Project Negotiation Report: Project Management Strategies and Tools

This report delves into the multifaceted aspects of project negotiation, encompassing the operational dynamics of diverse contractual arrangements within both governmental and non-governmental projects. It critically examines the application of logic, persuasion, and influence in managing conflicting stakeholder agendas, highlighting the significance of effective stakeholder engagement. The report differentiates various negotiation methods, conflict management strategies, and stakeholder engagement techniques tailored for projects with varying technology standards and asset lifecycles. Furthermore, it elucidates methods for identifying and reconciling inconsistent project objectives and drivers, emphasizing their role in maintaining robust stakeholder relationships. The report also analyzes the consequences of project delays, disruptions, and changes, including methods for claims variations, liquidated damages, contract entitlements, and arbitration. Finally, it evaluates project management tools that facilitate conflict resolution through negotiated solutions, underscoring their importance in ensuring project success.

Running head: PROJECT NEGOTIATION
Project Negotiation
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................2
1. LO1: Operations of diverse and complex contractual arrangements...............................3
2. LO2: Common Arguments applied to conflicting stakeholder agendas..........................4
3. LO3: Different Methods of Project Negotiation..............................................................5
4. LO4: Identifying and reconciling inconsistent and conflicting Objectives.....................6
5. LO5: Consequences of Project Delays, Disruption and Changes....................................7
6. LO6: Project Management Tools.....................................................................................8
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................9
References..........................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
Project Management process can be described as a practice of effective project initiation,
planning, execution, control and closing. Project management helps in achieving specific project
goals to meet the success criteria of the project at a specific time. The aim of this report is to
evaluate the different characteristics of project management and implementation approach of
various project management tools and techniques. The report further aims to evaluate the
operation of diverse government and non-government project contractual agreements. The
commonly applied conflicting and competing stakeholder agendas will be discussed as well. The
report will analyze the different methods and process of project negotiation, conflict
management and stakeholder engagement in different types of projects consisting of different
standards and lifecycles. Project management is associated with the application of different
methods and processes that helps in reconciling the inconsistent and conflicting project
objectives that helps in efficient management of the relationship among the key stakeholders of a
particular project (Kerzner 2017). Development of a communication plan is necessary in order to
ensure that the issues in the project are communication to the project stakeholders. The report
will further evaluate the different methods of project management that can be used for
identifying and reconciling the inconsistent and conflicting project objectives and drivers needed
for management of the relationships with the project stakeholders. The consequences of project
delays and disruptions and the use of project management tools in conflict resolution are
evaluated in the paraphrases below. Negotiating solutions can be considered effective in conflict
resolution.

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1. LO1: Operations of diverse and complex contractual arrangements
A contractual arrangement can be described as an agreement which is generally executed
among two or more parties. A contractual agreement therefore involves payments, marketing,
proposals and procurements. In this context, the operations of diverse and complex government
and non-government project contractual arrangements related to services are needed to be
evaluated. Both government and non-government contractual arrangements are legally
enforceable between the partied involved in contractual arrangement. Enforcement of any type of
contract involves obligations that can be expressed verbally or in writing.
A management service contract be it government or non-government contract, can be
described as a service level agreement generally between the service providers and its clients. A
managed service contract mainly specifies the structure of payment, liability and protection
related to the contract (Kerzner 2007). This type of contracts is common in diverse and complex
government as well as non-government projects related to delivery of managed services.
The ICT agreement outlines the use of information and communication devices in context
of a project. The ICT agreement is used in almost all government and non-government projects,
outlining the liabilities of each party of the contract in making use of ICT devices.
The build agreement specifies the terms of enforcing a design build contract between the
parties. This type of contract is common in diverse government and non-government projects in
specifying the project needs and in calculating the cost of the project in accordance to the needs
of the project.

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2. LO2: Common Arguments applied to conflicting stakeholder agendas
This section of the report will evaluate the arguments that are mainly applied for the
conflicting and competing stakeholder agendas. According to Kerzner (2017), management of
the stakeholders need is an essential aspect of project management. A conflicting or the
competitive situation in stakeholders’ management can arise due to various factors such as
resource shortage or antagonistic feelings among the stakeholders groups. However, the conflict
situation among the stakeholders’ groups are mostly subjective and often it becomes difficult to
perceive the reason of conflict. In these cases, use of logic becomes essential in solving the
conflicting stakeholders’ agendas.
When the conflicting agendas among the stakeholders’ group is an effect of lack of
collaboration among the stakeholders’ group, persuasion is used as a common approach for
addressing the stakeholders’ conflict. Influence as common argument is mostly not applied to the
conflicting stakeholder agendas except when the conflict becomes too complex to handle.
Influence as a method of conflict resolution are not always applied to settle open conflicts
(Kerzner 2007). In case a conflict or competition goes out of control and cannot be managed
with logic or persuasion, influence is used a common argument process.
The conflict or competition level plays a huge role in determining the process of conflict
resolution. However, identification of the reason of conflict can be a challenge as the
interpersonal conflict causes are generally diverse. The cause of the conflict can help in
determination of the approach and common arguments that can be applied to conflicting and
competing stakeholders’ agendas.

