist on Ownership from the Steering Committee members

A Project Manager is a Facilitator of outcomes, not an Owner. The Executive and Business Owners are the ones who need to live with, derive benefit from and continue to operate the outcomes of a project, so they must take responsibility for ensuring what is delivered WILL meet their needs.

#10 Steercom SOS

Remember that Steering Committee effectiveness is achieved by keeping things: Sufficient, Objective, and Succinct!

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About the Author: Liz Dewing has an extensive career in IT, Project and Project Office Management with various organisations, including 13 years with Old Mutual South Africa. Through consulting she helps people to use their powers of speech more effectively in business and career.

November 5, 2015August 25, 2019 Linky

Chaos to Chaos: The age of agile incrementalism

By Sakhile Malinga

As globalisation snowballs, organisations continue to enter the exciting age of complexity, a chaotic business landscape which is different from the two prior eras in strategy development.

The Eras in Strategy Development

#1 Era of grand design and systematic planning

The desire to over-elaborate the planning was made redundant by constant strategic drift. IBM and the mainframe was the king of the castle. Management approaches included detailed strategic plans with limited support from a changing internal and external environment. The analysis of SWOT (Strength Weakness, Opportunities and Threats) created historical context with a strong sense of hubris if the previous period was successful. Remediation if challenged.

#2 Era of Strategic Positioning

The era gave us value chain analysis, which created the technology giants such as Microsoft, IBM and Cisco. This era capitalised on large enterprise solutions that were meant to facilitate delivery in a Porter Value chain, looking at the 5 forces as a key driver of value (threat of substitute, new entrance, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of customers, intensity of rivalry), with clear distinct variations of stratagem, which was focus, differentiate and cost leadership.

#3 Era of Complexity (Chaos)

The new era of a connected business world, with organic rather than hierarchic tendencies has led to the rise of social architectures that gave rise to the Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Skype and cloud computing. This era is where agile incrementalism raises to the fore. A complex construct with too many unknowns, where change is welcomed and not feared and ownership is shared not assigned.

Leadership in Agile Incrementalism

The main change is primarily from transactional to transformational leadership. ¹

Transaction emphasises contingent rewards, and managing by exception. Transformation exhibits charisma, developing a vision, engendering pride, respect and trust, inspires and pays attention to the followers needs.

Agile incrementalism is transformational and it is incremental and not iterative, the fundamental difference is it does not predict what you want, just builds it better and quicker.

The key principle is the fact that individuals and interactions are preferred over process and tools. Chaos if not thought through. Customer collaboration is preferred over contract negotiations. Responding to change is preferred over following a plan. Working product is preferred over comprehensive documentation. Chaos if underestimated.

Agile affects strategy

Capital Planning – The financial returns on investment of software projects becomes more about “fixing of the problem” rather than finding a solution package.
Productivity – A general prediction of 25% boost in productivity ² in software delivery.
Minimum Viable Product (MVP) vs Scope, you deliver what matters first and might not deliver the entire scope. The focus is working software.
Resources – Agile has people and not resources. The approach is more about predictable change and less stress in introducing change.
It’s about the Customer⁵– The time to respond to competition is swift and exciting as this becomes the focus of the team.

Software is a massive contributor to competitive advantage and any organisation that links it to an emerging strategy³ will dominate its market.

The challenges of Agile

You will lose a sense of control, trusting the judgement of the teams to deliver. Allocated capital to solve a problem rather than to deliver a predefined thing will require maturity.
Executive support and buy-in, for the existence of teams not business or IT. The concept of IT and business becomes archaic. The lines cannot be drawn, this becomes objective driven teams.
Requirement will not be required. This translates to business needs; the business will need to have specific needs to be solved.
Scope is variable; hence the power lies not with “completion”, but completing enough to enable the business.
Change will not be welcomed; agile environmental changes will lead to resistance. Chaos does that to people. Training will be necessary for the teams.
Different language, different delivery. The key to delivery will be a common language, whatever you call a thing, let it be a thing.
Embracing Failure – accepting this faster than later in the process is what makes it acceptable.

The age of chaos is exciting, it’s every day that you wake up and expect Apple, or Facebook, Snapchat, Google and Twitter to release a new feature. They use agile, one day we will all use it.

Conclusion

Using any method to achieve an outcome is a good reaction to environmental changes, however locating the reason why a particular method is the right method; helps clarify why the procedures and techniques are vital. Software Agile approaches are methods designed bring a logical approach to a chaotic world.

