BEP 419 – English for Projects: Managing Conflict with Contractors 2

Welcome back to Business English Pod for the second part of our look at managing conflict with subcontractors. In this lesson we’re going to focus on dealing with scope creep, cost disputes and conflicting priorities.

When things go sideways with contractors, it’s rarely because of one big mistake. It’s usually a thousand small disagreements that pile up. Different expectations, unclear goals, or shifting priorities can spoil what’s supposed to be a healthy collaboration. Learning to manage these conflicts will help you keep projects on track and maintain trust.

When problems come up, smart project managers don’t avoid the hard conversations. Instead, they face things head-on. This requires good communication skills, and fortunately, these skills can be learned.

Some of the things you might face are conflicts over the scope of a project or resources. And don’t be surprised if you disagree on money, or costs. Learning to face these issues directly is one thing. But you also need to learn the art of compromise and seek constructive solutions.

In today’s dialog, we’ll join a telephone conversation between a project manager named Celia and a subcontractor named Raj. Celia works for a software development company that has hired Raj’s team to build a payment gateway module for a new banking app.

Listening Questions

1. What piece of work do Celia and Raj disagree about, in terms of whether its part of the project scope?
2. What compromise does Celia suggest on the issue of costs?
3. At the end of the dialog, what solution does Celia state that she wants to see to prevent further problems?

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