Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers

This report explores the role of emotional intelligence (EI) in project management. It analyzes how project managers with higher EI levels make better decisions, exhibit better leadership abilities, and manage relationships effectively. The study also highlights the impact of EI on job satisfaction and professional success for project managers.

Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers
Academic Essay
3/19/2019

Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers
Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers
In this report, critical analysis of emotional intelligence has been studied with respect to
application on the project managers. The analysis has been done to find whether the project
manager is able to conduct project’s responsibilities taking emotional intelligence into
consideration.
Emotional Intelligence is also referred as EI and it is the ability of an individual to handle the
emotions so that the inter-personal relationships and decisions are effectively handled. EI is a
trait that is essential in all walks of life. Its role is significant for the Project Managers as
well. The Project Managers are the resources in a business firm that have the primary
responsibility of managing the project activities. The success or failure of the projects is
largely dependent on the skill sets and abilities of the Project Managers. There are various
skills and traits that are necessary to be a good Project Manager. The significance and impact
of EI on the Project Managers is explored in this essay.
The Project Managers have a wide range of responsibilities assigned during the project
timeline. Some of the primary responsibilities of a Project Manager include management of
the human & non-human resources, project planning & analysis in the areas as schedule,
costs, communications, quality, and risks. There are several decisions that a Project Manager
makes during the project timeline. The success or failure of the project can be largely
implicated with these decisions. EI has a role to play in such decision-making processes. It
has been studied that the Project Manager with higher EI make better project decisions in
comparison with the managers having lower levels of emotional intelligence and awareness.
For example, there are various stakeholders that are usually involved in a business project.
The stakeholder engagement can be ensured through enhanced levels of communication in
the project. The responsibility of this task is on the Project Manager. During such
communication processes, there may be conflicts that may arise among the stakeholders
during the difference in the perspectives. The conflicts may also emerge among the members
of the project team and the project stakeholders. The Project Managers with higher levels of
EI can resolve and manage these conflicts by taking the decisions in the best interest of all the
parties involved (Clarke, 2010).
There are several factors that are involved behind the success of a project. Also, the job
satisfaction levels and the involvement of the resource in a project are essential for achieving
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Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers
project success. There are several studies that have been conducted to determine the work
attitude of the Project Managers in relation with the EI levels. One such study was conducted
for the Project Managers in the Australian defence industry. The work attitude of the project
managers with higher EI levels was better than the ones with lower levels of EI. The Project
Managers with higher EI were also found to be satisfied with their jobs and the influence was
positive on the project tasks and activities. It is the responsibility of a Project Manager to
guide and motivate the resources to perform better in a project. The Project Managers with
higher EI levels have positive outlook towards their professional commitments and have
better job satisfaction levels as well. As a result, these Project Managers can motivate their
team members in an effective manner. On the other hand, the Project Managers with
deteriorated levels of job satisfaction will not be able to provide adequate guidance and
support to their team. This will impact the individual resource performance and will also be
negative for the project success (Rezvani et al., 2016).
Emotional Intelligence of the Project Managers also provides them with the ability to perform
better and achieve the taste of professional success. The managers in a business organization
are deployed at different levels, such as low-level managers, mid-level manager, and senior
level managers. The Project Managers also tend to work in a business environment to move
up the hierarchy. The professional journey as a Project Manager may also provide some of
these resources with the opportunity to become Project Directors and the members of the
board. However, in order to achieve professional success, there are various skills required
apart from the managerial skills and abilities. EI is one such skill and trait that distinguishes a
Project Manager from the rest of the employees. The Project Managers with higher EI levels
are selected above the ones with lower EI (Obradovic et al., 2013).
One of the necessary traits for Project Managers is self-regulation. This is because the Project
Managers are exposed to various high-pressure and high-risk situations during the project
timeline. There are also various changes that are usually requested by the project clients
during the project timeline. The occurrence of project risks and issues cannot be avoided
either. In such situations, self-regulation and control of the Project Manager is of utmost
importance so that unbiased and accurate project decisions can be taken. These abilities are
developed and experienced better in the Project Managers with higher levels of EI (Cao and
Fu, 2011). There are negative emotions that may run through the mind in such high-pressure
