- Your partner
In order to handle conflict between my partner and I will embrace several techniques such as avoiding/withdrawing conflict management, smooth/accommodative conflict management, compromise/reconcile conflict management techniques.
Withdraw/avoid conflict management
According to Kerzner (2017) withdrawal/avoid conflict management is the ability to retreat from a real-time or probable conflict situation by adjourning the issues to be better prepared for resolved by other people. In this regard, since I am susceptible to to outbursts of annoyance, withdraw/avoid is the best technique. By withdrawing, it will allow me the chance to come up with better thoughts to discourse the conflict. At the same time, the temporary circumventing of the battle will also provide me with the opportunity to think through my partner’s situation.
Smooth/accommodative conflict management
In regards to PMBOK, it is better to emphasize areas of agreement instead of areas of dissimilarities through acknowledging another person’s stand to the wishes of others so that to maintain relationships and harmony. I will use this method because it acknowledges the relevance of professional correlations to the success of a project. This approach will allow my partner and I the opportunity to rethink about applying for the Keystart program. Even though the Kyestart program could sound lucrative on the side of my partner, in my view, the idea could come with its consequences (Müller, Packendorff, & Sankaran, 2017). A home is something that needs to take time thinking about the design and the development requirements associated with the project. Therefore, rushing over the matter could lead to adverse repercussions in the future. As a result, this approach is appropriate in solving the conflict between my partner and I sense it will provide both of us the chance to speak up each other’s mind and views about the home design.
Compromise/reconcile conflict management
Compromise/reconcile is a conflict management approach that searches for solutions that bring a certain extent of satisfaction to both sides as a way to temporarily resolve the conflict. In this context this technique is suitable because it will provide both of use with the chance to discuss our differences in regards to the home design (Cunningham, Salomone, & Wielgus, 2015). In my view, to develop a dream home, it calls for a well-planned strategy because in case any mistake is made in the process of developing the house, it will lead to a home that will not be of the desired dream. For that reason, I find that the builder of our dream has taken advantage that by making a quick decision to use the present promotion, we shall have the opportunity to receive the 5kW solar energy system. However, in my view, rushing the decision could sound appropriate because of the free 5kW solar energy system; however, this could have made us realize our dream home. On the other hand, according to my partner’s view, the builder’s idea seems good because it will provide us the opportunity to get a free 5kW solar energy system, and on top of that, we shall have managed to meet the threshold limit to apply for Keystart program. However my partner has a feeling that my being hard to agree on the home design could make use lose both the free 5kW solar energy system and the admissibility to apply for the Keystart program because it is only one week left and my partner’s salary together with mine will surpass the minimum limit eligible to apply for Keystart program. Thus, the compromise conflict management approach is the most appropriate because it will allows us to weigh the benefits associated with each partner’s choice.
- The builder
Collaborative conflict management
Collaborative conflict management is the most appropriate technique to use with the builder because it allows for a range of insights and views coming from different perspectives. This approach is critical in this context because it allows for open dialogue, which could lead to commitment and consensus (Müller, Packendorff, & Sankaran, 2017). Since, in this project, my partner and the builder are for the option to agree on the home design, this conflict management will allow the builder to give their view regarding the benefit of picking the home design, which consists of luxury versus standard kitchen, electrical appliances, and flooring. Based on the builder’s agreeing to the home design will in one save me the cost related to seeking an alternative electric power supply because this will be provided by the Keystart program, which will offer us a free 5kW solar energy system.
Nevertheless, delaying to agree on the home design will mean that we shall incur the extra cost of purchasing a solar system that is being offered free by the current builder. On the other hand, my view is to obtain the final cost estimate before agreeing with the builder. Indeed, my to wait from the final cost estimation for the house is because I have to be sure enough regarding the cist that it will take to construct my dream home since it has to be built in the best way possible. At the same time, agreeing the home design without knowing the final cost estimate to constructing the house could turn out to be more expensive than it was thought before. With the help of collaborative conflict management, it will allow each party’s opportunity to measure the provided views and then weight the strengths that each party has towards and against the home design (Chaudhry, Raziq, Saeed, Sajjad, & Borini, 2019). After that, a consensus will be reached in a much harmonious way.
Direct/force conflict management
This type of conflict management is used to push one’s views at the expense of others. Since the builder want to take advantage of the current promotion offers of a free 5kW solar system that is about to end to force me agree to the offer. However, since the final cost has not been determined I will use direct conflict management to turn down the offer because I am not sure about the cost that the house could since the final cost for constructing the house has not been determined. While taking the offer could entice me to agree with the builder things may turn sour if the final cost to construct the house happens to be more costly than the savings that I have saved for years.
Select one leadership style and explain in detail how you would successfully manage this project to completion.