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About the Author:

Sakhile Malinga is a leader with a strong affinity to all things involving strategy, projects and digital. His purpose is to build stuff and people.

Sources:

Bass, B. (1990). ‘From transactional to transformational leadership: learning to share the vision.’ Organizational Dynamics, (Winter), 19–31.
http://www.deltamatrix.com/why-are-agile-teams-25-more-productive
Johnson G. Managing strategic change—strategy culture and action. Long Range Plan 1992; 25(1):28-36.
Ghobadian, A and O’Regan, N. “ John Lewis Partnership lessons in logical incrementalism and organic growth: A case study and interview with the Chairman, Mr Charlie Mayfield’ Journal of Strategy and management (2008).
Anderson JC, Kumar N, Narus JA. Value Merchants: Demonstrating and Documenting Superior Value in Business Markets. Harvard Business School Press.

September 14, 2015 Linky

Project Story: Retail Staff Scheduling System

By Linky van der Merwe

This project story is about the turn-around of a complex project which was over budget and not delivering on the expected business benefits. It was for a Staff Scheduling system in the Retail Sector with the objectives of effectively scheduling staff shifts, manage staff leave cycles and ultimately deduce staff costs for over 30 000 store staff. The brief to the project manager, Jurie van Heerden, was to finish outstanding Phase 1 work and to complete Phase 2.

Defects, Enhancements and management reporting

At the end of Phase 1 when the system was deployed in production, key management reports which were part of the scope, were not development and implemented. The management reports were key to measuring the system’s effectiveness and staff behaviour.

A list of critical defects and enhancements identified post deployment, also had to be addressed. Upon completion of the Management reports, a national training programme to train and embed the management reports within the store structure, had to be completed.

Schedule-to-Clock

The Phase 2 of the project was to implement a Proof of Concept for Schedule-to-Clock functionality which would prevent staff from working if they do not have a scheduled shift for that day.

Kick Starting the project

Initially a new communications plan and project structure had to be put in place …. Read more

September 8, 2015February 14, 2022 Linky

Project Management – A Growing Profession

According to the PMI’s Project Management Talent Gap Report, dated March 2013, the industry growth forecast is that an anticipated 15.7 million new project management roles will be created globally across seven project-intensive industries between 2010 and 2020. This will provide many opportunities for professionals to build project management skills.

The industries with a high level of project oriented work are:

Manufacturing
Business Services
Finance and Insurance
Oil and Gas
Information Services
Construction
Utilities

In the United States the Report has forecasted expanding job markets, rising salaries and growing industries like healthcare and business services.

With this rising demand for professional project management skills, you need to be looking for opportunities for ongoing growth and development.

One such opportunity is the free event offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI), called the Information systems and Technology Symposium 2015.

You will learn the most impactful and effective ways to integrate emerging technologies in your projects and increase your success. The PMI certification holders can earn 6 PDU’s by attending all sessions.

For more information and to register, visit Information systems and Technology Symposium 2015.

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August 26, 2015December 22, 2018 Linky

Causes of Conflict on Projects and Conflict Management

Conflict is inevitable in a project environment. There’s always competition for resources, incongruent requirements, break-downs in communications and many other factors that could become a source of conflict.

On a project conflict can lead to dysfunctional outcomes. However, if you actively manage conflict, it can actually help the team arrive at a better solution.

The Infographic below provides a good summary of many possible causes of conflict on projects.

Conflict Management

To manage conflict in a project environment, involves building trust for all parties to be open and honest and to engage in seeking a positive resolution to the situation creating the conflict. A Project Manager needs to strive to establish a collaborative approach among team members involved in order to fully resolve the problems.

If a collaborative approach is not possible, you need to use other management styles for handling the conflict, like assertiveness, accommodation, avoidance or compromise. Conflict is one of the biggest challenges a Project Manager faces on projects. You need to draw upon all your interpersonal skills to lead the team to a successful resolution.

A few things I have learned over the years are the importance of staying calm, to keep confident and allow parties to vent their frustration, but also ask them to come forward with possible solutions. It’s best not to be defensive, or apologising, or getting worked up in a situation of conflict. You need to develop a thick skin and try not to take things personally.

Also, don’t escalate people every time you have conflict, that’s also deferring the problem. Only escalate if you have tried to collaboratively solve the conflict and there’s still a break-down in communications or trust. Then you’ll find that senior management is very supportive in giving assistance to resolve the conflict.

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