June 4

Emotional intelligence plays a critical role in any project, including IT projects.  Although we may not have much say over who is working on the project with us, the reality is that we, as project managers, must be capable of managing the people side of projects as well as the technical aspects.


Emotional intelligence in a project setting  can be broken down into two main areas, as defined by Daniel Goleman: Personal Competence and Social Competence.  In a nutshell, personal competence is how we manage ourselves and social competence is how we handle relationships.  More specifically, personal competence refers to an individual's traits in getting things done and how personal actions are controlled.  Personal competence forms the basis for your dealings with anyone else, whether it be in a business and social environment. If you have personal competence, you are known to have presence.  Other elements which support personal competence are: self-confidence, self-regulation, self-motivation, being positive, trustworthiness, conscientiousness, honesty and consistency.  Social competence, or how we deal with interactions with others, is the second building block of emotional intelligence.  Included as part of this competence are skills such as: empathy, listening to verbal and non-verbal cues, sensitivity, discretion, tact, communication, conflict management, negotiation, and team development.  Social and personal competencies together make for a strong leader, which is why these skills are usually sought after in the hiring of any manager.

Figure 1: Personal (bottom row) & Social (top 2 rows) elements of Emotional Intelligence

The International Project Management Association (IPMA) has identified 15 behavioural elements which any project participant needs to have, which are: Leadership, Engagement and Motivation, Self-Control, Assertiveness, Relaxation, Openness, Creativity, Results Orientation, Efficiency, Consultation, Negotiation, Conflict and Crisis, Reliability, Values Appreciation and Ethics.  These attributes blend in well with Goleman's concept of emotional intelligence and therefore demonstrates the importance of emotional intelligence in any project undertaking.  Project managers need to build trust by exercising honesty and integrity; they need to be committed to project goals while motivating team members; they need to be adept in communication skills namely, listening to and understanding various types of audiences, knowing when to be assertive in pressing a point or discussion, and producing a win-win environment when negotiating with others.

Figure 2: What project managers require as emotional intelligence

A project manager needs to be constantly striving to improve emotional intelligence.  One method of improving is to define rules for personal conduct and abide by those rules.  These self-imposed rules guide a project manager in the daily performance on the job and provide for consistent behaviour. Creating rules to live by can be beneficial to emotional intelligence competence.  Project managers can improve on their emotional intelligence competence through study, but perhaps more quickly in identifying and following a role model. Having a mentor is another means of assimilating the experience and good judgment of a successful senior person. Capitalizing on personal strengths and improving on weaknesses should be a goal for any project manager.  Emotional intelligence is an asset that the project manager must posses and constantly improve upon to be the best that he or she can be. Taking an inventory of the personal and social attributes can lead to using the strengths while improving the weaknesses. This requires a self-assessment of each of the skills to determine where improvement can be made.

Figure 3: Hiring a Project Manager with emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is a guide to successful personal conduct and relationships with people.  Achieving  competence is when a person can efficiently and effectively develop an interpersonal style that supports his or her ability to accomplish work. In projects, the project manager is the most visible person with or without

emotional intelligence competence.

Figure 4: Growing Emotional Intelligence takes time!

Happy Job Hunting!

Len Grady