Workshop on

Emotional Intelligence in
Project Management
How to promote a culture of ownership and collaboration in
leading Projects
“A career is now not so much a ladder of roles, but a growing reputation for
making things happen. Influence, not authority, is what drives the political
organization today in all organizations”

-Charles Handy, author- The Leader of the future

The Rules for Project Managers Have Changed

On time, on budget, within scope – old story;

Now- do more with less
 Why EI for Project managers?
We tend to place a higher value on tasks. We sometimes lack
empathy. Recognizing the importance of stakeholder
relationships and role of Emotional Intelligence in managing
projects can be the big the differentiator.
“To advance as a PM requires understanding and mastery of
emotional intelligence concepts. Project managers must be
emotionally intelligent.”
J. Rodney Turner, PhD, and Ralf Mueller, DBA,
Authors of Choosing Appropriate Project Managers
 Emotional intelligence can help PMs to:
1. Develop stakeholder relationships that support the project’s
success
2. Anticipate and avoid emotional breakdowns
3. Deal with difficult team members and manage conflict
4. Leverage emotional information to make better decisions
5. Communicate more effectively
6. Create a positive work environment and high team morale
7. Cast a vision for shared project objectives that will attract,
inspire, and team
Workshop Objectives
• Define emotional intelligence and how it relates to personal and organizational
success.
• Interpret assessment results from the Leader EQ Inventory.
• Apply tools to increase personal skills: self awareness and self management of
emotions.
• Apply tools to increase social skills: recognizing the emotions in others and
responding to those emotions.
• Discuss social responsibility and how it supports an organization’s goals and
individual goals.
• Apply tools to increase your and others emotional intelligence
To succeed
Expected contributions

confidentiality, goodwill, commitment, humour

 A DIFFERENT INTRODUCTION

• Stand up
• 2 circles
• You will answer the question I ask in 1’30. Your partner listens
• The person with his back inside the circles starts…
“We are being judged by a new
yardstick; not just how smart we
are, or by our training and
expertise, but also how well we
handle ourselves and each
other.”
Daniel Goleman
 Until I came to IBM, I thought that culture was just one of the important
elements in an organization's success. What I realized that culture isn't just one
aspect of the game, it is the game. In the end, an organization is nothing more
than the collective capacity of its people to create value.

Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. Former chairman of the board of IBM

Impact of Emotional Competencies on Effective
Performance

67%
Hay/Bcber study - 181 different positions from 121 companies
Harvard Business School

› Empathy

› Perspective taking

› Rapport building

› Cooperation
 PMBOK ® Guide on Interpersonal Skills
• Leadership
• Team building
• Motivation
• Communication
• Influencing
• Decision making
• Political and cultural awareness
• Negotiation
 So…What is
Emotional Intelligence?
 EI Defined…

“The capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of

others, for motivating ourselves, for managing emotions well in
ourselves and in our relationships.”
Daniel Goleman

“the abilities to recognize and regulate emotions in ourselves and in

others”- Daniel Goleman and Gary Cherniss
 What Emotional Intelligence is Not?

o Emotional intelligence is not about being nice all the time.

– It is about being honest.

o Emotional intelligence is not about being “touchy-feely.”

– It is about being aware of your feelings, and those of others.

o Emotional intelligence is not about being emotional.

– It is about being smart with your emotions.
Good News!!

Our level of emotional

intelligence is not fixed
genetically…it is largely
learned, and it continues to
develop as we go through life
and learn through experience.
 Learning About Emotional Intelligence Is
Only the First Step…Emotional competence is the
ultimate goal
Understanding the Emotional Intelligence
Framework
A Brief Primer on Emotional Intelligence
2 Aspects of Emotional Intelligence

PERSONAL
COMPETENCE

SOCIAL COMPETENCE
4 Components of EI
4 Components of EI

1 Self-Awareness

2 Social Awareness
Self- Management

3 Relationship management
4
4 Components of EI Self-Awareness. Can I accurately
Identify my own emotions and
tendencies as they happen?

1 Self-Awareness
2 Self- Management

3 Social Awareness

4 Relationship management
Can I manage my emotions 4 Components of EI
and behavior to a positive
outcome?

1 Self-Awareness

2 Self- Management
3 Social Awareness

4 Relationship management
 4 Components of EI

1 Self-Awareness

2 Self- Management

3 Social Awareness
4 Relationship management
Can I accurately identify your
emotions and tendencies as I
interact with you?
4 Components of EI
Can I manage the interaction I have

1 Self-Awareness with others constructively and to a

positive outcome?
2 Social Awareness
Self- Management

3 Relationship management
4
Learning Objective
1. Emotional Self- awareness

2. Emotional Self- Management

3. Social Awareness

4. Relationship Management
Self- Awareness
Emotional Self-awareness

Accurate Self-assessment

Self-confidence
Project Management Begins with
Self-Management
 Self- Awareness
“If you understand your own feelings you get a really great handle on how
you’re going to interact and perform with others…So one of the first starting
points is- ‘what’s going on inside of me?’”
Self- Awareness
• Awareness of your beliefs

• Awareness of your capabilities

• Awareness of your skills and knowledge

• Awareness of your thoughts and emotions.

Belief & Perception
 Emotional Red Flags
• Inappropriate Humor
• Use of Sarcasm
• Passive–Aggressive Behavior
• Playing the Victim
• Hostility
• Reactivity
Emotional Self-Awareness
EQ-I Assessment
Tools and Techniques for Building Self-Awareness

• Keep a Feelings Journal

• Use an emotional Tally sheet
• Conduct a Physical Inventory
• Use Paired Sharing
• Backtrack
• Use Quiet Time
• Track your Reactivity
Accurate Self- Assessment
Accurate Self-Assessment
• MBTI Profile
• Disc Profile
• 360 Performance Management
• Strengthfinder.com
• Learning Style
• Social Style
• Leadership Style
 Self-confidence

Self-Confidence: “A Strong Sense of One’s Self-Worth and Capabilities.”

