Essay: Interpersonal skills for project managers

In many instances, you have probably heard someone say how much they love their jobs but hate their managers and or management. It can be identified that the reason for this is the lack of skills that managers and or management have. The insufficient training, guidance and egos also contribute to the lack of important professional skill sets.
According to the business dictionary, interpersonal skills are defined as the ability of a person to work and interact effectively and positively with others. Interpersonal skills are developed through training and active initiatives. Companies consider interpersonal skills as a constructive manner to handle workplace disputes and miscellaneous personnel issues. Some of the skills include communication, active listening, the delegation of tasks and duties and leadership (Businessdictionary.com, 2018).
The responsibilities of a project manager (PM) is to meet their project objectives on time, on target and on budget. According to the PMBOK Guide, an effective project manager should have three characteristics: knowledge, performance and personal. An effective PM will consider leading their team with the ability to influence instead of authority. However, it can be difficult for a PM to manage a team using leadership instead of authority, especially if this method is not something that they are used too. The ability to manage through leadership ends up being more effective in the long run because the foundation of the team is built on trust and respect (Haner, 2013).
There are several reasons as to why Interpersonal Skills for PM’s is important. Managing through leadership is extremely important at the beginning stages of a project because it allows the vision of the project to be defined and the vision is clearly communicated to the team. This will help ensure that team members are on board with the goals and expectations of the project. Excellent project leadership skills will promote team members to continue to have that spark of inspiration and motivation to perform at their best level at all times. Project leadership requires a balance of interpersonal, conceptual and technical skills. These skills should help the PM’s identify and analyze situations and interact appropriately (Haner, 2013).
Eight interpersonal skills that the PMBOK Guide describes that an effective PM should possess are:
1. Leadership
Leadership is one of the most important skills out of the eight. PM’s usually will have to manage a team through leadership because they do not have the authority over the team members (Fichtner, 2016).  According to the PMBOK Guide, project leadership is summarized as: “leading the project team members and stakeholders toward a common project goal, getting things done through the project team members, leading with respect and trust, communicating, motivating and inspiring the project team, maintain the vision, strategy and communicating project performance and evaluating performance of the project team” (Haner, 2013).
2. Team Building
It is the PM’s responsibility to get individuals on the team to focus on the same goal. Most of the time team members are brought in from many different departments. In some cases, many individuals have not worked together and might not even be familiar with the other departments. It is crucial that individuals feel like they are a part of a team working towards the same goals without any favoritism being displayed. This will help tremendously when decisions need to be made related to the project. Individuals will make decisions based on the interest of the project and not self-interest or departmental interest. PM’s need to be aware of the process and responsibilities involved in building a successful team along with the tools to mitigate when issues arise (Fichtner, 2016).
3. Motivation
Project manager’s do not consider how essential motivation can be for a successful project. Employees are more likely to perform to the best of their ability when they feel appreciated. Motivational skills will assist team members to produce their best work, work together towards the project goal and continue to have an interest in their tasks. PM’s will need to get to know their team and determine what motivates each individual, it could be financial compensation, public acknowledgment, reassurance or being challenged. Great motivation skills will create a work environment where individuals are stimulated and satisfied with their tasks at work while also meeting the objects for the project as a team (Fichtner, 2016).
4. Communication
Great communication skills are important at any and every level. 90% of a PM’s job tasks consist of communication. Communication is extremely important because it builds relationships between individuals and establishes trust. PM’s constantly communicates with stakeholders and senior management. PM’s with great communication skills will keep constant contact and convey important and timely details to their respective parties (Fichtner, 2016).
5. Influencing
In order to be a successful PM, it is essential to be able to influence others. Most of the time it is difficult to bring individuals together from different departments and for them to see the vision. It also can be difficult to get everyone to agree on certain details and tasks to meet the goal. A great PM will be able to use this skill to their advantage and help influence individuals to reach an agreement and to see the ultimate goal of a project (Fichtner, 2016).
6. Decision Making
The ability to make a good decision is a skill that most efficient PM’s develop. PM’s should be familiar with the four basic decision-making styles: consultation, consensus, command and random styles. Making decisions involves many individuals who may agree or disagree, coming up with a model that will facilitate the process can be helpful. The model can help generate the consensus of a team and involve everyone (Fichtner, 2016).