Leadership consists of several things, such as leading, inspiring, as well as bringing together groups of individuals to perform specific set tasks (Cunningham, Salomone, & Wielgus, 2015). Therefore as a leader, one should possess the quality to direct teams of people. Besides, one should have the competence to motivate others and should also make them carry out responsibilities in a timely way. Various leadership styles are used when it comes to project management (Zhang, Cao, & Wang, 2018). Indeed, project leadership plays a critical part in project management. Each leader has their leadership style, and these styles vary from person to person, hence it depends upon their familiarities, viewpoints, and their temperaments. According to Joslin and Müller (2015), leadership style is the performance of the leaders towards the team they are directing. As a result, different kinds of governance styles will have poles apart effects on the surroundings and the achievements made by the team. In this case, I will apply a democratic leadership style.
Democratic leadership style is a management style that allows each member of the group to proactively take part in the decision-making process of the project (DuBois, Koch, Hanlon, Nyatuga, & Kerr, 2015). I will use this style because each project member is provided with a chance to share and exchange ideas, participate, and discuss how to ensure that the project succeeds. Even though the democratic process will tend to emphasize on team equality as well as the free flow of ideas, the project leader has to be present to provide direction and control (Raziq, Borini, Malik, Ahmad, & Shabaz, 2018). Since democratic leadership style support team involvement, participation as well as engagement it will enable the acknowledgment and honor of every member in the development of the dream home (Larsson, Eriksson, Olofsson, & Simonsson, 2015). The setting provided by a democratic leader has been found to yield team supporters with a high confidence and more encouraged to offer and generate inventive solutions because it allows for an environment of team spirit and collaboration.
The democratic governance style is also referred to as a “participative” leadership style since it is based on a member’s involvement. In this case, the essence of a democratic project manager is to foster project team commitment in the project by investing their energies towards the success of the plan (Zhao, Hwang, & Lee, 2016). Accordingly, this leadership style motivates project members to set workable goals as well as recognize their achievements. Therefore, project members are in a better position to plan with their project manager to aid them in analyzing their performances and encourage them to focus on the project’s success and at the same time improving on their project management skills.
Democratic leadership style is appropriate for the home construction project because it lets the project manager the chance to inform the project teams about the issues that are likely to affect them and involve them to take part in the problem-solving decision-making process. Indeed, democratic leadership is for leaders who want to offer the project team consistent opportunities to cultivate a sense of individual growth as well as job fulfilment. Also, it enhances team building and collaboration (Binder, 2016). Therefore, democratic leadership style will provide me with the chance to allow each party to air their views in regards to the dream home, and after that, we shall discuss each person’s beliefs and then reach a consensus on the best direction to follow in delivering the project. As a result, this will help to remove any misunderstanding amongst the members of the project, which will help in the smooth running of the project because each member will feel to be part of the project under development.
Quality Control Tools and Techniques used to manage the Project
Quality management, when it comes to the construction of homes and construction projects as a whole, has become critical in modern construction practices, which has integrated quality management principles and initiatives in their practices. Numerous quality management tools are used in the construction sector (Binder, 2016). In-Depth analysis, with the help of these tools and techniques, offers project managers the opportunities to make improvements in terms of timeline and cost matters. Therefore, for critical areas, they are studied using the work breakdown structure, while functional unit analysis focuses on significant activities. For problem-solving in construction, quality management is realized using tools such as Pareto analysis, Fishbone diagrams, brainstorming sessions, among others. In regards to this project, quality control will be performed with the help of the following quality control tools and techniques: control charts, cause and effect diagrams, flow chart, Histogram, Pareto chart, inspection, and run charts.
Control charts: The control chart is used to demonstrate the process stability. This is a quality control tool that is used to weigh the behavior of the process over time. If the process shows unacceptable variance over time, the process is said to be unstable (Hopkinson, 2017). To determine if the variation is intolerable, the process should show seven consecutive readings that are below the central line. The control chart consists of three elements: control limits, specification limit, and central line. The progress of the project is determined by calculating the components to aid in determining if the values have exceeded the specification limits or are within the deadline. The process is considered to be out of control in case the calculated data is found to exceed the control limit that is if seven consecutive points are far below or above the mean. In this respect, the control chart diagram is used in the construction of the dream house to check its stability. The project manager performs a counteractive action besides monitoring the outcome of the undertaken undertakings to quantity the impact that it poses on the project stability process.
A control chart is essential for the dream home construction because it offers the project manager and the stakeholders the capability to determine the points at which they should implement corrective measures to avert further problems (Cameron & Green, 2015). In addition part from the control chart helping in determining corrective actions to control new issues from affecting the construction of the dream home, it is also useful in monitoring the cost, frequency of scope changes, schedule variances in addition to other management outcomes that helps in determining if the project management process is in line with the acceptable control range of the project.
