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members, it should come as no surprise that team members will have disagreements.

Sometimes people simply need to have a conversation and work through the issues,
but other times disputes require the intervention of the project manager.

You may be tempted to make a snap judgment based on what you see at any given
point in time, but this may only exacerbate the situation. You need to get the facts and
understand what is behind the dispute. Interview each of the team members involved
to get as much information as you can. If it’s a minor dispute, you might consider
hosting a meeting, with you as the moderator, and ask each person to explain their

issues and offer potential solutions. You could turn this into a brainstorming session in
order to engage everyone and place the burden of finding a solution on them.

Sometimes, the dispute is very deep or potentially involves threats or other workplace
issues. Always get your human resource department involved in these issues as soon as
you are made aware of the problem. Most organizations have strict policies and
guidelines in place regarding disputes of this nature. They may recommend mediation,

training, disciplinary action, or replacing one of the team members. Don’t attempt to
resolve these types of issues on your own. If you do, you may find yourself entangled in
legal issues, especially if you acted outside of the company policy.

It’s always a good idea to check with your human resource department
before jumping into the middle of dispute resolution. You want to make certain
you are following company policies and don’t end up as part of the problem

yourself, rather than as part of the solution.

Disgruntled Team Members

Few situations can poison team morale more quickly than a disgruntled team member.
This can happen at any time during the project and can involve anyone on the team.

The behavior of a discontented team member can take a variety of forms. They may
become argumentative in meetings or continually make snide comments putting down
the project. Even worse, this unhappy person may spend time “cube hopping” in order
to share these negative feelings about the project with other team members. When

otherwise-satisfied team members constantly hear statements that the project is
worthless, is doomed to fail, or is on the cutting block, overall team productivity will be
impacted.

As the project manager, you need to spend some private time with this employee to
determine the cause of the dissatisfaction. It may be that the unhappy team member
doesn’t fully understand the project scope or how their contribution will lead to the
project success. Or, it could be this person never wanted this assignment in the first

place and feels forced onto a project they don’t believe in.

It is best to start by listening. Stick to the facts, and ask the person to clarify the

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