UNDERSTANDING CONFLICT DYNAMIC IN PROJECT AND PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT – A SURE WAY TO ACHIEVING ORGANISATIONAL SUCCESS

Just like in any other business or social settings, conflicts are inevitable and are bound to arise from time to time depending on many different factors. In order to understand and navigate through these conflicts successfully we need to understand the factors that make up conflict dynamics in every setting and these range from Power, Relationships, Structures, Perceptions, and goals or objectives.

1. Perceptions: Varying perceptions give rise to differing viewpoints which in turn lead to misunderstandings and misalignment of team goals. Other factors of perceptions can be differing in opinion, values, or perceived roles therefore, understanding how these perceptions in project and procurement teams can impact individual responses, input, and learning to accommodate other project team member’s viewpoint can effectively help team resolve conflicts and remain aligned for continued project success.
2. Power: Power is defined in the context of Project and Procurement Management as the ability to influence other’s behavior and decisions aimed at achieving the project desired outcome. In power lies the strength to sway stakeholders, motivate project team Members, and steer the project towards its desired goal. It is, therefore, important to note that there are various types of powers in the corporate setup that would impact greatly on the projects and procurement undertaking and these types of powers being Formal Authority, Reward Power, Penalty Power, Expert Power, and Referent Power. These types of powers for example expert power may give rise to conflict in that that one may possess technical knowledge and expertise and would plan the project or procurement in line with that whereas the one referent power may not understand but rely on the knowledge of others who may not be technical experts. Navigating through this component of conflict dynamics is key to achieving teamwork and corporate agreement.
3. Relationships: As earlier indicated, conflicts are an inevitable part of every relationship be it corporate or social. A good example is anger, ignoring it in the context of conflict means ignoring the signs that something may not be right in a relationship. In order to manage dynamics of relationships to a conflict, the project teams need to determine the worthiness of discussing any problem, use of the right body language, focus on facts and not personal opinions or perceptions, and the need to approach the problem with empathy.
4. Goals or objectives: As a matter of organizational Setup, there are many conflicting goals and objectives such as Personal and Corporate Objectives. I most cases in the interest of project and project management success achievement, these two varying objectives and goals come into play and impact on the projects greatly. As team members come from different backgrounds with different aspirations, it is important to have the teams’ goals and objectives aligned into common goals and achievable.
5. Structures: Conflict tends to take different forms, depending upon the organizational structure in place. For example, if a company uses a matrix structure as its organizational structure, it will have decisional conflict built in because the structure specifies that each manager reports to two bosses. Additionally, centralized structures tend to provide more team cohesion and unity as opposed to decentralized structures. Each of these structures tends to give rise to different forms of conflicts and thereby needs to be managed.

In conclusion, project and procurement management conflicts needs to be effectively managed, and one need to realize that not all conflicts are bad for the project or procurement teams as conflicts can provide for earlier problem identification, develop the teams’ abilities to effectively solve problems thereby leading to health relationships and improved productivity.