Emotional Intelligence as a tool for Project Managers

Introduction

Project managers play a very crucial role in developing, assisting, or organizing a company’s project objectives. The role of a project manager can vary from company to company depending on the objectives or standards that the company requires. For example, project manager’s duties could range from assisting in business analysis, to follow-on activities of the project, to advancing strategic objectives, etc. In general, the project manager is “the person assigned by the performing organization to lead the team that is responsible for achieving the project objectives.”

The project manager influences a big part of the success of the project. The project manager is responsible for the communication amongst stakeholder´s expectations and project objectives, has to balance budget with resources, and use communication and soft skills to equilibrate both stakeholder´s ideals and project´s objectives. A good project manager is one who holds a positive attitude and shows superior communication skills, which increases, but not limits to: “communicating predictably, creating, maintaining and adhering to communications plans and schedules, and developing finely tuned skills using multiple methods”.

Five Stages of Team Development

As mentioned before, the project manager plays a very important role in organizing and managing a team that are working towards achieving certain project’s objectives. With this in mind, it is important for the manager to be aware of the Five Stages of Team Development, also known as Tuckman’s Model. Tuckman´s model addresses the five stages that a team over goes from the initiation of a project to its closure. The five stages are: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning. Each stage is crucial to developing a successful project. In fact, a common mistake that takes place is that both the team members and the project manager race through the first steps and undermine the importance of developing a collaborative team.

The first step, Forming, revolves around breaking the ice, getting to know your team members and project manager. In this stage, there will be little to no project development, because roles have yet to be determined. In this stage, it is very important for the project manager to promote optimism, give clear goals, be directive, and figure out what each members strengths are to determine roles. The second step, Storming, can up rise many conflicts due to diverged ideas. Everyone will try to get their ideas and point of view across with very strong feelings. It is important that the project manager encourages participation, promotes respect, and make each teammates ideas be heard. In the third stage, norming, the team rules are set, teammates know their roles, and there is order. It is the project manager’s duty to delegate, reinforce team spirit, and stay involved. The fourth stage, performing, everyone is focused and on target. They are working as a team, and are very productive. The project manager should stay on top of task and make sure that he/she is monitoring the tasks, delegating as much as possible, optimizing processes, and celebrates milestone achievements. The fifth stage, Adjourning, is about the project coming to an end. Teammates are now saying goodbye and wishing the best to the rest and the project. It is highly important that the project manager now completes deliverables, analyzes the project as a whole, and celebrates success.

Emotional Intelligence and Project Managers

Project Managers are in charge of creating the project plan, and monitoring costs, but also have an important role in the execution of the project plan. As time has progressed and generation´s and workforces have changed. The old idea that your GPA or IQ exclusively determines your success rate as a project manager has been tabooed. Currently, soft skills and communication skills have become one of the most important qualities that employers look for in a project manager. The importance of emotional intelligence is skyrocketing in the market. Peter Salovey and John Mayer defined Emotional Intelligence (IE) as the “ability to monitor one´s own and other´s feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and use the information to guide one´s thinking and action”. The importance for project managers to be able to use IE is for various reasons. First, they operate in complex environments, therefore, they are constantly influencing, communicating, and negotiating with other departments and/or projects. They are also responsible of leading an effective team, therefore, they need to know how to manage future conflict, delegate work to teammates, and motivate them throughout the project.To incorporate emotional intelligence in ones’ work ethics, there are five factors to consider: Perceiving, Managing, Decision Making, Achieving, Influencing.

Perceiving

The skill of perceiving is “the ability of an individual to recognize, attend to, and understand emotions in themselves and others.” Perceiving involves acquiring the skill of being able to understand and differentiate someone’s emotions, acknowledge the meaning behind these emotions, and be able to demonstrate empathy. Statistics have shown that 55% of people portray their emotions via body language, 38% through their tone of voice, and 7% through their actual words. For example, if a project manager wants to seal a deal with a contractor, but senses negative emotions from the representative, the project manager now is more aware of what his options are: whether he/she must continue with the proposal, come up with a better offer, or withdraw and look for a better contractor.

Managing

The managing skill is the “ability to effectively manage, control and express emotions”. The IE managing skill has a wide scope. Not only are managers responsible of identifying their own emotions, but also analyzing the situation, and positively implementing them in the involved circumstances. For example, one might come out of a meeting or event stressed out. If the project manager proceeds to immediately speak to their staff members, the manager is more likely to put their stress on their staff members and plummet the staff’s motivation. On the other hand, if the manager decides to cope with their own stress, for example step aside and let the stress pass, then it would be less likely that the manager will negatively affect the team’s spirits. The EISA framework states that those with a low score in managing skills tend to “mismatch emotions, cope with stress less effectively, and have more difficulty building relationships and networks”. But those with higher percentage are “more likely to appropriately express their emotions, have better coping skills, and have more meaningful interpersonal relationships and networks.”

Decision Making

The EI skill of Decision Making is “the ability to appropriately apply emotion to manage and solve problems”. Project managers, on a daily basis, have to make decisions whether it be very simple or complex ones. Project managers must be able to make decisions based on many variables. As decisions cause change, it is important to keep those possibly affected in mind. Project managers, although they must be realistic of what the matter at hands should be, they must also keep a cool head on their shoulders and stay calm when changes arise. If the project manager is not able to deliver or handle change very well, the team and project could suffer negative consequences. Those with lower decision making skills tend to make impulsive, untimely and erroneous decisions throughout the project. Those with higher scores are known to be more pragmatic and flexible during decision making.

Achieving

The EI skill of Achieving is “the ability to generate the necessary emotions to motivate ourselves in the pursuit of realistic and meaningful objectives.” Project managers must know that some things can go wrong during the project, but motivated enough to step back, analyze what went wrong, and find a different way to approach the issue. In absence of this emotional mindset, the team motivation and push for the project will crumble due to the negative emotion emitted by the project manager. Those with low scores of achieving tend to “avoid risk, be only outcome oriented, avoid emotions associated with failure, and have little task ownership.” While those with high scores are “intrinsically motivated, take pleasure in success, take responsibility and ownership, tend to be in a positive mood, and are comfortable taking moderate risk.”

Influencing

Last but not least, the EI skill of Influencing is known to be the skill that “recognize[s], manage[s] and evoke[s] emotion in others to promote change.” The project manager has a lot of power when it comes to influencing. Because the manager is constantly getting exposed to all the situations that the team phases, it is up to the manager to lead the way of his/her team. Through this, it is number one priority to keep your team in a balanced level of staying productive but also emotionally positive. Once a team is influenced with negative emotions, it is less likely the team will collaborate well, and therefore, execute a successful project. Those with low scores of influencing are less likely to enjoy group communication and prefer one on one, are not successful at managing others, and are more instructive in their style of management. On the other hand, those with higher scores are assertive, confident, and use their optimism to spark creativity.