Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers

This essay discusses the role of emotional intelligence in project management and its impact on project success, job satisfaction, and engagement levels. It also highlights the correlation between emotional intelligence and leadership style.

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Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers
Essay
1/28/2019

Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers
Role of Emotional Intelligence in Project Management
Emotional Intelligence, also known as EI is the ability of a person to be able to handle his/her
emotions in order to manage the interpersonal relationships judiciously and adequately.
Recently, it has been identified that Emotional Intelligence of the Project Managers is of
utmost importance for effective project management. The significance of EI for the Project
Managers and its role in project success & performance is being evaluated by the researchers.
The topic seemed interesting as it provides insight in to the additional skills and traits that a
manager shall have apart from the managerial and leadership abilities.
The professional success and performance of the project manager is now being directly
correlated with the emotional intelligence. The authors in the research work have used
questionnaire as the data collection method to collect the details of 75 Project Managers
deployed across top 100 Siberian companies. These project managers were distributed across
varied levels of complexities in terms of the project size, project communications,
methodology for project development, and organization hierarchy. It was found out that the
Project Managers with EI over 4 have better chances of being deployed at higher positions in
the organizations. The analysis results showed that Project Managers across the organizations
have average EI as 4.33 followed by 4.09 at the executive level. 21% of the Project Managers
with EI greater than 4 are placed at higher levels in the business organizations. There was
positive correlation that was achieved between the emotional intelligence and education level
of the Project Managers (Obradovic et al., 2013).
A Project Manager has a variety of responsibilities during the lifecycle of the project. There
are also several decisions that a manager makes during the project timeline. The higher
emotional awareness and intelligence are considered to be the essential parameters that assist
the Project Managers in their decision-making processes. For instance, Project Manager is the
primary resource responsible for communication management and effective communication
execution. It is the responsibility of a manager to make sure that information sharing in the
project is effectively carried out. There are varied perspectives that are involved in the project
and the same may get highlighted during project communications. The ability of an
emotionally aware manager will make sure that consent is achieved at all times and the
project decisions will be taken in accordance with all the entities associated (Clarke, 2010).
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Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers
Emotional Intelligence of a Project Manager is also highlighted one of the significant factors
in project success, job satisfaction, and engagement levels. The authors have conducted a
research using data of 373 Project Managers from the Australian defence industry. The
analysis showed that the work attitude and emotional intelligence play a primary role in the
job satisfaction and trust levels. The Project Managers with higher levels of EI were found to
be satisfied and content with their jobs as compared to the ones with lower values. The
influence of the same is detected on the resources that are allotted to the teams being
managed by the Project Manager. The project success rate also has a direct correlation with
the emotional intelligence of the Project Manager (Rezvani et al., 2016).
EI can be measured using a number of different metrics and units. Some of the measures that
are used to determine the EI levels are Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i),
Emotional Competence Inventory (ECI), and several others. The authors have analysed the
role of Project Manager’s EI in the construction projects. There are different leadership
behaviours necessary in the projects. These include visioning, inspiring, delegating, coaching,
rewarding, and several others. EI, team performance, and leadership style go hand in hand
and have a direct influence on each other (Cao and Fu, 2011).
Leadership style and Emotional Intelligence also have an influence on each other. The
authors conducted research on 107 Pakistani firms to identify the relationship between EI,
transformational leadership style, and competencies. The Project Managers and leaders that
follow transformational leadership style with higher emotional intelligence show enhanced
project success and performance. There are varied leadership styles that the Project Managers
can implement in the projects. The emotionally aware managers tend to lead the projects in a
better way as compared to the ones having lower EI levels (Maqbool et al., 2017). Also, the
Project Managers that adopt varied leadership styles show enhanced project management
skills.
It is necessary to study and analyse the workplace issues and problems to understand the root
cause behind the employee turnover rate. The levels of Emotional Intelligence and tendency
of the employees and Project Managers to quit an organization are closely related with each
other. The use of surveys is done to collect the information and data sets. The details of 108
employees were collected from the organizations in Zanjan, Iran to determine the impact of
these factors on organization performance, project management, and employee engagement
levels. It was revealed that there was a positive correlation that was found between the EI
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Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers
levels and the flexibility levels. However, combing the flexibility and EI together, it was
revealed that a negative correlation exists with the employee engagement levels & turnover
rate (Mohammadi and Abbasi, 2017).
There are several responsibilities that are assigned to a Project Manager during the lifecycle
of a project. The higher emotional mindfulness and intelligence are viewed as the basic
parameters that help the Project Managers in their basic leadership forms. Emotional
Intelligence of a Project Manager is one of the traits that plays a role in the job satisfaction
and employee engagement with the organization. There are differed leadership styles that the
Project Managers can actualize in the projects. The emotionally mindful managers will in
general lead the projects in a better manner when contrasted with the ones having lower EI
levels. It is important to investigate the work environment issues and reasons to comprehend
the underlying driver behind the employee turnover rate. The dimensions of Emotional
Intelligence and inclination of the employees and Project Managers to stop an association are
firmly related with one another.
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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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