Factoring In the Human, Not Just the Resource: How the Emotional Quotient Plays Out in Project Management.

If you go to work thinking about how not to think and feel in the workplace, you have been doing a great injustice not only to yourself but also to your team members and colleagues. The theory as propounded by experts defines Emotional Intelligence as the “ability to monitor one’s own and other’s feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and use this information to guide one’s thinking and action.” However, its manifestation outlines 5 aspects of emotional intelligence:?

1. Self-awareness.
2. Self-regulation.
3. Motivation.
4. Empathy.
5. Social skills.

In a recent study conducted in Thailand, the results showed that EI affected the leadership behavior, the PM with higher EI tend to use open communication and proactive leadership styles. The Project Management Institute (PMI) says: individuals with high Emotional Quotient (EQ) “wither storms, avoid taking things personally, network effectively and focus efforts on identified goals.”?The need for these emotion-focused skills dabbling in human dynamics, because of their ability to kindle productive relationships across diverse cultures, is most pronounced in the project management domain. With a better understanding EI, let’s explore as to why project leaders must factor in EI.?

?The Windfalls of Emotional Intelligence

Turning in timely deliverables, transforming data into actionable insights and enormously improving project performance are only some of the many perks of anchoring in and bettering your EI.?

1. Work Collaboratively… and Mindfully

EQ means picking up on the verbal and non-verbal cues people send out. Is one of your team members disengaged lately? Is something bothering them and most importantly is there any way you can extend help? Visualizing a cat’s ears perking up at the slightest movement and sound will help you practice empathy and be more mindful and receptive of your team’s mental and emotional state. Doing this, however, needs a certain resolve, which trains you to watch out for any red flags around the workplace and thus tailoring leadership style to your team’s needs.

High EQ Project leaders are approachable and can easily be trusted because of their credibility, candidness, eloquence of speech and transparency. They can leverage all of the above to break the ice among team members and carve conducive environment that fuels compassion growth, and connection.?

2. Enrich Stakeholder Relationships

The stakeholders are decision-makers and play an important role in the organization’s ecosystem. Interpersonal conflicts arising out of misunderstandings in the workspace can disrupt the harmonious progression of workflows, leading to poor decision-making and hence poor results. As you work on enhancing your EI, you equip yourself with the necessary social skills required to identify potential stakeholder issues, addressing them prior to accumulating into bigger irremediable concern. In this way, you can optimize EI to dissipate tensions between the stakeholder panel and your team.?By doing so, you’re not just enhancing harmony, but also ensuring a sturdy base for future collaborative projects.?

3.?Achieve project success?

The Project Management Institute links “90% of the Critical Success Factors for successful project implementation to?Emotional Intelligence.” Conflict, low team morale, mentally exhausted team members, and other issues rooted in the domain of EI can adversely impact projects productivity and performance. High emotional intelligence bridges the gap between you and your team, facilitating consensus and mutual understanding among members, leading to project success.

4. Glean Insights into Team Mood & Performance

Possessing a high EQ is basically like being endowed with superhuman strength. By harnessing your EI, you can achieve much more than what a PM with average or below average EQ can achieve. High EQ managers?have the prowess to wield their strengths in a way that is fruitful for the team at large. From being the receptacle to showing empathy, High EQ PM’s can quickly gauge the mood of team members and delegate tasks accordingly. Emotionally Intelligent Managers can easily glean insights into team performance and behavior. In this way, a high EQ PM is aware of exactly what the team needs, why and when, thus is able not only to build on the project but also reinforce teamwork and monitor their mental headspace.

High EQ PMs don’t only contribute towards making the team stronger but also use their prowess to their own benefit. With self-awareness and introspective abilities, high EQ PMs know how to leverage their leadership style to highlight their strengths and downplay their weaknesses, engage in fruitful conversations and galvanize a magnificent organization.?

The Endnote

The recent research identifies EI as the key ingredient of effective complex project leadership. EI is the need of the hour and that is not just me talking, it’s also the PMI that has recently included the application of emotional intelligence to project management activities in the Project Management Professional (PMP) ? certification.