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3. LO3: Different Methods of Project Negotiation
This section of the report aims in identification of the different methods that can be used
for project negotiation, management of the internal team conflict and stakeholder management in
project based on differing technology standard and assets lifecycles.
There are mainly two methods of project negotiation, which are competitive negotiation
and collaborative negotiation. A competitive negotiation is dangerous for projects that consists of
differing technology standards and asset lifecycles as in this negotiation process one side of
negotiation tries to acquire all the resources associated with the project and not share any of the
resources. The collaborative negotiation on the other hand can be described as a win-win
negotiation (Kerzner 2007). Project managers of team consisting of different technology
standards and asset lifecycles mainly make use of collaborative negotiation with an aim of
building a long term alliance.
The conflict management processes that are mainly used in projects associated with
different technology standards and asset lifecycles include collaborating, avoiding,
compromising, accommodating and competing.
Engagement of the stakeholders is a necessary need for projects that consists of different
technology standards and asset lifecycle. The methods of stakeholders’ engagement in such
projects are as follows-
 Briefing and meeting- involves effective two way communication
 Communication through email
 Structured interviews
 Invitation letters

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 Advisory committee
 Round table discussions
Out of these, briefing meetings and communication through various communication
channels can be considered as two most effective methods of stakeholders’ engagement.
4. LO4: Identifying and reconciling inconsistent and conflicting Objectives
This section of the report will discuss the methods associated with the identification and
reconciling of the inconsistent and conflicting project objectives. This is linked with the
management of the relationship among the key stakeholders associated with a project. The
inconsistent and the conflicting objectives of a project can be easily identified in the project
prioritization process. The conflicting priorities of the project can be managed by evaluating the
project specification and the progress of the project. In this situation, the stakeholders of the
project can be involved in the decision making process, which can further help in maintaining
and managing the relationships and communication among the key stakeholders of a project.
Identification of inconsistent or conflicting business drivers is essential for ensuring successful
project execution (Kerzner 2007). The stakeholders’ expectations are associated with effective
project management and for that reconciling the inconsistent objectives and the drivers of a
project is essential. Appropriate requirement evaluation and evaluation of the project progress
can be termed as an effective method of identification of inconsistent and conflicting project
objectives.
Apart from that any deviation in the normal project progress can further help in
identification of the inconsistent project objectives. On identification of the inconsistent
objectives, the process of managing the inconsistent objectives can be identified by

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communicating the same with the stakeholders and the team members. If needed, a risk
management process can implemented to reduce the negative effects of reconciling and
inconsistent project objectives on management of relationship among the key stakeholders.
5. LO5: Consequences of Project Delays, Disruption and Changes
The delays, disruption and changes to the planned activities of a project can largely affect
the normal progress of a project. The delays in project cam result in unwanted increase in the
project cost leading to a budget overrun in the project. The disruptions can hamper the normal or
planned schedule of the project while that of change in planned activities can affect both time
and cost allocated for successful completion of a project. Thus it can be said that delays,
disruption and changes in planned activities mostly have a negative impact on the progress of a
project. This is mainly because the delays and the disruptions are sources of potential risks which
are needed to be addressed.
Changes in methods of claim variation, liquidated damage, contract entitlements and
arbitration can lead to a huge change in process of project execution. This affects the project plan
that has been developed at the initiation stage of the project and enforces a need to change
various aspects of the project plan (Kerzner 2007). Delays and disruptions are associated with
the change in planned schedule, project budget and the resources allocated for the project.
Therefore, the delays, disruption and changes to the planned activities in the project should be
avoided as much as possible. A project should not undergo change in scope during its
implementation in order to reduce the need of modifications in project plan.

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6. LO6: Project Management Tools
This section of the report will evaluate the project management tools that can be used to
avoid or provide solution to conflict resolution. Negotiation is a project management tool that
can provide solutions to the different conflicts arising in a project. Conflict resolution is
necessary to ensure that no conflict is disrupting the normal progress of the project. In this
context the use of various project management tools such as communication tool and effective
project negotiation is necessary to ensure that conflict does not arise while management and
implementing a project.
Development of a communication plan act as an effective tool for discussion and
communicating the issues with the stakeholders of the project. It is the responsibility of the
project manager to address any escalating issues or conflict associated with the project to identify
suitable solutions to the problem (Kerzner 2007). Negotiation is a key project management tool
associated with resolution of conflict among the team members.
There are a number of approaches to project negotiation, out of which collaborative
negotiation is an effective project management tool that can help in settling the disputes among
the team members and in effective conflict resolution. Apart from the communication plan, the
effective project management tool that can contribute to project negotiation include the use of
project status report to verify the project needs and the amount of work that is completed in the
project. These data can be used while negotiating the conflict with the other party.

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Conclusion
The report discusses the various approaches to project management along with the
different tools and techniques associated with the management of a project. It is vital to get a
basic idea of the different project management tools as use of the project management tools
contributes to success of a project. The report evaluated the concept of contractual agreements
and use of logic, persuasion and influence as factors applied to conflicting agendas of the
stakeholders. The different process and methods of project negotiation and conflict resolutions
are discussed in the report. The report further discusses the methods of identification and
reconciliation of the inconsistent project drivers and project objectives and the methods and
processes of managing the same. It has been evaluated that project delays, disruptions and
changes in planned activities can affect the normal operations of the project. The negative impact
of these activities in the project is associated with the claim variations, liquidated damage and
arbitration. The report discussed the project management tools that can help in effective conflict
resolutions and resolutions via negotiated solution. Therefore, it is established that it is necessary
to possess a basis project management knowledge so as to implement a project without any
disruption or issues. Different aspects of project management is evaluated in this report along
with the effective use of different tools. It has been established that communication among the
project team members and the stakeholders play a significant role in project management and in
conflict resolution.

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References
Kerzner, H. 2007. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and
controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Kerzner, H., 2017. Project management metrics, KPIs, and dashboards: a guide to measuring
and monitoring project performance. John Wiley & Sons.