When Project Team and Seniors are Not In Agreement With The Project Manager

Project Management / By

There are times when a project manager and project team hold different opinion or approach, resulting in an internal conflict. In such scenarios, you need to talk to your team and get the facts on why it lead to this, conform your team on your shortcomings. If you find the team is right on a decision that has to be made, take the team’s decision. Admit you were wrong, they will respect you for it, and consider this self and team development and move on. If the top management is also in your team’s favor then it is time for you to do a small analysis.

Ask the following questions to yourself

  • Seek what might have caused the lack of unity – what you may have done to cause it.
  • Ask open questions about the cause of the lack of unity.
  • Seek the points of agreement to isolate the actual disagreement.
  • Raise an Issue that fairly describes the disagreement if it hasn’t yet been resolved.
  • Use the properly developed Issues management process to handle the issue.
  • Consider arbitration from the Project Sponsor if the issue cannot be resolved through the process – they should have the final executive say on the matter.
  • Learn from the experience.

If the project director and the team are communicating enough to be judged to be taking sides against the project manager then things look bad. Is the project manager not managing the team well? Is he not able to preside over differences of opinion or approach so as to arrive at consensus or a decision that makes some sense to all?  Does the team somehow fundamentally reject the project manager?

Place your ego aside. Be open to understand a different method of thinking to try to make the project acceptable in everyone’s eyes as the project is happening, and over communicate the steps and intentions on the project. Communicate, communicate, and communicate. Most of projects get into such situations because of poor communication. I would suggest the project manager to look for where he felt short in communicating with the project team and project manager and create efforts that will let them all be on the same page.

Taking sides promotes the appearance of wrong doing. Projects are a team effort – people need to pull together – if they’re not pulling together there is an issue that needs to be managed based on facts and not on feelings – use the processes and structures to achieve resolution.

If the director of projects is siding with your team, you seriously need to do a self-assessment. Like, the conflict with my team shouldn’t have reached this point. This is a failure as a project manager to have a conflict with my team that is so bad that they have to go to the director to get his side. If the project director is taking sides and has not had a discussion with the project manager in advance, there is a serious management/confidence issue that is more important than siding with the project team. Lastly, if it is merely out of politics or it is the culture of the organization that superior by pass the managers and interact with team directly then project manager should try to understand culture and politics and use is personal skills to manage and make his way to handle project and related stakeholders.

Project manager should be taking a close look to better understand it. Look, listen, learn. Blaming yourself is no more virtuous than blaming others, although it is a disease of our culture. If you really have missed seeing things as they are, especially how other people feel and perceive the situation, then adjust. There are clearly underlying issues that can factor into the fracture of a project team.

 

About Aditi Malhotra

Aditi Malhotra is the Content Marketing Manager at Whizlabs. Having a Master in Journalism and Mass Communication, she helps businesses stop playing around with Content Marketing and start seeing tangible ROI. A writer by day and a reader by night, she is a fine blend of both reality and fantasy. Apart from her professional commitments, she is also endearing to publish a book authored by her very soon.

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