Cause and effect diagram: This diagram plays a significant part in identifying the root cause of the probable and existing problems that face the project. The head of the fishbone diagram represents the problems (Kerzner, 2019). On the other hand, the body of the picture denotes the origin of the problem as well as the measures that should undertake to resolve the issue identified at the head of the Ishikawa diagram. In this sense, the cause and effect diagram is significant to the dream home construction project because it will enable the project manager and the construction teams to identify the root of the problems that affect the project progress. For instance, if the project teams find issues with any process like process verification defects, they will use the Ishikawa diagram to find the root cause of the problem. The Ishikawa diagram is vital to the home dream construction project because it helps the project manager to subdivide every resource into several resources until they are capable of reaching the original cause of the problem (Xuan, Moslehpour, & Tien, 2019). The problem statement of the fishbone usually originates from the control chart when its measurement points out the problem in the stability process.
Flow chart: The flow chart is essential in quality control of the project as it calls for the project manager to follow the flow of the process to determine the existing or potential problems facing the project (Cagliano, Grimaldi, & Rafele, 2015). The flow chart graphically describes the workflow process; hence, it can define the stages of any given process using graphic symbols that are interconnected to each other with paths that demonstrate the workflow path. Accordingly, the flowchart is a vital tool in regard to construction of the dream home because it helps to visualize the steps required for the project management process (Mitra, 2016). Each flowchart comprises the roles responsible for implementing given actions, actions as well as the inputs and outputs. Therefore, the flowchart will help the construction project manager to document and record additional materials needed to execute specific activities related to the construction process. The essence of the flowchart is to clarify and ensure transparency in the project management process (Fewings & Henjewele, 2019). Therefore, since the flowchart maps out all steps involved in the project management process, it makes it more comfortable for the project manager to assign responsibilities to the teams. Regarding the construction of the dream home, the project manager will use the flow chart to help in resource allocation, assigning duties to the project teams and clarifying the intent of the project to all members.
Histogram: A histogram is a graphical illustration of event frequencies within a project. A histogram is a tool that demonstrates the statistical distribution and dispersion, as well as the central tendency of a specified set of measurements represented on a perpendicular bar chart. This tool is significant to the project manager because it allows them the ability to identify the project event with the most considerable frequency in terms of resources and requirements. A histogram is vital to the project manager because it enables them to use the provide data to monitor the different events and analyze the intensity of each project intensity (Harrison & Lock, 2017). Also, the data presented by the histogram is useful in determining the resources essential to acomplish the project. In this respect, the project manager for constructing the dream home will utilize the data presented by the histogram to calculate the cost needed to complete the project. In addition to that, the data presented by the histogram is used to allocate each event with resources.
Pareto chart: The Pareto chart is a vertical chart that is subdivided into groups that illustrate the likely probabilities for problem occurrence. These categories are arranged in the order by the frequency of every class ranging from that with the highest frequency to that with the least rate. The Pareto works based on the principle of 80/20, which ascertains that 80% of the problems in any project have their origin from 20% of the causes. Therefore, once the project manager is aware that 20% of the project causes, they give more resources as well as attention to avert them. Thus, the Pareto diagram is useful and should be used together with the fishbone to determine the root cause of the project problems. Concerning constructing the dream home project, the Pareto provides the project manager with a straightforward approach to make a comparison before and after snapshots as a strategy to verify if any process changes provided desirable outcomes.
Inspection: It is also known as a check sheet. The check sheet contains items of inspection as well as tests and the features that each test can lead to (Heldman, 2018). The approval measure of every test have to be recorded on the check sheet, which acts as a guide to determining if the scrutinized item of the tester like a portion of code in a software task has approved a test item. Afterwards the project manager collects rate of recurrence of every defect and illustrate it in a Pareto chart. Creating a check sheet is critical for a project manager because it enables them to determine the number of problems that could arise for a specific project. Hence it is crucial to use the check sheet tool to organize the gathered data, which makes it easier for the project manager to identify the parameters to be included in the check sheet. In regards to the dream home construction project, the check sheet is used to identify several defects that may arise from the construction project and avoid them before occurring (Rumane, 2017).
Run charts: It is a series of recorded data over a given period and represented graphically. The data helps to understand if there is a problem or not. The run chart is an important quality control tool because it informs the project manager about the progress of the project before they have gathered enough data to come up with reliable control limits (Haz?r, 2015). The run chart is a vital tool for to dream home project because it helps in determining the reliable controls towards any problems that could face the construction project.
