{"id":4176,"date":"2010-05-15T07:56:26","date_gmt":"2010-05-15T14:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=4176"},"modified":"2010-05-15T09:34:15","modified_gmt":"2010-05-15T16:34:15","slug":"conflict-resolution-climate-change-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=4176","title":{"rendered":"Conflict Resolution – Climate Change Style"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In this entry we look at a project conflict resolution tool and relate it to a recent interesting but little-publicized news event which is funny<\/em> in a way, but very, very sad<\/em> in a much deeper way (excuse the pun).<\/p>\n

The tool is the Thomas-Kilmann<\/strong> model, which sounds very fancy and hard to understand but is actually very straightforward, powerful, and applicable to your role as a project manager in understanding and dealing with conflict.<\/p>\n

And you know that as a PM you will <\/strong>deal with conflict.<\/p>\n

Why?\u00a0 Here are three main reasons:<\/p>\n

  • Projects are \u2013 by definition -new and unique, and invoke change.\u00a0 People are \u2013 by nature \u2013 adverse <\/em>to change.\u00a0 This is fundamental.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • You will be managing the project \u201cas if\u201d you are a supervisor\/manager of a team \u2013 without the commensurate title\/level that has the team members actually reporting to you.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • You have team members \u2013 again, by definition \u2013 from different disciplines that think and behave differently (think artist and engineer, software developer and installer).<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n

    You can already imagine that the conflict is multi-dimensional.\u00a0 Between you and another project or project manager.\u00a0 Between \u201csilos\u201d of departments or organization.\u00a0 Between team members on your project.\u00a0 Between team members on your projects and their managers.\u00a0 And on.\u00a0 And on and on.<\/p>\n

    The Thomas-Kilmann model looks at the ways people deal with conflict in two dimensions: assertiveness and cooperativeness.\u00a0 Note that assertiveness is not aggressiveness.\u00a0 Here it\u2019s\u00a0 a scale of how much you assert your will along a scale from \u2018not at all\u2019 to \u2018at all costs, assert my will\u2019.\u00a0 Similarly, cooperativeness is measured on a scale from \u2018not at all\u2019 to \u2018at all costs, cooperate\u2019.\u00a0 A simple chart (see below) plots two these dimensions against each other and yields 5 ways of dealing with conflict.\u00a0 You can even take an assessment<\/a> to determine where you and your team members fit in this model.\u00a0 In any case, no one way is better than the other.\u00a0 A project manager has several key takeaways from this:<\/p>\n

    1. Recognize that conflict will exist and that these aspects (assertiveness and cooperativeness) contribute<\/p>\n

    2. Recognize the type of conflict you have and when the various types of resolution work when you are an arbitrator<\/p>\n

    3. Same as above for those times when you are a party in a conflict.<\/p>\n

    Looking at the chart you can see that there will be times \u2013 times of urgency \u2013 where the PM will need the competing role and \u2018lay down the law\u2019 and direct the project team.\u00a0 Perhaps the more steady-state role of the PM is in the collaborative area \u2013 at least in assuring that this is the area in which your team is working.<\/p>\n

    \"tkmodel\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    There\u2019s alot more.\u00a0 See an amusing post with much more on this topic,\u00a0from our sister site ScopeCrepe<\/a><\/strong> , here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \n

    Now let\u2019s move on to that news story we mentioned up front.\u00a0 Here\u2019s an extract from the AP (Associated Press) news story:<\/p>\n

    NEW DELHI, India \u2013 For nearly 30 years, India and Bangladesh have argued over control of a tiny rock island in the Bay of Bengal.\u00a0 Now rising sea levels have resolved the dispute for them.\u00a0 The island is gone<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

    New Moore Island in the Sunderbans has been completely submerged, said oceanographer Sugata Hazra, a professor at Jadavpur University in Calcutta.\u00a0 The disappearance of the uninhabited isle has been confirmed by satellite imagery and sea patrols, he said.\u00a0 \u201cWhat these two countries could not achieve from years of talking has been resolved by global warming\u201d Hazra said.<\/span><\/p>\n

    See the map below to locate this (former) island, called New Moore by India and South Talpatti by Bangladesh.
    \n<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"island<\/a><\/p>\n

    Scientists have noted a dramatic increase in the RATE at which sea levels have risen \u2013 not the rise, but the RATE of the rise \u2013 until 2000 the rise was about 0.12 inches a year, but in the last 10 years it has nearly doubled to 0.2 inches per year. Ten islands in the area, some inhabited, are at risk. Lohachara was an inhabited island which was already submerged, inhabitants having to move onto the mainland in 1996. Estimates by scientists say that 18% of Bangladesh\u2019s coastal area will be underwater by 2050, displacing about 20 million people.\u00a0 You can read about this in an article from the UK newspaper The Telegraph, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    So \u2013 how do you choose to resolve conflict?\u00a0 Perhaps you can just wait until climate change causes your project to go underwater.\u00a0 But we recommend using a measured, practical approach with the advantage of the knowledge provided by a careful analysis, perhaps using the Thomas-Kilmann model.<\/p>\n

    Read more about the intersection of Green and Project Management at our site: EarthPM.com.<\/a>\u00a0 Also note that our book, to be published by CRC Press<\/a>, is coming out in September.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In this entry we look at a project conflict resolution tool and relate it to a recent interesting but little-publicized […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":803,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,19,6,1],"tags":[742,743,737,748,750,412,752,740,754,755,52,753,745,759,747,741,751,738,739,758,104,756,749,760,761,757,744],"class_list":["post-4176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-leadership","category-global","category-communications","category-miscellaneous","tag-accomodating","tag-avoiding","tag-bangladesh","tag-climate-change","tag-climate-disruption","tag-collaboration","tag-competing","tag-comprimise","tag-compromise","tag-compromising","tag-conflict","tag-conflict-mode-instrument","tag-conflict-model","tag-dealing-with-conflict","tag-dealing-with-project-conflict","tag-directive","tag-global-warming","tag-india","tag-island","tag-jadavpur","tag-negotiation","tag-new-moore-island","tag-ocean-rise","tag-south-talpatti","tag-south-talpatti-island","tag-sunderbans","tag-thomas-killmann"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/803"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4176\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}