All People Tasks 1: Manage Conflict Flashcards
You have been doing your best to make sure the project teams that have been assembled are productive and able to cooperate optimally among themselves. Having noticed some dysfunctional events in one of the technical teams, you decide that it may be time to take action and address the situation. It seems motivation is lacking among the team. Which of the following is not an input of Develop Team as you work to address the situation?
A. Recognition and rewards
B. Project team assignments
C. Resource calendars
D. Resource management plan
Answer: A
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
Recognition and rewards is a tool and technique of the Develop Team process.
You are the project manager at an IT company called Vote Right. Your project follows an iteration-based agile methodology. During the first sprint, Ann, one of your team members, approaches you with a problem she is having with another team member named Gregg, who was involved in an altercation with Adrian, another team member, after work hours at an unofficial team happy hour event. What should you do first?
A. Review the team charter for the agreed-upon resolution process
B. Review project documents such as the cumulative flow diagram and iteration burn-down charts to determine impacts on project objectives
C. Determine how this could affect the team’s velocity and update project forecasts
D. Separate the two team members and ensure they will not be in the same room for the duration of the project
Answer: A
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
PMBOK Guide p.319 9.1.3.2 bullet 4 the team charter can cover the Conflict resolution process. Also see PMI Agile Practice Guide p.50 3rd bullet.
Sasha is the project manager of a 15-person project team which includes 3 Vice-Presidents, all more senior than Sasha. Two of these Vice Presidents are passive aggressive and do not show up prepared for the meetings. What process should Sasha use to regain control of these meetings?
A. Use the team charter to define the acceptable behavior for the team
B. Escalate to her project sponsor the difficulties of managing the meeting and request support
C. Use the project management plan to identify the processes to gain control of the meeting
D. Use the collaborate/problem solve method to resolve the conflict
Answer: A
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
The team charter should be created and used by all team members to outline acceptable team behaviors. Answer D may be useful once we have a specific issue identified, but we do not at this point.
Two team members on your regulatory audit project team are in disagreement about ownership on three key deliverables. They have come to you, the project manager, for help because they are unable to come to any kind of resolution on their own. Which of the following conflict resolution techniques is most helpful and least helpful, respectively?
A. Compromise, Withdrawal
B. Collaboration, Withdrawal
C. Collaboration, Forcing
D. Smoothing, Withdrawal
Answer: B
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
Collaboration is the most preferred method because it addresses the problem head-on, examines alternatives, and is generally the most thoughtful and proactive approach. Withdrawal would be the least effective option since you essentially remove yourself from the situation. Note, however, that the PMBOK states that any of the techniques may be employed depending on the circumstances
Your project follows an iteration-based agile methodology. During the first sprint Susan, one of your team members, approaches you with a problem she is having with another team member named Art Vandelay, who is being disruptive during team meetings and talking over other female team members. What should you do next?
A. Document the issue on the iteration-based agile issue log
B. Review the team charter for the agreed-upon resolution process
C. Talk to Art Vandelay and get his side of the story
D. Tell Susan to ignore this situation for now. If it recurs, ask Alain to work with the HR partner to resolve the conflict through legal channels
Answer: B
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
PMBOK Guide p.319 9.1.3.2 bullet 4 the team charter can covers the Conflict resolution process. Also see PMI Agile Practice Guide p.50 3rd bullet.
Two stakeholders, Mary and Joe, were arguing about when to start a particular activity on their project. Mary wants to wait 4 weeks until the project team can do more research, but Joe wants to start immediately. Rather than discussing it any further, they both just agree to start the activity in 2 weeks. What kind of conflict resolution technique does this situation illustrate?
A. Collaborating
B. Smoothing
C. Compromise
D. Avoidance
Answer: C
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
Compromise deals with finding solutions that bring some degree of satisfaction to both parties, but both parties must give something up. Collaborating(problem solving) is where the 2 parties would sit down, explain both sides, and work out the problem. Smoothing involves settling down tempers and frustrations but does not address the issue. Avoidance (also known as withdrawal) is where one party either physically or mentally leaves the discussion.
