Integrated Project Management

Conflict Resolution and Consensus Decisions

One norm the project manager should suggest to the team is a norm to resolve team conflict. Because differences of opinion among team members concerning task execution, length, risk, and so forth could arise, a procedure is needed to resolve these differences. Conflicts during meetings must be dealt with because if allowed to develop and simmer, they can cause team members to lose their enthusiasm for the project. Conflict also can slow down a meeting. Although no magic solution exists, one procedure generally works if team members are familiar with it and are prepared to use it before conflict occurs.

The conflict resolution norm can be stated as follows: We agree that when two individuals or two groups ...