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Conflict Resolution and

Negotiationin

Engineering Project Teams

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“Conflict is a form of interaction among parties that differ in interest, perceptions,

and preferences.”

Kolb, David A., Osland, Joyce S., and Rubin, Irwin M., Organizational Behavior, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 6th Edition.

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Audience Participation(Already!)

Why are we addressing conflict management?

What examples of conflict in teams do you remember?

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Why Conflict Management?

Teams in engineering involve both interpersonal and technical competenciesPeople’s skills in both technical tasks and interpersonal relationship management differThese differences can result in conflict that impacts the successful completion of the projectMany a project has been endangered because of feuding team members!

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Classification of conflictTwo Types: constructive vs. destructive1

Constructive (functional) conflict: Forces member/subgroups to discuss

their differing viewpoints Often results in a better understanding Helps a team to achieve its goals Example: Member A wants to use

Method X while Member B wants to use Method Y to design Component Z

Not all conflict is negative

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Classification of conflict

Destructive (dysfunctional) conflict: Is a hindrance to the teamLeads to reduced productivity and moraleShould always be dealt with and not

ignoredExample: Member A wants to exclude

Member B from future meetings because Member B often is late to meetings

Not all conflict is negative

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Inter-group Relations on Project Teams

Conflict and inter-group relations2

It is possible to have too much and too little conflict among groups

Too much conflict can cause strife among the members whereas too little can cause a group to be blindsided to new ideas or perspectives

More often a moderate amount of conflict is associated with the best overall outcome

Not all conflict is negative

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Types of Intergroup conflict

Two individuals on the team

One individual with the team

The team structure

Outside influences

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How does the Conflict Occur on the Team?

Once you have identified a team conflict, determine how the conflict is manifested (and where it needs to be resolved):Attitudes: almost always poorBehaviors: unreliable, inconsistentStructural: team infrastructure is not

working

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Exercise

Take one of the conflicts that you identified earlier

Identify what type of conflict

Determine if it showed up as attitude, behavior, or structure

Repeat with another conflict

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Your Style in Dealing with Conflict

Why is conflict difficult for people?Feelings are involved and most people are

uncomfortable in dealing with feelings Individuals have preferences for dealing (or

not dealing with) conflict: some are helpful, some are not

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Conflict Management Styles

5 Conflict Management Styles (Thomas-Kilmann)Competing (Forcing) Individual gets his/her way by being assertive,

uncooperative, and autocratic. A win-lose situation is created.

Avoiding Individual ignores the problem rather than negotiate

and resolve it. This person is unassertive and uncooperative. A lose-win situation is created.

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Conflict management styles (continued)

Accommodating Individual tries to resolve the conflict by giving into

the other member(s) of the team. This person is unassertive and cooperative. A win-lose situation is created for the others.

Compromising Individual tries to resolve the conflict through give

and take and making concessions. The person is assertive and cooperative. A win-lose or lose-lose situation is created.

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Conflict management styles (continued)

Collaborative Individual tries to jointly resolve the conflict

with the best solution. This would be one that is agreeable to all members of the team.

This person is assertive and cooperative. This is the only style that has a win-win

resolution!

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Fig. 2: Conflict Management Styles3

Style choice will probably vary by situation

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Collaborative conflict management style

Collaborative conflict management style: usually the most effective 1

Keys Maintain “ownership” of the

issue using the XYZ model

Reach an agreement to change

Develop a plan to avoid unwanted consequences and responses

Be persistent about implementing your plan

The XYZ model describes a conflict in

terms of behavior, consequences, and

emotions

“When you do X (a behavior),

Y (consequences) happen, and then

I do Z (personal response).”

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Handling “Deadlock”Deadlock is a special case of conflict: the team has come to a grinding HALT4

Ignoring the conflict is NOT an option, so try instead: Having each individual/sub-groups debate from the

others’ point of view. This will help all involved to understand all viewpoints.

Looking for a possible solution by examining analyzing the two sides for common ground.

Debating each side in context of the original task. After the allotted time is over for each side, “toss a coin” if it is not an critical issue and move on.

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Role Play Conflict Resolution

Take one of the conflicts that has been mentioned (especially one that is difficult for you)

Using the structure that has been presented as the starting point, use the collaborative approach as a way to resolve the conflict.

Provide feedback (what worked, what did not, what influenced the process?)

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“Principled” Negotiation

“Principled” Negotiation3

A negotiator should:Separate the members from the issue – be

tough on the issue not the members.Focus on the issue not the different viewpoints.Develop different solutions that are satisfactory

to all.Have objective criteria.

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Negotiating with members from other cultures

Negotiating with members from other cultures 2

To best deal with negotiating with members from different cultures, the negotiator must select a culturally responsive strategy and then give several tips for implementation.

There are five steps to developing a culturally responsive strategy outlined in The Organizational Behavior Reader by David A. Kolb, Joyce S. Osland, and Irwin M. Rubin.

The implementation of the strategy can include making the first move, monitoring the members’ feedback, and shift, modify, or change the strategy.

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Handling FailureLike DEADLOCK, failure also brings the team to a

standstill: 4

As a special case of “conflict”: it is very important how the team deals with failure.

All failures should be examined/analyzed by the group BEFORE the next phase of the project is started.

Future problems may be avoided or stopped before becoming major. This way a mistake should only happen ONCE.

To show continued trust in the individuals involved in the original error, delegate the solution agreed upon by the group to these individuals.

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SummaryNo team can function without some level of conflictBeing comfortable in using conflict will forward the work of the team and lead to a better engineering productWe discussed: Types of Conflicts: Constructive and Destructive Reasons for Conflict Inter-group and Interpersonal Conflicts Intervening: Conflict Management Styles

(Collaborative) XYZ Model of responding to conflicts

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Summary (cont.)

Handling Special Cases of Conflict: Deadlock Failure

Although conflict always involves emotions at some level, strategies for solving the situation require cognitive skills (diagnosis, problem solving, leadership) and some degree of risk takingConflict Management is a transferable skill that can be used beyond the team setting: LEARN IT/USE IT/BENEFIT from IT!

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Conflict Resolution and Negotiation: References

1http://www.cooper.edu/classes/eng/esc000/Conflict/notes.html

2Kolb, David A., Osland, Joyce S., and Rubin, Irwin M., The Organizational Behavior Reader, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 6th Edition.

3Kolb, David A., Osland, Joyce S., and Rubin, Irwin M., Organizational Behavior, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 6th Edition.

4http://www.ee.ed.ac.uk/~gerald/Management/

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Intervention among groups

Intervention among groups 2

To promote constructive conflict, intervention may be needed to reduce conflict in groups with too much conflict or induce conflict in groups with too little.

Intervention among groups involves efforts to disrupt the cyclic behavior caused by the interaction of attitudes, behavior, and structure

These strategies for intervening among groups are given in Table 2.

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Table 2: Intervening in Conflict2

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Table 4: Conflict Management Styles: appropriate situations3

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Table 4: Conflict Management Styles: (contd.)3

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Table 3: Conflict styles-associated gains & losses3