Lessons on Conflict Management

Let me start by coughing first and then taking a cup of water. People from my village in Oyo town would say “you wan tey for this world & you no wan hear weird news, e no pos!”, meaning that "the longer you live, the more weird news you would come across".

We all heard about the intriguing news of the ruling party, All Progressive Congress, Edo State Chapter, suspending the seating National Chairman of the same party, Adams Oshiomole. If you have been following the news in recent times, you would have a mental timeline of the deteriorating relationship between the current Governor of the State, Godwin Obaseki and the APC National Chairman who happens to be the immediate past Governor.

What could have caused this embarrassing episode between them??
Lets leave the answer to the political pundits and face our own business of Project Management. This discuss would be about Conflict Management.

As I explain in my training sessions, Oxford dictionary defines conflict as “fighting, quarrel, struggle, disagreement, difference of opinion...” It is important to know that conflict is natural. It is natural for different parties in a team to have divergent views and interests. In this case, we do not have to be a Prophet of God to know that there are some behind-the-scene struggle for influence and resources that escalated to this level between the current and past Governor of Edo State.

Why does this matter?
As said earlier, conflict are natural and bound to happen.
Successful Conflict Management results in greater productivity and positive working relationships.
In fact in some cases, the probability of successfully managing a project is directly tied to how smartly you can manage conflicts.

On a project, conflicts can be as a result of scarce resources, scheduling problems, cultural differences and many more factors. Do you know that personality differences have been ranked by experts as very low on list of the factors leading to conflicts?

Keep this principle handy: Clarity and openness not only prevents conflicts, it also helps in resolving them.
Think deeply about these and let me hear your opinion.

Conflict Resolution

On a project, conflicts need to be managed maturely and professionally. Some important factors need to be considered well when managing conflicts:
- Importance and intensity of conflict:
- Time pressure to resolve conflict
- Position taken by persons involved
- Motivation to resolve long and short term effects.

When resolving conflicts, it is important to focus on issues and not personalities. The conflict between the two political giants can be said to have gone very messy here, going by what we read in the newspapers. It is also important that conflicts be addressed early before it degenerates. In most cases, it is better to dwell on the present and avoid going into the past when trying to settle conflicts.

PMBOK Guide 6th edition lists 5 conflict resolution techniques
.
1. Withdraw/Avoid
You avoid the conflict or retreat and allow it to resolve itself. This technique is beneficial when stakes are low and it is likely the conflict will disappear on its own.

Comment: The APC Edo State conflict seems to have gone past this stage. This cannot work.

2. Smooth or Accommodate
You find areas of agreement and tries to smooth the situation and circumvents tough discussions. In smoothing, you give more consideration to one party than the other. Here you try to downplay the seriousness of the situation and behave as if the problem never existed.

Comment: Though this is a way of postponing the 'evil day', it is the appropriate option in some case. But, 'gaskia', the APC Edo state matter cannot use this option.

3. Compromise or Reconcile
This is where you take suggestions from both sides and try to partially satisfy both parties. This technique is useful when the stakeholders involved in the conflict hold similar level of influence or power.

Comment: This is looking interesting. Can we get the two political giants to sit together with both sides stating their claims and finding a middle course?

4. Force or Direct
Here you agree with one party’s viewpoint and enforce their wishes. This is a win-lose situation and risks demoralizing the team.

Comment:
This option is not smiling o. Can we force one of them to drop all his concerns and align with the other person or group? Hmmm, maybe when General [sorry, President] Muhammadu Buhari intervenes.

5. Collaborate or Problem Solve
In this technique, you discuss the issue with all parties to agree on a solution, while considering multiple viewpoints. This is a real problem-solving technique and gives a final solution to the conflict. It brings consensus, commitment, and shared responsibility for the outcome.

Comment: As interesting as it sounds, it is time-consuming. Ok, let Edo people raise a panel of inquiry to investigate the near and distant causes of the conflict; conduct a root-cause analysis and get to the bottom of the problem. They should then meet with both to see how they make them see previously obscure areas towards collaboratively producing an agreeable and permanent solution to the conflict.
What other ideas do you have for our big politicians fighting?
Lets hear from you.

Oladeji Seyi Hybee10x
MBA, M.Inf.Sci,PMP,CISA, COBIT5
http://www.linkedin.com/in/iboladeji
+2349099576339

PS: An evil-minded person is saying we should leave them to fight as it does not affect the price of garri in the market
PPS: Help me tell both of them that when, (if) they eventually settle their fight, my share is 10% of the goodies that caused the fight in the first place