Emotional Intelligence in Project Management

Lessons Unspoken

When I stepped in as a Project Manager to manage a team for which I had been an individual contributor in the past, little did I know that managing emotions could be this tough. When you are all by yourself working on your tasks vs when you have to manage a team’s deliverables taking into account everyone’s emotions, it becomes difficult to uphold your position all of a sudden. Reality hit me when I started managing a small team of 4 individuals.

After my joining, I realised that my team mates were extremely formal and hesitated to speak to me about their challenges at work, mostly because I was senior to them. It was definitely a learning curve for me and my team.

Initially when I started designating tasks, it wouldn’t meet the expectations of the customer, because some of my subordinates lacked the required experience and were still learning while some did not have the clarity of the end goal we were trying to work towards. More often that not tasks got delayed and sometimes it even meant that I had to stretch and contribute longer hours to share the tasks with my colleagues to meet the project deadline.

I did what every other person would do, reached out to the fellow project managers working in different teams, talk to them and understand their experience, I spoke to my superiors and gathered advice and know-how on how they would handle this situation I was facing.

Although reaching out to colleagues around me did help but I wasn’t too confident if I was heading in the right direction until I encountered a blog on Emotional Intelligence. It was an eye-opener for me and I still remember browsing across different websites to learn more.

Emotional Intelligence

While every source on the internet has its own definition, types and the elements it encompasses. Emotional Intelligence(EI) in layman terms is the ability to perceive and manage the emotions of self and people around you.

I would simply put it under 4 broad categories Self Awareness and Regulation, Empathy, Social Skills and Motivation and elaborate how these can be of help to a project manager.

1. Self Awareness and Regulation comes when an individual is able to reflect on one’s thoughts, feelings and actions and is able to apply “proactive” rather than “reactive” thinking to decisions.
   

Empowers: In making better decisions and building stronger relationships.

Methods: In my previous blogs I spoke about Journaling and how I practice penning down my thoughts. Journaling helps in self awareness and regulation, it helps to create a brain dump and not cloud your brain with unnecessary things.

Seek Feedback - Asking feedback to gain different perspectives on your behaviour and how it impacts those around you.

2. Empathy is the ability to recognise, understand and share the feelings of others. Putting yourself in their shoes and being “present” for them.

Empowers: Conflict Resolution by enhancing communication leading to improved relationships and workplace harmony.

Methods: Be open minded to different ideas and perspectives, encourage others to speak, appreciate and take their ideas into account.

Be present and actively listen to your team mates.

Personal Instance - During the period when I had newly joined, a team mate was a few months into her pregnancy. She had to put in the required hours for this project without compromising on the quality of her deliverables.

I worked with her to set realistic(achievable) goals, ensured she could work remotely so she could be more productive at work. Most importantly, I made sure she is treated fairly by the team members.

3. Social Skills is a blanket that holds each of the previously discussed attributes along with developing “team work” as a skill by supporting and building strong working relationships.

Methods: Building a professional network with mindful people.

4. Motivating an individual within a team or the team as a whole is crucial for successful project outcomes.

Empowers: Individual and Team Strength.

Methods:

Recognise and Reward individuals and teams for even the tiniest accomplishment they have done to boost their morale.

Celebrate project milestones to provide the sense of achievement and keep the team motivated.

Application

I was able to apply emotional intelligence early on in my project management experience and witnessed the team dynamics improve for good. I shared a great camaraderie with my team mates and it directly reflected in the project milestones we achieved together.

I not only apply emotional intelligence to my projects but also in my day to day life. Although emotional intelligence in a work setting and home may completely vary but the crux is to not forget that we are humans and are bound by emotions.