The Six Dimensions of Project Management

CHAPTER 9

Conflict Management and Multiple Stakeholders

In the ideal project management world, customers and senior managers make project decisions based on organizational mission, vision, and values. These decisions are clear, unambiguous, and without hidden political agendas. Your mission, Jim (should you decide to accept it),¹ may be challenging, but it’s fair. Often that’s the way it is.

But sometimes it isn’t. There is often variance in how different people answer, “Why do I care about this project?” If the variance is small, there are few opportunities for conflict. If the variance is large, conflict is much more likely. People see the triple ...