You’ve been there before. A scheduled crew is arriving late. The materials shipped to a job site are wrong. The client is requesting faster, better or different approaches after work has already begun. Or perhaps team members are getting frustrated with miscommunication.
When you are a niche leader, a project manager or a principal, you are navigating AEC conflict management and negotiations every day to get the job done.
Then there are real crisis situations to consider:
- Are you prepared to respond to serious injuries or fatalities on the job?
- How will the team respond if the firm experiences a client data breach?
- What is the protocol for project damage from weather-related events, which are increasing in frequency and severity?
It can feel overwhelming to deal with day-to-day conflict before even addressing your plan for a serious business or project crisis.
Who is on your conflict accountability team and how do you prepare them? Here are three tips to lead through AEC conflict management, negotiation, or crisis when time is critical and people are counting on you for guidance. Then I’ll offer some guidance on who else should be at the negotiation table.
1. Plan for Conflict
No one wants conflict, but it’s a reality. Conflict is always better managed with a pre-thought plan.
- Do your research. Discuss in your team meetings the common scenarios that are dragging down project efficiency or communication. Isolate two or three major challenges and research new approaches or methods for resolving them effectively. If your firm has ISO frameworks, review the management framework regularly for any helpful adaptations.
- Communicate your values. Make sure that your crisis response aligns with your firm’s core purpose, values and differentiators. Ask: How can we, as a firm/team, approach conflict well, regardless of the situation?
- Assemble your team. Choose key players and strong spokespeople who can support conflict resolution and proactive communication. Provide regular training on conflict negotiations and de-escalation. Designate your go-to chain of command for more difficult negotiations or crises.
By intentionally engaging these steps, you strengthen your firm’s readiness and reputation in AEC conflict management.
2. Review and Respond
Whether the immediate crisis is big or small, your framework should include a review of the facts to understand where the responsibilities of the firm apply and where other parties must weigh in. A focus on facts helps to diffuse emotions and develop a balanced response between strict protocols and common-sense concerns that arise.
AEC leaders who rely on documented procedures can foster confidence and reduce stress through clear, consistent communication.
3. Follow up and Debrief
Triage your responses from most urgent to most important; allow for space and time between the more urgent, most important, and any vital courtesy communications. Once the conflict has been resolved, make time to debrief on how well negotiations went. Address areas for improvement by soliciting ideas from the team. Also, take time to recognize any particularly brilliant approaches or responses to the conflict among your team members. Recognition will reinforce that framework, approach or proactive communication in the future.
Another tip: To build a positive culture for conflict resolution, share any details that you can with your communications or human resources team. They can assess the situation and let the whole firm know about relevant and positive impacts that came from the crisis resolution.
Who Should Be Included on the Team?
Depending on the conflict or the crisis, you will include different leaders and negotiators. In general, there is a primary group and a secondary group that needs to be trained and informed.
- Owner/Executive/Principal – Primary decision maker
- Executive/Management lead – Secondary decision maker
- Human Resources lead
- Communications/Marketing lead
- Growth/Client Relations lead
- IT/Technology lead
Secondary Team Deployed as Needed
- Department leads
- Legal counsel
- Outside PR/Crisis counsel
- Law enforcement
- Community agencies
The primary team is assembled to develop scenario planning, update the plan, and conduct training run-throughs. They are also responsible for executing the plan and reporting lessons learned after a crisis.
The secondary team is available to contribute to planning as needed. They can help to disseminate information or provide a more objective view of legal, financial, and community impacts. They can identify any gaps in the plan and collaborate on execution.
A word of caution: Don’t try to build a protocol for every possible crisis or conflict, whether operational, environmental, regulatory, technological, social or political. Choose three to five plausible scenarios and build out the variables, assumptions, possible impacts and how to proceed. These can help to inform other, similar situations.
This proactive AEC conflict management approach helps firms stay resilient and prepared across evolving project conditions.
Other Tips for Conflict & Negotiation
- Lean into the other party’s point of view. Sometimes, a person just needs to feel heard and acknowledged, and then everyone can move forward collaboratively.
- Request ideas from less experienced team members as well as experienced team members. Sometimes, a newer employee can spot gaps in a process that more seasoned professionals miss.
- Get comfortable with silence. Allow people to process the facts of a situation and express their thoughts before you move to solutions.
About the Author
Dawn Wagenaar is a brand strategist and owner of Ingenuity Marketing Group, LLC in St. Paul, Minnesota. Ingenuity works with AEC firms across the country on their brand, communications and growth strategies through a team of experienced consultants and creatives.
Dawn is a member of the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) and has been a featured speaker and panelist at local and Midwest educational events through SMPS.
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