Blog Post Image

Example Question – Conflict Management – Feedback Required

Paul Naybour Paul Naybour

Published: 5th February 2016

List and describe a
source of conflict arising within each of the following parts of the project
lifecycle.

  1. Concept
  2. Definition
  3. Implementation
  4. Handover
  5. Close out
  6. Concept – Conflicts relating to business case and the solution which is chosen
  7. Definition – Conflicts relating to the delivery schedule and timescales
  8. Implementation – Conflicts relating to the products being developed and their fitness for purpose
  9. Handover – Conflicts relating to training on how to use the products
Close
out. – Conflicts relating to how to transistion the project from Project
environment to BAU.
Conflicts relating to
business case and the solution which is chosen
During the business
case development a number of different options are considered in order to derive
a solution. Stakeholders will all form their own opinions as to whether to make
or buy and which solution is best.  At
the end of the business case following careful scrutiny taking into account
costs, risks, timescales and benefits a single solution is put forward. In this
example the sponsor will play a key role in ensuring all stakeholders are
aligned to the recommended solution.
Definition
During the definition
stage scope is defined and refined through scope management techniques such as
Work breakdown structures and product breakdown structures. This is then put
into a schedule which will form the cornerstone of delivery and is baselined
and included within the PMP.  In our
organisation we often struggle to get agreement over delivery timescales given
resource constraints and so further debate needs to take place over costs to
bring in additional resource to reduce timescales for delivery.
Implementation
During implementation
products are developed against a set of success criteria and undergo unit
testing, system testing and overall user acceptance testing. At this stage when
the products are actually demonstrable to the user they will often wish to
change the requirement, or request additional changes not originally
considered. This could be managed by change control and towards the end of
development by introducing a change freeze.
Handover
When the products are
handed over to the users conflicts may arise surrounding training. Different
users with differing experience may require additional training not originally
considered. For example users may require additional Basic IT training to bring
them up to a basic level of IT Literacy before Specific IT system training
takes place, This can be avoided by completion of training needs analysis
during the definition stage.
Closure
Conflict can arise
when the product is handed over from the project environment into Support and
operations. If documentation is missing or incomplete support issues may not be
effectively be resolved which limits the effective use of the product and
confidence of the customer is diminished  as an effective support arrangement is not
established.