Steven is the project manager and is dealing with several conflicts on this project team. It has gotten to the point that two team members will not even speak to each other. This is beginning to cause delays in their assignments. If Steven does not take appropriate action quickly, they will miss a critical project deadline that is approaching. Which of the following techniques would produce lasting results in this situation?
A. Smoothing
B. Compromising
C. Problem-solving
D. Punishment
Answer: C
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
Answer choice C is the only conflict resolution technique that can bring forth last results. To produce lasting results the root cause of the problem must be confronted. Problem-solving is the best way to approach conflict resolution in this situation.
You are the project manager for an agile project that is building a web-based timekeeping system for your company. While the development and testing work is proceeding as planned, the team is discovering that there is already unrest and resistance among many stakeholders. Your company is a fairly young high-tech firm that designs and builds components for laptops, tablets, and smartphones and has a highly entrepreneurial and creative spirit. Tracking hours worked each week to many stakeholders feels like "big brother is going to be watching them"–thus the source of resistance. Which of the following would be least helpful to your team in dealing with this resistance before the new system is deployed?
A. Lewin’s model
B. McKinsey’s 7S framework
C. Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix
D. Kotter’s model
Answer: C
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
The Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix is useful to track where stakeholders’ attitudes currently are and where the team desires them to be, but at this point, your team has already determined that there is substantial resistance, so many stakeholders are already classified as resistors. The bigger issue is how to manage the recognized resistance. Lewin’s model (Unfreeze, Change, Re-freeze), McKinsey’s 7S model (alignment of Structure, Strategy, Systems, Skills, Style, Staff, and Shared Values), and Kotter’s Change Model (Create a Sense of Urgency, Build a Team Dedicated to the Change, Create a Vision for Change, Communicate the Need for Change, Empower Staff with the Ability to Change, Create Short Term Goals, Stay Persistent, Make the Change Permanent) are three of several change management methodologies that can help manage resistance to change in organizations.
Which conflict-resolution technique is the best for handling most situations?
A. Collaborating
B. Compromising
C. Forcing
D. Avoidance
Answer: A
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
Collaborating is the best problem-solving technique since it addresses the problem directly, examines alternatives, and takes into account various inputs/opinions.
Jon is the project manager of an office relocation project and is fed up with the several conflicts on his project. He tells the team: “I’m the boss. We are doing things my way from now on. If you don’t like it, there’s the door!” Which type of conflict resolution technique is he using?
A. Forcing
B. Problem-solving
C. Withdrawing
D. Autocratic
Answer: A
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
Forcing is a win-lose situation in which one person forces their decision on another. Note that D is not a conflict resolution tool, but rather a decision-making tool.
Lisa is new to a team that has been working on a project for seven months. She has plenty of experience, but she wants to apply what she believes to be better techniques for managing the project. As the project manager, you decide to sit down with Lisa and discuss the project plans, OPAs, and EEFs and determine why things were planned in such specific ways. She decides to continue pushing for change, but you inform her the plans will not change. What conflict management technique is this?
A. Force/Direct - The project manager will direct the employee to follow all components of the project management plan
B. Collaborate/problem solve - examine alternatives to find a give and take relationship
C. Smooth/Accommodate - demonstrate to the employee how the project is operating efficiently and performing well on scope, cost, and schedule
D. Inform the Sponsor the new hire is difficult to work with and request a change request
Answer: A
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
The conflict management technique used is the force/direct, which is defined as pushing a specific viewpoint at the expense of others (win-lose). Regardless of the situation, you have to make sure you answer the question.
You are the project manager for a large education company. You have had some troubles in the past keeping team members motivated on other projects. You want to make sure your team on the current project is highly motivated, since this is an especially important and complex project. Which of the following is the best method to make the reward systems more effective?
A. Pay a large salary increase to the best workers
B. Give the team a choice of rewards
C. Make the link between performance and rewards clear
D. Present notification of rewards within the company
Answer: C
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
The best method to make a reward system more effective is to clearly link performance to the reward, and communicate this to the team member so they know that certain performance will be rewarded.
