When Team Dynamics Derail Projects: How Project Managers Can Navigate Conflict and Preserve Trust

In project management, achieving deliverables on time and within budget is already a challenge—but it becomes exponentially more difficult when team members refuse to work together. Personalities clash, silos form, and suddenly, progress halts. The project manager is then caught between maintaining harmony and pushing for results. Left unchecked, interpersonal conflict can derail even the best-planned initiatives. This blog explores how project managers can manage such conflict through proactive strategies, leadership alignment, and—when necessary—disciplinary actions.

Understanding the Root Cause of Team Conflict

Conflicts on project teams often stem from:

• Clashing personalities or working styles

• Historical grievances or unresolved issues

• Lack of clearly defined roles and responsibilities

• Stress due to poor time management or unrealistic expectations

Understanding the “why” behind the resistance is the first step. As project manager, you are not a therapist—but you are a facilitator of team success. Your job is to create the conditions where the team can succeed together, regardless of personal differences.

Different Philosophies for Managing Conflict

There are several philosophies project managers can adopt:

1. Servant Leadership

The servant leader puts the needs of the team first. In this philosophy, the project manager listens deeply to team concerns and mediates conflict with empathy. This works well when conflict stems from misunderstanding or a need to be heard.

2. Situational Leadership

According to Hersey and Blanchard’s model, leaders should adapt their style based on the maturity and skill level of team members. A project manager may use coaching for new hires, but directiveness for experienced but resistant team members.

3. Transactional Management

Here, accountability is key. The project manager enforces roles, responsibilities, and consequences. Performance is tied directly to deliverables, and poor collaboration becomes a measurable failure to meet objectives.

4. Transformational Leadership

This approach focuses on inspiring team members to rise above personal conflict for the greater vision. It can be powerful when used with high-functioning teams that need a shared goal to unite around.

The Impact of Repeated Bad Behavior

When team members repeatedly refuse to collaborate, it damages:

• Team morale

• Trust between members

• Your authority as a project manager

• Stakeholder confidence in the project’s success

These issues aren't just interpersonal—they become project risks. As the PMBOK® Guide outlines, stakeholder engagement and team dynamics directly influence project outcomes (PMI, 2021). The longer these issues persist, the more they erode psychological safety, which Google’s Project Aristotle identified as the number one factor for high-performing teams (Rozovsky, 2015).

When to Escalate

Escalation is not failure; it’s responsible leadership.

Escalate to Functional Managers When:

• A team member's behavior repeatedly violates professional norms

• The issue affects deliverables and you lack authority to enforce consequences

• The conflict stems from resource allocation or department-level issues

Escalate to Higher Leadership When:

• Multiple team members from different functions are involved

• The conflict is causing significant schedule, scope, or cost risks

• Attempts at resolution (1:1s, team discussions, coaching) have failed

Always document your interventions before escalating. This shows you made every reasonable effort to resolve the issue informally.

Constructive Solutions

1. One-on-One Conversations
   Seek to understand individual perspectives in private. This allows for candid conversations and reduces performative resistance.

2. Clarify Roles and Expectations
   Use a RACI matrix to make responsibilities explicit. Many conflicts stem from ambiguity.

3. Facilitate a Conflict Resolution Workshop
   Sometimes a team reset is necessary. Bring in a neutral facilitator to help.

4. Create a Communication Contract
   Ask the team to co-author a short charter on how they will treat one another.

5. Leverage the Team Charter
   Refer to the agreed-upon values and behaviors in your kickoff or planning phase to reinforce expectations.

Disciplinary Actions for Persistent Issues

If a team member’s behavior consistently violates project norms:

• Issue documented warnings via HR or the functional manager

• Remove them from the project, if possible, and reassign the work

• Use performance improvement plans (PIPs) if in a managerial capacity

• Limit their influence in collaborative efforts and rely on more reliable team members

The project manager should never make disciplinary decisions unilaterally, but they can recommend them and should advocate for the project's integrity.

Sources:

• Project Management Institute. (2021). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – Seventh Edition.

• Hersey, P., & Blanchard, K. H. (1982). Management of Organizational Behavior: Utilizing Human Resources.

• Greenleaf, R. K. (1977). Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness.

• Rozovsky, J. (2015). The five keys to a successful Google team. re:Work by Google. https://rework.withgoogle.com/

• Goleman, D. (2000). Leadership That Gets Results. Harvard Business Review.