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PMP Practice: Analyze the context for the conflict

Question 2 of 4 in Manage Conflict

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Henrik Vestergaard is managing a large infrastructure project for Spaghetti Architecture Corp involving warehouse automation across five regional distribution centers. During a status meeting, two senior team leads—Viktor from the robotics integration team and Amara from the warehouse operations team—engage in a heated argument about testing schedules. Viktor insists that his team needs three additional weeks to complete integration testing before operations can begin user acceptance testing. Amara argues that the operations team has already been waiting two weeks beyond the original handoff date and cannot afford further delays, as warehouse staff scheduling depends on the UAT timeline. The argument escalates with both leads raising their voices and making accusatory statements about each other's planning competence. Other team members become visibly uncomfortable, and the meeting loses focus. Henrik has reviewed the integrated project schedule and confirmed that Viktor's request is technically justified due to unexpected compatibility issues discovered last week, but she also knows that Amara's team has legitimate operational constraints and has already accommodated previous delays. The conflict is disrupting team morale, and several team members have privately expressed concern about the increasingly hostile working relationship between the two leads. What should Henrik do to address this situation?
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Correct answer: Meet individually with Viktor and Amara to understand each person's underlying concerns and constraints, then facilitate a joint problem-solving session focused on identifying alternatives that address both teams' core needs

Explanation

This situation requires addressing both the immediate interpersonal conflict and the underlying scheduling disagreement. The collaborative approach is most appropriate here because both leads have legitimate concerns—Viktor has technical justification for the delay, and Amara has valid operational constraints. By meeting individually first, Henrik can understand each person's perspective without the emotional intensity of a joint meeting, identify underlying interests beyond stated positions, and assess whether there are unstated concerns driving the hostility. The subsequent joint problem-solving session creates space for collaborative resolution where both parties can explore alternatives such as phased testing, parallel activities, additional resources, or creative schedule compression techniques. This approach also demonstrates respect for both professionals, models constructive conflict resolution for the team, and addresses the deteriorating relationship that is affecting team morale. The scenario's closing facts—that both leads have legitimate concerns, the conflict is disrupting morale, and team members are concerned about the hostile relationship—make relationship repair and collaborative problem-solving clearly the priority over administrative processes or unilateral decisions.

**Why not A:** Routing the issue through formal change control is procedurally valid but does not address the interpersonal conflict or the deteriorating team morale. The heated arguments, accusatory statements, and uncomfortable team members require relationship repair and collaborative facilitation that a change request form cannot provide.

**Why not B:** Escalating to the project sponsor for guidance bypasses the PM's facilitation responsibility. Both leads have legitimate concerns that the PM can help resolve through structured problem-solving, and escalation before attempting direct resolution wastes the opportunity for collaborative alignment.

**Why not C:** Making an immediate compromise of two weeks is a unilateral decision that may not serve either team's needs. An arbitrary split does not address the underlying technical justification or operational constraints, and imposing a number without collaborative analysis may leave both teams dissatisfied while failing to explore creative alternatives.

Key Concept

This question covers Analyze the context for the conflict under Manage Conflict (People).

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