Disagreements and conflicts naturally emerge within a project team during the life of the project. Participants will disagree over priorities, allocation of resources the quality of specific work, solutions to discovered problems, and so forth. Some conflicts support the goals of the group and improve project performance. Effectively managing conflicts within the project is critical…
Do You Encourage Functional Conflict?
The demarcation between functional conflict and dysfunctional conflict is neither clear nor precise. In one team, members may exchange a diatribe of four-letter expletives and eventually resolve their differences. Yet in another project team, such behavior would create irreconcilable divisions and would prohibit the parties from ever working together productively again. The distinguishing criterion is…
Manage Dysfunctional Conflict Easily Using This 5 Step Framework
Managing dysfunctional conflict is a much more challenging task than encouraging functional conflict. First, dysfunctional conflict is hard to identify. A manager might have two highly talented professionals who hate each others guts, but in the heat of competition they produce meritorious results. Is this a pleasant situation? No. Is it functional? Yes, as long…
What If Costs, Not Time, Is the Issue?
In today’s fast-paced world, there appears to be a greater emphasis on getting things done quickly. Still, organizations are always looking for ways to get things done while reducing costs. This is especially true for fixed-bid projects, where profit margin is derived from the difference between the bid and actual cost of the project. Every…
Using Direct Costs to Build a Project Cost-Duration Graph
This article will be the first part of a miniseries on building a project cost-duration graph. The graph, as you will see in the next part, will provide you with insights into how you can compare additional cost alternatives (indirect or direct costs) for benefits and make the best decision available to you. You will…
6 Methods to Build The Perfect Project Cost Duration Graph
This article is the third part in a miniseries on building a project cost duration graph. The first part can be found here and the second part here. If you have already read them please ignore this paragraph. If not I would encourage you to read them first as they will provide you with a…
How to Easily Construct a Project Cost Duration Graph
This is the second part of a short series on how to construct a project cost duration graph. You can find the previous part here. There are three major steps required to start building a project cost duration graph: Find total direct costs for selected project durations. Find total indirect costs for selected project durations.…
5 Reasons For Reducing Project Duration
This article addresses strategies for reducing project duration either prior to setting the baseline for the project or in the midst of project execution. Choice of options is based on the constraints surrounding the project. For example, there are many more options available for reducing project duration if you are not resource constrained than if…
9 Easy Ways to Speed Up Project Delivery
This is the message sent to the Government in a keynote speech by the recently appointed HS2 Chairman Sir David Higgins in Manchester on Monday as he delivered his long awaited review, HS2 Plus, of the mega project’s direction, costs and project delivery method. The best way of keeping costs down for the £50 billion…
Decision Making Process, Make It Your Own
Most decisions on a project do not require a formal meeting to discuss alternatives and determine solutions. Instead decisions are made in real time as part of the daily interaction patterns between project managers, stakeholders, and team members. With that said, I do feel that a formal decision making process should be at the ready,…