As a team facilitator, you are trying to understand which level of conflict your team is at. You are hearing conversations such as, that is nonsense and you are completely wrong. Which of the five levels of conflict would this best describe?
A. Problem Solving
B. Disagreement
C. Contest
D. World War
Answer: B
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
This describes a Disagreement since team members are being opinionated. Problem Solving is where team members are working together collaboratively (here they are being combative). Contest would be where other team members start taking sides (there is no evidence of that here). World War is where teams are not talking to one another. https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/coaching-agile-project-teams-navigate-conflict-6760
__ __ is where team members are working together collaboratively. __ would be where other team members start taking sides. __ __ is where teams are not talking to one another.
Problem Solving is where team members are working together collaboratively (here they are being combative). Contest would be where other team members start taking sides (there is no evidence of that here). World War is where teams are not talking to one another.
Kathryn and Mike are preparing a work performance report for cost and are in constant disagreement about the placement of the control accounts on the WBS. As the project manager, how should you proceed?
A. Force/Direct - inform the team members the answer to their problem was already determined in the Cost Management Plan
B. Withdraw/Avoid - let the team members handle the problem themselves
C. Force/Direct - inform the team members the financial responsibility is already defined in the WBS Dictionary
D. Withdraw/Avoid - since it is the first instance, let them resolve the issue themselves, but refer them to the WBS Dictionary when asked
Answer: A
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
If this were the first instance the team would be allowed to resolve the issue on their own. The question states this is an ongoing problem. At this point, the project manager should be involved. With the options available the best answer was to inform the team to follow the plan.
As a project manager, you notice Stacy and Paul have a disagreement about the technique being used. You notice the conflict is getting out of hand, and you decide to focus their attention on how well they have performed on scope up until this point. What conflict management technique did you use?
A. Smooth/Accommodate
B. Withdraw/Avoid
C. Collaborate/Problem Solve
D. Compromise/Reconcile
Answer: A
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
Smooth/Accommodate is the technique of emphasizing areas of agreement but ignoring the true problem. By focusing the team members on something different, it could diffuse the situation.
__ __ is the technique of emphasizing areas of agreement but ignoring the true problem. By focusing the team members on something different, it could diffuse the situation.
Smooth/Accommodate
You call an emergency meeting of your project management team. Your project is to build a wastewater treatment plant in a remote area of the country. You have done your stakeholder analysis and created your communications plan. But a new group of stakeholders have surfaced in a neighboring town who are complaining that they do not know enough about it. Your best next step would be to do what?
A. Note this in the issue log with a date for resolution
B. Schedule a face-to-face meeting with stakeholders to address their concerns
C. Notify the sponsor and let him deal with it
D. Update the stakeholder engagement plan
Answer: B
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
This is a situation that must be dealt with immediately, and the most effective method is face-to-face whenever possible. It will likely be necessary to update the stakeholder engagement plan but this is not your first priority. PMBOK Guide philosophy is a direct approach in stakeholder relationships.
You are working within an organic organization and you have been working on your project for about three months. All is going well until you come across a conflict between two team members. The conflict is starting to impact the work of the team due to the popularity of one of the team members. As a project manager, how should you proceed?
A. Document the issue on the issue log, determine the root cause and look for different approaches to resolving the issue
B. Compromise/Reconcile - make both employees work together to resolve the issue with mediation
C. Schedule, priorities, and resources account for 50% of conflicts; therefore, they should be managed according to the Project Management Plan
D. Withdraw/Avoid - the issue deals with personalities so transfer an employee to another team to avoid further complications
Answer: A
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
Answer A is another way of saying collaborate/problem solve. Collaborate/Problem solve examines alternatives to find a give-and-take solution (win-win).
__/__ solve examines alternatives to find a give-and-take solution (win-win).
Collaborate/Problem solve examines alternatives to find a give-and-take solution (win-win).
