paper 05

Conflict Resolution Techniques

Benji is in an unenviable position. He has been asked to save a project six months into its eighteen month duration. The cause for concern is growing interpersonal conflict on the project team. The project manager, Bob, is a man in his early sixties who has alienated his team, all of whom are younger. An independent consultant, Bob brought this project to Benji’s consulting firm and brokered the arrangement with the client. Bob does not work for Benji’s firm, he is an independent contractor. The client trusts Bob because he has worked with them for years. Unfortunately the client has no prior experience working with Benji’s firm so the firm has no leverage with which to remove Bob. Bob has a lot of power.

Bob’s team is comprised of recent college graduates with no previous work experience. This is their first business project. The team perceives Bob to be at best condescending, at worst guilty of sexual harassment. Benji’s senior leaders have spoken with both Bob and the team members who have complained about him and conclude the conflict’s root cause stems from the generation gap between Bob and his team. Bob is brusque and directive and most of the harassment claims appear to really be about this leadership style. Despite coaching, Bob has not softened.

Benji won’t soon forget being summoned by his Branch Manager one Friday afternoon. Thursday night the Branch Manager had received calls from several of Bob’s team members confirming they would walk off the job if no action was taken. Since Benji was respected as a PM who tended to fix troubled projects, he got the call. Benji was on site Monday morning for two meetings, first with Bob, then with Bob’s team without Bob present. When he met with Bob, Benji learned the older man saw his young teammates as insubordinate, entitled and in need of constant gratification. Frustrated because they were amateurs who seemed impatient and unwilling to work hard, Bob said he respected everyone equally but needed to train them to become effective professionals instead of coddling them. Having expected the worst, Benji emerged hopeful.

Benji did not condone Bob’s harsh leadership style and as he met with Bob’s team most of their complaints were about this style. Surprisingly, they also thought the project was uninteresting. Benji asked them about their sexual harassment claims and they affirmed now that they thought about it the older man had not made sexual advances, instead they reiterated they took issue with his gruff style and the project’s boring content. Benji noticed something positive while they discussed all this: the team exhibited strong camaraderie. He also realized management had not set expectations so he spent a few minutes and confirmed everyone had to start somewhere and this project was one of many they would be working on during what would become long careers.

After these two meetings Benji recalled the stark directive his Branch Manager gave him on Friday, “Go there, get Bob in line and get his team back on track. Join them and make sure they continue to deliver together. Good luck.” Though he now had some useful insight into the situation, Benji still felt getting Bob and his teammates on the same page would be challenging.

Imagine you are Benji. Read through each of these five conflict resolution techniques below, confirm which of the resolution techniques is most appropriate for Benji to apply in this situation and explain why. Also, what do you think the role of confrontation or non-confrontation will have in resolving this conflict and getting Benji’s team to work together better?

• Withdrawal/Avoidance – Retreating from or postponing resolution of the conflict

• Smooth/Accommodate – Emphasizing areas of agreement, conceding to the needs of others to maintain harmony

• Compromise/Reconcile – Bringing some degree of satisfaction to all parties to temporarily or partially remove the conflict

• Force/Direct – Pushing one’s viewpoint over that of others, offering a win-lose solution through a position of power

• Collaborate/Problem Solve – Considering multiple viewpoints, insights and differing perspectives with a good attitude

Initial posts must be two paragraphs in length.

Replies to 2 classmates. Replies must be one paragraph in length.

1

If I where Benji in this instance the method I would use is Compromise/Reconcile. Since Benji has great experience in problem resolution and Bob is a man of power that has used the firm multiple times. It is their best interest to keep Bob satisfied and happy. I believe compromise/ reconcile would be best. It already has been established that Bob has an issue with his employees due to them having no prior work experience and feeling of entitlement and the employees simply do not like Bob's leadership style. Bob has been counseled about the situation and the only problem he seems to have is that he needs to train their employees. Compromising/ reconciling is to “bring some degree of satisfaction to all parties to temporarily or partially remove the conflict,” the way I would do is shadow Bob and his employees to get a better idea of how Bob communicated with the team and how the team reacts to Bob's leadership style and also get a better idea of the flow of the project and what is going on. Then have another meeting with the employees and see how they would like Bob to work and communicate with them, and then counsel Bob on the way that the employees would like him as a leader to work with them. As Benji, I would work alongside Bob and overlook and lead the employees, until they are back on track. Once they are back on track I will meet with Bob and the team and check on how things are going weekly, then bi-weekly, and then monthly as things get better.

When it comes to confrontation or nonconfrontation, you have to be very careful because confrontation can be seen as a competitive or aggressive action. It also depends on the nature of the relationship, if the relationship is closer then the confrontation can come off stronger to the other person. Also if one person responds to motivation is low, or they are not motivated the likely hood of them changing or wanting to change would below. Confrontation should be done in a way that helps the other person see the consequences of their actions and not case them to defend those actions.

2

The development of conflict (large or small), while working on any given project cannot be avoided. It is therefore vital for Benji to be familiar with the five general techniques used to resolve conflicts. Of the five techniques; I would recommend that Benji utilize the compromise/reconcile technique despite this approach occasionally ending in a loose-loose situation. It is important to keep in mind the factors that influence the conflict resolution method which one uses (see page 348 of text). This conflict is of high intensity and importance as Bob has already alienated his team while the remaining team members have threatened to walk off the job. There is also a time pressure for resolving this conflict as the project has a remaining time frame of only 12 months. Then, there is the fact that Bob holds a lot of power within this project and cannot be removed by Benji. These factors require Benji to find a solution that will bring some level of satisfaction to all parties involved in order to see this project to its completion. In my opinion, withdrawal will not be an option as Benjie was ordered by his manager to get the team back on track and make sure the project gets done. The smoothing, forcing or collaborating techniques may also not be successful with Bob’s old school, brusque, directive leadership style and the large generation gap and disconnect present within the group.

Often, we hesitate to confront someone because we fear that doing so will make the relationship worse. However, confrontation is a good thing when done correctly, and is one of the most important skills you need as a leader. To be successful, confrontation should be conducted in a way that helps the other party examine the consequences of her/his behavior rather than causing her/him to feel the need to defend their actions. The face to face sit down sessions Benji conducted with each party allowed him the opportunity to better understand the complexities of the conflict, the direct issues of the parties involved and to find the most suitable way to resolve the present conflict. This confrontation benefited the team and Bob by allowing them to freely and honestly share their grievances. It gave them the feeling that their thoughts and opinions mattered and were being heard. This makes way for a more productive, healthy and respectful relationship among all team members allowing them to work more efficiently together while moving towards the same gaol of a successful project.