7. Political and cultural awareness
Diversity is a key factor in today’s world. It is extremely important for PM’s to be culturally aware and sensitive towards individuals. PM’s will need to consider and understand cultural differences and cultural diversity and factor them into the project plans. If fail to do so, this may cause conflict and tension within the project. This, in turn, can cause the project to suffer and cause delays (Fichtner, 2016).
8. Negotiation
Negotiating can help PM’s with keeping the project in line and within the original project scope. Negotiation skills include: being an active listener, the ability to analyze individual situations and communicate clearly during an entire discussion. PM’s can use this skill to help them reach an agreement or compromise with situations that might be causing a delay or an issue. The most skilled PM will be able to ensure that all parties involved will feel like their opinions and or suggestions were taken into consideration (Fichtner, 2016).
According to Udo & Koppensteiner (2004), PM’s should be competent in the core skills in order to be successful. When selecting a PM, it is important for the company to refer to a checklist to identify if the individual has the combination of skills and knowledge of these three core competency areas: knowledge, proven experience and personality (Udo & Koppensteiner, 2004).  Most companies use certification as a measure of PM competency. However, the duo stated that it does not, certification can be used as an identification of commitment to the profession and knowledge in the profession. Certification can identify a PM’s good indication of their knowledge, but it cannot vouch for the quality.
Knowledge includes the general management skills, project management skills and industry skills. General management skills include the ability to provide direction, make a sound judgment, community and coach/mentor team members. Some of the project management skills include being organizational savvy, PM tools and techniques and fundamental project management skills. Under Industry skills, a PM should be knowledgeable in lifecycle management and breadth in the specific application and industry knowledge (Udo & Koppensteiner, 2004).
Proven experience involves the ability to manage troubled teams and projects and turning them around to be successful, organized and efficient in work processes, having a strategic in approach and having the experience of managing projects on time and within the budget. The personality core is divided into characteristics and people management skills. Characteristics include the PM’s to be creative, have common sense, be open minded, pro-active, confident and committed to the team and project and being trustworthy. PM’s also need to have people management skills such as the ability to build and sustain interpersonal relationships, not to micromanage, be politically sensitive, not play favoritism and continue to actively listen (Udo & Koppensteiner, 2004). Various roles in PM will need different competencies, the ability to identify the best PM for a project will allow the company to reduce project failures and increase on the return investments for the project.
Why do project managers fail? Is it the lack personality? Is it the lack of skills? Or is it their ego? Let’s identify some of the reason why. Communication is one of the top reasons why projects fail. PM’s with poor communication skills shows that they are not able to communicate their value to the team. Management fails to regularly realize how poor communication skills can hinder the whole company. The lack of communication can lead to the lack of focus. When the communication is bad, team meetings are almost always not efficient and effective. It can also lead to the drop-in morale causing employees to not be happy and cause their productivity level to decrease and to look for a way out of the company. How can PM’s do better? PM’s can attempt to use their skills to come up with a plan with the most effective way to solve precise challenges catered to a precise audience (Brenner, 2017).
In the technology realm, IT specialist are often assigned to unwanted management roles. This may cause some confusion due to IT specialist are gear to focus more on details while PM’s are concerned with business results as a whole. It is always a good balance to get the creativity from both sides, however, the lack of interpersonal skills can affect the project negatively. Soft skills are also considered as ‘people skills’. Soft skills include the ability to communicate, resolve conflicts, problem-solving, strategic thinking, team building and amongst other skills (Lewis & Boucher, 2012).  Emotional Intelligence quotient (EQ) is often linked with soft skills. EQ is defined as the “the ability to identify, access and control the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups” (Lewis & Boucher, 2012).
There are five categories of EQ (“What is Emotional Intelligence (EQ)? | Psych Central”, 2018):
1. Self-awareness – the ability to be aware of one’s own emotion and the ability to manage it appropriately.
2. Self-regulation – The ability to brush off negative emotions and have self-control during negative urges, uphold honesty and integrity, being innovative, adapting to changes and owning up to one’s own performance.
3. Motivation – The ability to continuously have self-motivation and the need to improve. Commitment to a team and goals. Making yourself available to take on initiatives and the constant act of optimism.