Risk Management Strategy for Dream Home Construction
Risk management in constructing the dream home is an essential part of planning to manage the project. The risks related to this project include environmental hazards, financial risks, and construction-related risks (Iqbal, Choudhry, Holschemacher, Ali, & Tamošaitien?, 2015). The figure below represents the risk management strategy used to manage all risks related to dream home construction.
Risk identification: The project manager and other stakeholders should create a checklist of the standard risks that could affect the construction project. During risk identification the project team can use brainstorming to predict the risks likely to affect the construction of the house.
Risk analysis: At this point the project team analyzes the identified risks towards the project to identify and manage potential problems that undermine the construction project (Iqbal, Choudhry, Holschemacher, Ali, & Tamošaitien?, 2015). The project has to identify the probable threats facing the construction and approximate the probability of these risks to materialize.
Risk treatment: At this point the project manager decide on the suitable approach to counter risks associated to the construction project to the identified risks. All plans that were thought of before the risk management process was incepted are expended with actions to manage the risk before they happen by offering contingency plans with which to get back in case the risk occur (Qazi, Quigley, Dickson, & Kirytopoulos, 2016).
References
Binder, J. (2016). Global project management: communication, collaboration and management across borders. Routledge: London.
Cagliano, A. C., Grimaldi, S., & Rafele, C. (2015). Choosing project risk management techniques. A theoretical framework. Journal of Risk Research, 18(2), 232-248.
Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2015). Making sense of change management: A complete guide to the models, tools, and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers.
Chaudhry, M. S., Raziq, M. M., Saeed, A., Sajjad, A., & Borini, F. M. (2019). Management styles in a project environment: evidence from the software industry in Oman. Leadership & Organization Development Journal.
Cunningham, J., Salomone, J., & Wielgus, N. (2015). Project Management Leadership Style: A Team Member Perspective. International Journal of Global Business, 8(2).
DuBois, M., Koch, J., Hanlon, J., Nyatuga, B., & Kerr, N. (2015). Leadership Styles of Effective Project Managers: Techniques and Traits to Lead High-Performance Teams. Journal of Economic Development, Management, IT, Finance & Marketing, 7(1).
Fewings, P., & Henjewele, C. (2019). Construction project management: an integrated approach. Routledge: London.
Harrison, F., & Lock, D. (2017). Advanced project management: a structured approach. Routledge: London.
Haz?r, Ö. (2015). A review of analytical models, approaches, and decision support tools in project monitoring and control. International Journal of Project Management, 33(4), 808-815.
Heldman, K. (2018). PMP: project management professional exam study guide. John Wiley & Sons.
Hopkinson, M. (2017). The project risk maturity model: Measuring and improving risk management capability. Routledge: London.
Iqbal, S., Choudhry, R. M., Holschemacher, K., Ali, A., & Tamošaitien?, J. (2015). Risk management in construction projects. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 21(1), 65-78.
Joslin, R., & Müller, R. (2015). Relationships between a project management methodology and project success in different project governance contexts. International Journal of Project Management, 33(6), 1377-1392.
Kerzner, H. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Kerzner, H. (2019). Using the project management maturity model: strategic planning for project management. Wiley.
Larsson, J., Eriksson, P. E., Olofsson, T., & Simonsson, P. (2015). Leadership in civil engineering: Effects of project managers’ leadership styles on project performance. Journal of management in engineering, 31(6), 04015011.
Mitra, A. (2016). Fundamentals of quality control and improvement. John Wiley & Sons.
Müller, R., Packendorff, J., & Sankaran, S. (2017). Balanced leadership: A new perspective for leadership in organizational project management. Cambridge handbook of organizational project management.
Raziq, M. M., Borini, F. M., Malik, O. F., Ahmad, M., & Shabaz, M. (2018). Leadership styles, goal clarity, and project success: Evidence from project-based organizations in Pakistan. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 39(2), 309-323.
Rumane, A. R. (2017). Quality management in construction projects. CRC Press. https://content.taylorfrancis.com/books/download?dac=C2016-0-96888-3&isbn=9781498781688&format=googlePreviewPdf
Xuan, Q., Moslehpour, M., & Tien, D. (2019). An evaluation of project management tools and techniques in Vietnam. Management Science Letters, 9(2), 283-300.
Zhang, L., Cao, T., & Wang, Y. (2018). The mediation role of leadership styles in integrated project collaboration: An emotional intelligence perspective. International Journal of Project Management, 36(2), 317-330.
Zhao, X., Hwang, B. G., & Lee, H. N. (2016). Identifying critical leadership styles of project managers for green building projects. International Journal of Construction Management, 16(2), 150-160.
Qazi, A., Quigley, J., Dickson, A., & Kirytopoulos, K. (2016). Project Complexity and Risk Management (ProCRiM): Towards modelling project complexity driven risk paths in construction projects. International Journal of Project Management, 34(7), 1183-1198.