situations. However, the managers that may succeed in controlling their emotions and taking
accurate business decisions prove to be successful Project Managers.
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Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers
Leadership is also one of the significant traits of a Project Manager. There are different
leadership styles that are present and it is necessary that the selection of the leadership style is
adequately done in a project. The leadership style and skills are also related with the EI
levels. These two have an impact on each other. The Project Managers and leaders in the
present times mix various styles and implement them in the projects to achieve the project
success and higher collaboration levels for the project team. The performance of the Project
Manager with higher EI levels is better in terms of their leadership abilities. The
transformational leadership style is one such style that is implemented better when the EI
levels of the leader are high (Maqbool et al., 2017).
The management is responsible for the employee engagement in the organization and it is the
role of the Project Manager to ensure that the members of the project team remain involved at
all times. The flexibility to the members of a business organization in terms of flexible
working hours along with flexible policies, etc. are directly co-related with the EI levels. The
emotionally intelligent Project Managers can understand the concerns of the team members
are implement the policies so that flexibility and scalability levels are enhanced for better
team performance (Mohammadi and Abbasi, 2017).
Relationship management is also one of the activities that are required to be performed by the
Project Managers. This is because the Project Managers interact with various entities during
their role as a PM in a particular project. There are internal as well as external entities that are
interacted with. The project managers are required to develop inter-personal relationships so
that they may succeed in negotiations and communication processes. For instance, there may
be certain tools and equipment that may be required to be procured for the project. The
supplier relations will come in to picture in such cases and the Project Manager will be
involved in the negotiations and procurement processes with these suppliers. The negotiations
will be done in a better manner if the inter-personal relationships will be strong. The Project
Managers with higher EI levels will be able to develop better inter-personal relationships.
There are also other entities that are involved in a project lifecycle. Some of these include the
project sponsor, members of the project team, internal, and external stakeholders. The
adequate relationship management by the Project Managers with better EI levels assists in the
better project performance. The success rate of the projects also improves as a result.
There are several risks that may occur in a project and risk management is one of the
essential areas under project management. The Project Managers are responsible for the
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Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers
management of the risks in a project. The Project Managers with higher EI levels can resolve
these risks and carry out the problem-solving activities in a better manner.
Project Managers are the resources that play an extremely significant role in the success or
failure of a project. It is essential that the Project Managers take the responsibility to manage
the project areas and the resources. There are several skills that are required for these
managers to integrate all the project areas and handle the same. Emotional Intelligence is one
such trait that the Project Managers shall have and must work upon to emerge as successful
managers. This is because the Project Managers with better EI levels can adequately manage
different project areas, such as resource management, risk management, schedule
management, budget management, communication management, stakeholder management,
and likewise. There are training and development sessions that the Project Managers can
attend to improve their EI levels. These resources shall also carry out personal reflection at
regular intervals so that they may gain the ability to recognize their EI quotient. There are
feedback exercises that shall also be carried out to have an understanding of the EI levels and
the strategies that may be used to improve the same. This will result in the better performance
of these resources as the Project Managers.
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Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers
References
Cao, J. and Fu, Y. (2011). A Survey on the Role of Emotional Intelligence in Construction
Project. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON Advances in Information Sciences and Service
Sciences, 3(9), pp.107-113.
Clarke, N. (2010). Projects are emotional. International Journal of Managing Projects in
Business, 3(4), pp.604-624.
Maqbool, R., Sudong, Y., Manzoor, N. and Rashid, Y. (2017). The Impact of Emotional
Intelligence, Project Managers’ Competencies, and Transformational Leadership on
Project Success: An Empirical Perspective. Project Management Journal, 48(3), pp.58-75.
Mohammadi, H. and Abbasi, Y. (2017). Impact of emotional intelligence and flexibility on
the tendency of employees to leave the organization in project based organizations. Journal
of Project Management, pp.143-148.
Obradovic, V., Jovanovic, P., Petrovic, D., Mihic, M. and Mitrovic, Z. (2013). Project
Managers’ Emotional Intelligence – A Ticket to Success. Procedia - Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 74, pp.274-284.
Rezvani, A., Chang, A., Wiewiora, A., Ashkanasy, N., Jordan, P. and Zolin, R. (2016).
Manager emotional intelligence and project success: The mediating role of job satisfaction
and trust. International Journal of Project Management, 34(7), pp.1112-1122.
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