—Daniel Goleman

Meet Tony
 Update Your Bio
• If I had to describe my value proposition in three key messages, what
would I say?

• What three pieces of information should I include to make my areas of

expertise clear?

• What three pieces of information should I include so that others know

how to position me for new roles that allow me bring my highest value to
the organization?
Self-Confidence is not about knowing all the answers. It is about
the sense of certainty deep down inside of yourself that you
can handle any problem.
Self-Awareness Personal Action Plan
Page 18 of your Workbook
Until you make your unconscious conscious, it will rule your
life and you will call it fate
- Carl Jung
Self-Management

Impulse Control

Trust-worthiness

Achievement Orientation
People Do not leave Organizations, they leave…
 Negative Feelings Can Cripple a Team

• Self-Control Helps Us Avoid Emotional

Breakdowns
• Emotional hijacking
 Examples of emotional breakdowns in
a project environment
1. Angry Tirades
2. Door Slamming
3. E-mail Letter Bomb
4. Withdrawal and Isolation
5. Holding Grudges and Getting Even
6. Criticizing
7. Sarcasm
8. Playing the Victim
 Emotional Breakdowns May Be Traced Back To
Emotional Triggers.

• Moods and attitudes of others

• Pre-thinking or foreshadowing
• Dwelling
• Personality
• Hot words/hot buttons
• Perceived criticism
• Physical environment
• Illness or physical conditions
• Situations
Emotional Triggers and Amygdala Hijack
 Explanatory style
• Permanence • Optimism vs Pessimism
• Pervasiveness
• Personalization
 Techniques to Improve our Self-Control
• Know Thyself
• Use HALT
• Evaluate your physical environment
• Take care of yourself and Stay healthy
• Self-renewal
• Avoid long work-week
• Take time Out
• Talk it out with someone
• Write a mail/letter to yourself
• Use humor
• Do not try to be perfect
• Prepare and Plan ahead
Self-Management Personal Action Plan
Page 25 of your Workbook
 Social-Awareness

Empathy

Organizational Awareness

Service Orientation
 Nonverbal perception is Nonverbal cues include
facial expressions and body language. The second
subcomponent, empathy
 Empathy

• Ability to read the spoken and unspoken thoughts and feelings of

others
• Ability to appreciate the thoughts and feelings of others and why
they have them
• Capacity to respect and value people from diverse backgrounds and
cultures
 Typical Situations where Social Awareness
is Required
1. Understanding the verbal and nonverbal communications of
different stakeholders
2. Understanding the motivations of our team members so that
we can align them with the objectives of the project
3. Improving your understanding of stakeholders and politics
4. Providing feedback and constructive criticism to team
members
5. Recognizing and addressing hostility, conflict, and other
negative behaviors
Why do we find empathy difficult as PMs?
1. Self-Orientation
2. Results First
3. Tough Stuff
4. We Are Smarter Than Others
One of the key applications of empathy is
empathetic listening, listening without
judgment.
 Organizational Awareness
“the ability to read the currents of emotions and
political realities in groups” —Cary Cherniss and Daniel
Goleman
 Organizational Awareness

A leader with a keen social awareness can be politically astute, able to

detect crucial social networks and read key power relationships. Such
leaders can understand the political forces at work in an organization,
as well as the guiding values and unspoken rules that operate among
people there. —Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, Annie McKee 7
 PM Assessment for Organizational Awareness
• Level 1:Understands the structure and organization of the company and the client
and uses that to manage effectively.

• Level 2: Is familiar with the inner workings of the company and how to get things
done informally. Is able to leverage the organizational capabilities for the client’s
benefit.

• Level 3: Understands and leverages not only the company but the client and
vendor organizations. Recognizes key decision makers in the environment.

• Level 4: Understands the client’s business as well or better than the client;
consistently acts with the client’s best interest in mind.
 Understanding Culture & Values of the Organization
• Who gets promoted and why? • Are there written or unwritten rules

• What behavior gets rewarded? about starting early or working late?

• Are there rules around telling the truth

• What type of behavior gets
or not telling the truth?
punished?
• What does it take to succeed in your
• How does the organization react
organization?
to problems or challenges?
• Who gets the largest bonus and why?
• What happens when mistakes are
• Who has been fired and why?
made?
Service-Orientation
 Techniques for Improving Our Social Awareness
• Improve Your Empathetic Listening
Skills
• Track Emotions during Team Meetings
• Identify Emotional Red Flags in Others
• Mirror Emotions
• Find a mentor good at particular skill
• Track Your Own Emotions
• Keep a Journal
• Explore and Learn About People
• Systematically Dissect the
Organizational Culture
• Assess Your Project Team
• Practice Social Awareness During
Movies
Social-Awareness Personal Action Plan
Page 31 of your Workbook
Relationship Management

Stakeholder Relationships
Developing Others
Truth-Telling
Key Power Relationships
 Stakeholder Management
• Collect and Analyze Information About the Stakeholders
– Stakeholder Priority

– Role on the Project

– Position Relative to the Project

– Stakeholder Objectives

– Communication Style

– Facts, Passions, and Areas of Interest

Techniques for Managing Relationships in Projects
1. Apply the Emotional Intelligence Basics and social awareness
2. Stakeholder Management
3. Regular One-on-One Meetings
4. Out to Lunch!
5. Use Icebreakers and Teambuilding Exercises
6. Develop Others by Becoming a Coach and Mentor
7. Recognize Others
8. Assessment Instruments
9. Practice Truth-Telling Techniques
Thomas Kilmann- Conflict Instrument