4. Empathy – The ability to recognize and relate to other people’s feelings. The ability to create opportunities and work with a group of diverse individuals. The ability to mentor and develop other individuals through constant guidance.
5. Social skills – The ability to empathize, negotiate and understand others. To communicate clearly, positive influence, developing relationships and providing great leadership.
In David Davis’s Schmoozing and project management (2000), he states that the PMBOK Guide provides the science and a structured outline but does not provide the art of learning how to be a great project manager. Davis states that he struggled to try to capture the attention and keep people interested in the ‘art’ of project management. He then discovered the term ‘schmoozing’ and implemented it into project management. The word schmoozing is usually thought about in a negative connotation; however, Davis’s implementation of the word is defined as being sincere, treating people with respect and well, understanding the value to the project and you shall see results.
So how can the concept of schmoozing help with project management? Here are a few techniques:
1. The ability to focus on people:
The idea of schmoozing is for PM’s to focus more on the individuals on the team instead of the project details. It is important for PM’s to be accessible to the team and available to assist at any time. This builds a positive and honest communication between parties. The continuous spread of positivity and praise towards team members can boost morale and confidence and show the team that they are valued and valuable to the project (Davis, 2000).
2. Respecting Individuals and their time as valuable:
PM’s should have meetings with their team and continue to have an agenda every time. This prevents time from being wasted unnecessarily and for meetings to have a flow and substance. PM’s should also make sure that meetings are interesting by making it interactive, playing games such as Tribond and always ending the meeting with a ‘check out’. An elevator summary is also beneficial to establish the scope at the highest level. It shows the value to the team and to the CEO. Elevator summary is a precise description of the scope that can be used to explain to the CEO of the company (Davis, 2000).
3. Chatch
The Golden Rule of Schmoozing is called chatch, which means for items of gratitude in old Hebrew. PM’s may use this technique by supplying goodies to their team to show appreciation and gratitude. Some examples of chatch are personalized e-cards, quotes or comic strips that may relate to the team and simple paper awards (Davis, 2000).
PM’s need to consider schmoozing as a technique because it makes employees feel appreciated, IT teams thrive when their hard work is being noted and recognized and it promotes the group to be well invested in the project. It is important to note that schmoozing has to come sincerely and honestly, or it will not work (Davis, 2000).
How can a PM improve their Interpersonal skills? The first step a PM needs to do
Identify their weakness. Looking at the list provided by the PMBOK Guide, PM’s should rank the list in descending order starting with their highest weakness. An unskillful PM will not be able to master all the skills in one project. It is best to choose a few skills and continuously work towards perfecting it in each project. It is important for PM’s to note their progress and conduct self-evaluation to capture their progress. It is important for PM’s to not only identify their skills that need to be improved but also some of the behaviors and mindset that needs to change. Some other resources for PM’s include attending seminars, classes, reading books, obtaining a mentor or coach and just the constant drive to practice and perfect these skills (“How to Improve Your Project Interpersonal Skills – Project Risk Coach”, 2018).
According to J.K Crawford (2006), implementing additional supporting roles may assist with the success of PM’s.
1. The Project Planner: The Project Planner is to work directly under the PM. The Project Planner steps into the role of being the support competencies to the PM. This will allow the PM to prevent schedule slippage, oversee additional projects, provide accurate and reporting and increase morale for both parties.
2. Resource Manager: The role of the resource manager is to manage scarce technical resources, forecast and plan for shortfalls and locks in assignments of important resources to projects.
3. Knowledge management Coordinator: This position can be defined as the librarian. The primary responsibility is to maintain project records, methods and standards.
In conclusion, interpersonal skills are an important skill that all successful PM’s must have. It is crucial that PM’s understand how to fully manage a project including the knowledge and the skills to lead a team. Project managers should lead their team through a leadership concept and not authority. PM’s need to utilize their soft skills and schmoozing to ensure that their team is productive and performing to the best of their abilities. All in all, PM’s need to be relatable, empathic, appreciative and understanding towards their teams. Developing and maintaining interpersonal skills is something a project manager cannot neglect, it is a skill that has to be continuously worked on to be mastered.