## **Learning Outcomes**

After reading this article, you will be able to recognize key sources of conflict and impediments in projects, explain the project manager's responsibility for resolving issues, and prioritize techniques for addressing and removing blockers in both predictive and agile environments. You will also be able to apply these principles to resolve typical problems in PMP-style questions.

## **PMP Syllabus**

For PMP, you are required to understand the principles and responsibilities relating to conflict management and impediment removal. Focus your revision on the following syllabus areas:

- Identify sources and types of conflict in projects.
- Recognize the stages of conflict and the importance of early resolution.
- Apply appropriate conflict resolution techniques (collaborating, compromising, etc.).
- Identify impediments, obstacles, and blockers for the team.
- Prioritize and address impediments using a systematic approach.
- Use servant leadership principles to remove blockers for the team.
- Collaborate with team members and stakeholders to maintain progress.
- Continually reassess and communicate about impediments to project objectives.
- Document issues and impediment resolution as part of project records.

## **Test Your Knowledge**

_Attempt these questions before reading this article. If you find some difficult or cannot remember the answers, remember to look more closely at that area during your revision._

1. Which conflict resolution style is generally preferred to solve root problems in a project team?
   a) Forcing
   b) Collaborating
   c) Smoothing
   d) Withdrawing

2. When should a project manager begin addressing team impediments or blockers?
   a) Only after a milestone is delayed
   b) When the team specifically requests help
   c) As soon as blockers are identified
   d) At the next formal review meeting

3. Who holds primary responsibility for removing team impediments in an agile environment?
   a) Business analysts
   b) Project sponsor
   c) Product owner
   d) Scrum facilitator

4. What is the first step in systematic impediment resolution?
   a) Communicate to management
   b) Document in the issue log
   c) Identify and prioritize blockers
   d) Assign defects for correction

## **Introduction**

Managing conflicts and resolving team impediments are daily challenges faced by project managers. Effective resolution maintains momentum, improves morale, and reduces risk of project failure. On the PMP exam, you will be tested on how and when to act to identify, prioritize, and remove blockers or obstacles to progress, and how to select appropriate conflict resolution styles.

### Understanding Sources of Conflict

Conflict is normal and expected, especially in projects with multiple teams, competing objectives, and limited resources. Most common sources include schedules, priorities, resources, technical opinions, procedures, costs, and personalities.

> **Key Term: Conflict**
> An open or hidden disagreement or opposition between project stakeholders, team members, or groups about objectives, methods, or resources.

### Stages of Conflict

Conflicts can occur at any stage in a project. Early conflicts tend to be about roles, requirements, or priorities. As the project advances, unaddressed issues may become personal and escalate, negatively impacting trust and performance.

> **Key Term: Impediment**
> Any obstacle or blocker that prevents the project team from achieving objectives or progressing as planned.
>
> **Key Term: Blocker**
> Specific impediment that directly halts work or progress, often requiring intervention beyond the immediate team.

### Approaches to Conflict Resolution

In project management, the preferred resolution style depends on situation context, but generally, collaborating (problem-solving) is recommended as it aims to find a win-win solution and addresses root causes. Other styles include compromising (finding a middle ground), smoothing (emphasizing agreement), forcing (using authority), and withdrawing (avoiding the conflict temporarily).

> **Key Term: Collaborating (Problem-Solving)**
> Actively working with others to analyze root causes of a conflict and develop a mutually beneficial solution.

### Identifying and Prioritizing Impediments

Project teams, especially in agile environments, regularly encounter blockers or impediments that hinder workflow (e.g., unavailable resources, tools, technical issues, dependencies, stakeholder delays). The project manager or scrum facilitator should proactively gather information about blockers from team members, often in daily standups.

> **Key Term: Daily Standup**
> A short, regular team meeting (typically 15 minutes) for team members to report on progress, plans, and any impediments.

#### Systematic Impediment Management

1. **Identify and log blockers as soon as they are raised.**
2. **Prioritize critical impediments**—those with highest impact on progress or risk.
3. **Assign responsibility for resolution.**
4. **Communicate status and actions transparently to all stakeholders.**
5. **Monitor until the blocker is removed; escalate if necessary.**

> **Key Term: Issue Log**
> Project document that records all active issues, their priority, owner, status, and actions taken for resolution.

### The Role of the Project Manager and Servant Leadership

Project managers are expected to act quickly when blockers are identified. In predictive environments, the PM is responsible for monitoring and acting on issues logged in the issue register. In agile teams, the scrum facilitator or agile coach—practicing servant leadership—removes impediments to keep the team moving.

> **Key Term: Servant Leadership**
> A leadership style where the leader's main goal is to serve the team by removing obstacles and supporting team performance, rather than controlling.

### Proactive Communication and Reassessment

Continual reassessment is needed, as new blockers or conflicts can emerge at any time. The PM should create a psychologically safe environment for team members to raise issues and should update status, progress, or escalations transparently.

### **Worked Example 1.1**

A distributed development team is unable to deploy code due to firewalls set by company IT. Multiple team members raise this at the daily standup, noting all work has stalled. The scrum facilitator records the impediment in the issue log, prioritizes it as critical, then works with IT and management to get the firewall temporarily adjusted.

> **Answer:** The scrum facilitator (servant leader) removes the impediment by coordinating with stakeholders outside the team, ensuring work can continue.

### **Worked Example 1.2**

During a large infrastructure project, two teams are competing for a single test environment. Both teams argue over schedule, causing delivery delays. The project manager arranges a joint meeting and leads the group to agree on a schedule sharing solution, balancing priorities and documenting the decision.

> **Answer:** The project manager uses a collaborating approach, addressing root causes and finding a win-win compromise to eliminate the bottleneck.

### **Exam Warning**

> Relying solely on team members to self-resolve critical blockers risks project progress. For the PMP exam, you are expected to act promptly when impediments are raised, especially when they are outside the team's control.

### **Revision Tip**

> Practice distinguishing between types of conflict resolution. For most project exams, collaborating/problem-solving and proactive impediment removal are the preferred answers.

## **Summary**

Conflict and impediment resolution is essential for steady progress. Effective project managers seek out blockers, prioritize critical issues, take ownership of resolutions, and use appropriate leadership and communications to keep the team on track.

## **Key Point Checklist**

_This article has covered the following key knowledge points:_

- Recognize common sources and types of conflict in projects.
- Identify and log impediments, blockers, and obstacles as soon as they arise.
- Prioritize impediments based on impact to progress or risk.
- Use collaborating (problem-solving) as the primary style for conflict resolution.
- Assign responsibility for resolving each impediment or blocker.
- Ensure proactive, transparent communication concerning resolution actions.
- Apply servant leadership or similar proactive styles as project manager or scrum facilitator.
- Reassess and review blockers continually throughout the project.
- Keep issue and impediment records updated as part of project documentation.

## **Key Terms and Concepts**

- Conflict
- Impediment
- Blocker
- Collaborating (Problem-Solving)
- Daily Standup
- Issue Log
- Servant Leadership


Conflict and impediment resolution - Addressing and removing impediments