As a project manager, how aware are you of your people's soft skills?

Are you aware that the successful completion of a project often hinges on factors not mentioned in the project manager’s or contractor’s resume? Indeed, while we tend to focus on basic technical competencies when hiring for a project management role, the "soft" skills—the delicate, powerful interpersonal, diplomatic abilities—keep the project moving toward the completion goal. How well do you know your team’s hidden strengths? And what if the ability to recognize and cultivate these strengths could be your secret weapon for hitting project milestones?

1. The Development Of Important Soft Skills

1. Active Listening: To listen actively means to listen in a way that allows the speaker to have your undivided attention. It is way beyond just "hearing" someone, which is what most of us might do when someone speaks to us. Most of us have been told to "pay attention" even when we were young, and some of us still use that phrase with our kids or younger siblings or friends. Paying attention is key to good listening, but it is only the first step.
2. Written Communication: Clear writing is essential when writing project documents, updates, and emails. Use plain language, avoid jargon, and do not express ideas ambiguously. This is crucial because more precise writing leads to more follow-up conversations and more substantial team alignment.
3. Delegation: Successful delegation requires assigning tasks considering the strengths of individual team members, which allows them to take the kind of ownership that leads to the best results. If you have an inclination to micromanage, stop it. Provide your team with the resources and guidance they need, then trust them to do the work you hired them to do.
4. Coaching and Mentorship: Carrying out the team vision and the operational plan requires more than assigning tasks and expecting people to do them. You might be surprised by how many of your team members do not, or cannot, follow plans diligently. To avoid plan failure, you will need to do some coaching and mentoring.
5. Presentation Skills: How you present your projects makes a world of difference to stakeholders. If you don't have their buy-in, then it really doesn't matter how great your project turns out to be. Practicing the art of storytelling, using visuals that make sense, and just plain being ready for the unexpected can help any P.M. present "with confidence and impact."
6. Negotiation Skills: Negotiation is an essential skill when working on projects with many competing interests. It allows leaders and team members to address conflicting priorities and find resolutions that meet the project's requirements and stakeholders' demands. Good negotiators put themselves in the other person's shoes, seek win-win outcomes, and strengthen relationships in the process.

2. Comprehending The Dynamics Of A Team

1. Interpreting The Room: During meetings, observe the levels of body language, facial expressions, and engagement of team members. If they seem disengaged, it might be a good time to stop and check for understanding or clear up any potential confusion or concerns.
2. Constructing Morale Through Recognition: Make it a routine to recognize contributions of all sizes. Just saying "thank you" can significantly lift spirits. And when you use team meetings to highlight what people have done, it elevates everyone's sense of purpose and pushes motivation into overdrive.
3. Recognizing Possible Conflicts Early: By watching how people interact, you can identify potential conflicts and mediate them before they escalate. A team with high performance isn't necessarily one that avoids conflict but knows how to manage it constructively.

3. Building Trust Through Transparency

1. Open Sharing Of Information: Keep your team abreast of the project's progress, changes, or problems. This builds a climate of trust and a sense of shared ownership.
2. Acknowledging Mistakes: When errors occur, admit them clearly. This will boost an environment where team members feel good about admitting errors.
3. Consistency In Actions And Words: Being careful with what you say and do enhances trust. It's better to under-promise and over-deliver than the other way around. When team members know that you will keep your word, they are more likely to trust you.

4. Overcoming Obstacles Takes Resilience

1. Optimism In Action:?Projects are bound to experience setbacks. Staying focused on solutions and remaining optimistic during difficult phases is essential for leadership and the team. It provides the kind of subtle motivation that keeps everyone moving in the right direction—forward.
2. Promoting Solution Finding: Cultivate a team's vigor by encouraging them to find answers and lead themselves instead of deferring to a higher power. This leads to a more resilient and up-by-the-bootstraps team.
3. Balancing Accountability And Support: Holding the team accountable is essential, but providing support and overcoming problems together is vital. When direct reports know their leaders care enough to help with tough issues, they try harder to make the relationship work.

5. Effective Communication

1. Project Efficiency Affected By Clear Communication: Establishing perfectly clear communication channels leaves no room for misunderstanding. Even a small miscommunication can ripple through a project and lead to the inefficient use of time and resources. A miscommunication about a project's deadline, for instance, can throw an entire project off schedule.
2. Setting Expectations: Establishing Clear Communication—State project goals, deliverables, and expectations with the team in a regularly, clear-cut manner. Hold brief weekly check-ins to confirm and reaffirm that project priorities and deadlines are understood (and why they matter), which helps keep efforts aligned and reduces any potential for ambiguity.
3. Two-Way Dialogue: Facilitate feedback loops throughout the team so that everyone feels empowered to highlight issues and ask questions. That early visibility, especially around team dynamics, provides the manager with the opportunity to reinforce trust and work through any potential roadblocks before they become serious issues.

Project Management Tips for Soft Skills Awareness

1. Foster A Culture Of Feedback: Keep channels open for constructive feedback so team members can develop better communication and collaboration skills.
2. Champion Different Viewpoints:?Different viewpoints improve our problem-solving and creativity. We don’t just tolerate opposing or different perspectives; we seek them out and ensure our environment is inclusive of the new ideas and fresh angles they tend to bring.
3. Promote The Sharing Of Knowledge: Set up knowledge-sharing sessions where team members share their skills. This will create a more cohesive team.
4. Appreciate And Recompense Soft Skills:?Give your team members a recognition boost if they exhibit exceptional soft skills essential to completing a project. These are member qualities like resilience, proactive communication, and plain old problem-solving. When you acknowledge this stuff, it almost thickens the atmosphere with soft-skill value.