When you have people, you have conflict. That’s not fatalistic; it’s realistic! Diversity in thought, experience, and skills is the spice of a good team, but it also tends to breed internal disagreement. And that’s not necessarily bad. What does have negative consequences is letting internal strife and struggle spiral out of control or become destructive instead of constructive. There is no single right way for handling conflict within project teams, but there are wrong ways: ignoring it, or on the other extreme, firing people. What’s in the middle?

A McKinsey & Company and University of Oxford study of 4500 large-scale (budgets exceeding $15 million) IT projects found that these projects ran 45 percent over-budget and 7 percent overtime, delivering 56 percent less value than anticipated. That is a whole lot less than these organizations were banking on! Many opt to pull the plug on projects (IT or otherwise) that are not going to deliver sufficient value in exchange for the investment of time and resources. What factors play into the decision to either recover an at-risk project or abandon it? How do you know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em?

Effective project management is, ultimately, effective people management. Creating a team that works together cohesively and without succumbing to conflict is critical to project success. Technical skill sets are an important consideration. You need to stock your team with A-players in the competency areas required, but you also have to stock it with people who can bring the necessary behavioural and interpersonal skills. Budgets, timelines, technology, and processes don’t make or break a project. People do.

A backup plan allows you to be flexible and nimble in the face of change, which, during any project, is virtually guaranteed. A bit of a misnomer, the contingency plan is not an end-product, but an ongoing event. You don’t put it into place and get to say, “Good; we’re covered. We’re done with that.” Instead, the contingency plan evolves as the project evolves. Integral in project planning and management processes, the contingency encompasses all aspects of a project and reduces uncertainty and risk.

Corn, beef, oil, bandwidth. These are commodities. They are homogeneous items that can be traded and exchanged, bought and sold in bulk. Should consultancy be a commodity? Is your value indistinguishable from another consultant? Corn is corn, but your value proposition must be unique – Moreover, clients deserve the benefit of a customized, non-commoditized approach to their projects.