You are a Team Facilitator of a software development release where you host and attend regular Scrum of Scrum meetings. During the project two teams were disagreeing about a design solution that over time escalated to a point where neither team was willing to listen to the other team. As this started hindering the progress of the project you decided to bring in an Agile Coach and you worked with the coach and the teams to help resolve the problem. The solution turned out to be something very simple and the two teams started working together again. Which of the following documents would you update next in this situation?
A. Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix
B. Risk Register
C. Conflict Management Plan
D. Lessons Learned
Answer: D
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
The best answer here would be to update the lessons learned register since after a lot of back and forth the solution turned out to be a simple one. You want to make sure this does not happen again. There is no issue with Stakeholder Engagement (both teams are still supportive of the project!). A risk is an uncertainty (this is an issue). There is no document called Conflict Management Plan.
One of your technical team members has been working with a stakeholder on the design for a product. You have noticed that there has been some conflict between them which they have tried to resolve. You decide to intervene so that the conflict does not spiral out of control. You begin by emphasizing areas of agreement rather than areas of difference. This conflict management technique is called:
A. Compromise/reconcile
B. Smooth/accommodate
C. Withdraw/avoid
D. Problem solve
Answer: B
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
Compromise means each gives up a position. Withdraw means retreating from the conflict situation, postponing the issue. Problem solve is when parties sit down and work towards a win/win situation. In this question, while some progress was made, the conflict has not been resolved.
Larry has a very talented team engaged in devising the detailed user stories for the next sprint in his agile project. He notices that there is some debate about which requirements can actually be delivered in the constrained time frame given. Larry tells his team that the best way to solve their current conflict is to find a middle ground. Larry is using which conflict resolution technique?
A. Forcing
B. Withdrawing
C. Compromising
D. Smoothing
Answer: C
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
Compromising is where neither party gets exactly what they want and both parties give something up. Rather than try to solve the problem, they simply meet in the middle.
On your project, there are several stakeholders, the most important of whom are within the main business you support. Your sponsor calls you aside one day and advises you he has noticed there appears to be less support and more resistance to your project. What tools and techniques of Manage Stakeholder Engagement should you be using to help deal with this issue?
A. Root cause analysis, assumption and constraint analysis, stakeholder engagement assessment matrix
B. Stakeholder engagement assessment matrix, active listening, stakeholder analysis
C. Conflict management, cultural awareness, negotiation, political awareness
D. Stakeholder analysis, stakeholder mapping/representation, questionnaires and surveys
Answer: C
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
While there is some overlap among the various Stakeholder processes, only Manage Stakeholder Engagement has the four mentioned in the answer. Conflict management in particular only shows up in Manage Stakeholder Engagement, not in the other three.
You are a project manager for a large healthcare organization. So far your project has been fairly successful with only minor problems and changes. The project team is executing the work packages of your project when a serious disagreement regarding the interpretation of the scope is brought to your attention by your most trusted team member. Your project sponsor also has a different opinion. How should you proceed?
A. The dispute should be resolved in favor of the project sponsor.
B. You should consult the project management plan, charter, scope baseline, and any contracts from the customer for guidance.
C. The project team should have a meeting to decide on the proper resolution.
D. The dispute should be resolved in favor of the customer.
Answer: B
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
This disagreement needs to be resolved, and the PM should consult all the relevant information available to her before proceeding. Having done so, you can then consult with key stakeholders to gain further clarification if necessary.
Two members of your Homeowners insurance software development team got into a heated dispute over a design approach, which escalated into a fistfight in the hallway of your company. You were sitting nearby, heard the commotion, and had to intervene to break up the fight. What would have been the best tool to utilize to have prevented this fight from occurring in the first place?
A. Project Charter
B. Team Charter
C. Smooth/Accommodate approach
D. Collaborate/Problem Solve approach
Answer: B
People - Task 1 - Manage Conflict
The Team Charter should include ground rules for how to escalate issues and conflicts. Answers C and D are conflict resolution approaches that are applied after a conflict occurs, so aren’t preventive (of those, C is the better approach to defuse the situation since D rarely works when emotions are frayed). The Project Charter is not the appropriate place to cover conflict resolution rules.
