Two team members are arguing over two different approaches to complete a task. The project manager listens to both sides, determines neither approach will work, and directs the team members to use a…

Forcing occurs when one party - typically the project manager - uses their positional authority to impose a decision, bypassing consensus or compromise. In this scenario, the PM dismisses both team members' approaches and directs them to follow a solution the PM chose alone. This is a win-lose approach where the PM's authority determines the outcome rather than collaborative agreement.

Avoiding means withdrawing from or postponing the conflict entirely without reaching any resolution, which is the opposite of what the PM does here.

Smoothing involves acknowledging the conflict but emphasizing areas of agreement to reduce tension, not overriding both parties with an external solution.

Compromising requires each party to give up something in order to reach a mutually acceptable middle ground, which does not occur here since neither party's approach is used.