Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers By Dr. Al Zeitoun, PMP

jIntroduction

Project managers make the difference in today's project conscious enterprises. Therefore it is important to know what makes that person the great leader that he/she needs to be. The key focus of this paper is to illustrate that the success of the project managers is very closely associated with how they master the use of the Emotional Quotient recipe.

Thomas Mengel in his 2004 PMI conference paper differentiated between three types of project stakeholders. The first is the expert who is focused on the know-how and know-what. The second is the manager who is focused on the know-where, know-when, and know-who. The third is the leader, who is focused on the know-why. All these types of stakeholders have to combine in the personality of the project manager.

Project Managers’ success then depends on the utilization of four quotients. The Intelligence Quotient “IQ” and Technical Quotient “TQ” create the foundation for the expert and the manager in them. The dimensions of concern to us in this paper and that fulfil the leader side are the Emotional Quotient “EQ” and the Likeability Quotient “LQ”. These last two are tomorrow’s true differentiators for business leaders’ success.

So what does the EQ have to do with it?

The emotionally intelligent project manager possesses mental toughness. Her mind is capable of being balanced under the most difficult of situations, the kind that one sees in the daily realities and uncertainties of projects. This project manager knows the value of inspired leadership and what it could do to the connectivity of globally dispersed teams in every corner of the universe.

It is my belief that unless the project manager is able to go through a personal transformation, that is based on full self awareness and transparency, he will not be able to enable the genuine transformations that are part of what each project is about. Authentic leaders do the hard work required to get them ready for the complicated role at the helm of exciting and energizing people toward achieving common goals.

Understanding EQ

A view of EQ shows that it consists of two groups of skills. The first is the self management skills group and the second is the ability to relate to others skills. The two are fully connected and the project manager would not be able to do well in the second group unless she has a good mastery of the first group.

Let’s take the example of Tom. He has been a lead engineer in a telecommunications company for 10 years. The senior management team is considering promoting him to a project manager for a global implementation. However in talking to his direct supervisor, the senior manager found out that Tom, although the best qualified engineer in the department, is weak on self-awareness and self-regulation. These two components are fundamental elements in ensuring that Tom will be able to work across a large community of stakeholders that spans the key operations of the company in Texas, Singapore, and Switzerland. Tom would never admit his weaknesses and tends to be afraid to talk about them. In a recent 360-degree evaluation conducted by the company, his colleagues indicated that he was always too serious and would build a facade around him to prevent anyone from seeing through to any of these weaknesses. They also indicated how impulsive he has been over the last few years.

The supervisor suggested talking to Leila. Her 360 reviews indicated that she has a great self deprecating sense of humour. She has consistently been able to say no to impulsive urges. In addition, she possessed the third dimension of self management, namely motivation. Her boss talked about her passion for achievement. It is the kind of passion for its own sake. Over the four years that she has been with the engineering organization, she has regularly stayed focused and has a superb drive for excellence, no matter what.

The senior team was quite happy with its choice of Leila and members turned their attention to additionally finding the proper senior project manager for this engagement. They had to look for what the PMBOK® Guide would describe as a program manager. This senior role required the elements that Leila possessed in addition to the indicators of the second group or EQ skills, the ability to relate to others’ skills.

The first one on their list was empathy. The company has seen over the years that with the rapid pace of globalization, its program managers needed to have the ability to connect well with others across all global boundaries. This meant that they need to read people well, put themselves in their shoes, excel in understanding international body language, and possess the patience needed in establishing the global trust bridge that is sometimes slow in coming.

Vladimir has over the years seen the increasing use of virtual teams and knew that a big secret to his success was to take into account the feelings of others. His last experience in Europe also taught him the growing need to retain talent. As he was moving into the rollout stage of that European project, he lost two of his key team members -- a lesson that taught him well the importance of establishing rapport and continuously having open dialogue with key stakeholders in any project or program.

Connecting the dots for EQ

It is my view that EQ is a must-have for project managers. No future project could ever properly run and get true stakeholders’ satisfaction without the leader having the social skills knack. As we saw in Leila’s self knowledge and her level of passion, these created the right foundation for the connecting readiness. Her passion is contagious and is exactly what is needed to motivate teams and move them in a desired direction. As she works with Vladimir on this major program, he will be able to utilize his empathy and directed social skills to invest in continuously keeping the right allies excited about the program’s success.

One of the great tactics that Vladimir is planning on using to sense and understand the viewpoints of everyone around this diverse and large global program, is the use of one-on-one sessions. It is my experience that this could work beautifully in clarifying any concerns he might have with any individual on the team and would give various team members that safety they need to express their views that sometimes go unheard.

During a coaching and mentoring with the program sponsor, Kelly, she commended Vladimir’s ability to find common ground with people of all kinds. She had noticed how well he was able to talk to the executive suite folks and yet also have a direct open line of communication to all the junior folks on the team. His Likeability Factor was quite obvious, and different stakeholders loved his overall knowledge of cultures, people, and life. He was always capable of smoothly building bridges.

Kelly shared with Vladimir her experiences with lessons learned in her past programs and how she was able to conduct those sessions before her programs got underway. It is her belief that doing this allowed every team player to thoroughly think about all possible scenarios and ensured that they were safe in bringing up tough topics at such an early program stage. Her results were astounding and included examples of situations in which she was able to save herself and her team from many expected troubles. This was all due to creating such a culture of openness and she hoped Vladimir could try this out on this important program.

This senior team is building the foundation for superb future leaders who are compassionate. These leaders are able to create powerful networks in their stakeholders’ community. They are excellent collaborators, who manage to move others towards a common vision and are driven to find solutions. They are living the role of a Trusted Adviser to the teams they lead as well as the customers they serve. The attributes they possess give them the charisma that is like a magnet for people, pulling them in the direction mapped by the project manager, however vague that might be.

These emotionally intelligent project managers exhibit a diplomatic style that allows them to handle many of the tough situations surrounding the project and the project stakeholders. This intelligence reminds them of the importance of the right, positive attitude and how much more important that is in affecting people than just pure aptitude. They become capable of thinking in a holistic way and they are expected to take us to a horizon that we are not able to see. Investing in creating leaders, who are able to connect the complex personal aspects of project teams and other project stakeholders will allow us to achieve great results and to save large dollars in the process.

References

Zeitoun, A. & Ryle, F. (2003, May) The Leader Side of the Project Manager. PMI Global Congress 2003, Europe, Den Haag, The Netherlands.

Danile Goleman (2000) HBR OnPoint What Makes a Leader?

© 2007 allPM.com

Al Zeitoun (Ph.D., MS, PMP) is Senior Executive of Project Leadership Resources for International Institute for Learning, Inc. Dr. Zeitoun’s extensive global project management experience encompasses engineering, construction, manufacturing and product development. He received a research excellence award and continues to have his papers published and presented at various PMI® global conferences. He has led and chartered PMI® chapters and SIGs worldwide and is on the board of the Global Accreditation Center and the ID Chair of PMI®.