Managing Conflicts in a Practice (Course Id 1917)

CPAs, by nature, work alongside others in a practice to accomplish the services required by their clients. Just like any other career field, there are times when conflict arises in the workplace that needs to be dealt with in a civil, respectful, and safe manner. 

Managing Conflict in a Practice is a course that will provide an overview of conflict that can occur within a CPAs practice. This course will identify the issues that lead to conflicts between office team members.  This course will also define techniques that can be used to resolve conflicts. Being able to correctly identify conflict before it arises may present an opportunity to diffuse the conflict altogether. This shows the importance of learning the techniques that will lessen conflict and turn these issues into positives for the practice.

CPAs are highly respected individuals who are intelligent in strategic business dealings and other issues. Some services they provide include audits and reviews, consulting services, forensic accounting, financial planning, etc. Each of these services are a specific need for a client that the CPA must carry out. Due to this, the CPA can view each of these tasks as a project. Because the services of CPAs can be viewed as projects, there is a plethora of information that CPAs can learn from the Project Management career field, especially situations dealing with managing conflict.

PMI^® (Project Management Institute) is recognized by most project managers as the leading organization for creating project management standards. PMI’s standards are recognized around the world. These standards provide guidelines and rules, which are widely accepted and provide the foundation for the project management profession. PMI publishes standards in many different areas of project management and related to project management.

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^® Guide) is the most recognized and referenced standard for project managers. This document is published by the PMI^® and it describes industry recognized best practices for managing all types of projects. It is also an evolving document, which continues to be updated and refined as more information is known and documented.

NASBA QAS - Text - NASBA Registry - 1917

Course Learning Objectives

• Identify the areas in the PMBOKPMI^® Guide that address conflict management.
• List the common sources of conflict during a project.
• Recognize the different methods for resolving conflicts.
• Recognize the five approaches for resolving conflicts defined by the Thomas-Kilman Model.
• Recognize the six methods defined in the PMBOKPMI^® Guide that addresses conflict management.

Chapter 1 - Managing Conflicts in a Practice

Course Learning Objectives

Introduction

Conflicts

Conflict Management

Project Resource Management

Project Resource Management Processes

Manage Project Team

Manage Team Description

Manage Team Tools and Techniques

Project Stakeholder Management

Project Stakeholder Management Processes

Manage Stakeholder Engagement Description

Manage Stakeholder Engagement Tools and Techniques

Manage Communications

Manage Communications Description

Sources of Conflict

Conflict Not Addressed

Negative Aspects of Conflict

Conflict During the Project Life Cycle

Initiating Phase

Planning Phase

Executing Phase

Monitoring and Controlling Phase

Closing Phase

Avoiding Conflict

Thomas-Kilman Model

Competing

Avoiding

Accommodating

Collaborating

Compromising

Resolving Conflicts

Recognized Techniques for Conflict Resolution

Conflict Management Exercise

Glossary