EQ4PM

Top EQ Issues Facing Project Managers Today

It is interesting to learn about emotional intelligence from others.  In the process of conducting emotional intelligence workshops for PMs over the last 5 months, I have found that I learn new things during each session.  I am particularly interested in the top emotional intelligence issues and challenges that PMs face.

In my workshops I conduct an exercise that I call "Problem Census".  I ask participants to think about their work environment and to:

Identify the issues, breakdowns, or major problems that you experience in the workplace that you believe are related to emotional intelligence or may be helped by this workshop.

I have been reviewing the collected data from various angles and using it to develop new exercises and approaches to help the workshop participants.  Here is a chart with a summary of the issues from the last two workshops (click to enlarge).

One important thing to note about the chart; even though I included one category for project conflict, most (if not all) of the issues could have been considered 'project conflict'.  I wanted to avoid having one large category so where possible I tried to separate into other categories that would make more sense.

If you would like to see all the data, click here to download a PDF of all the responses.

I would love to hear your feedback and comments.  What are the biggest issues, challenges, breakdowns or problems that you face at work?  Do you agree with the ones that are shown?

PMI is Waking Up to the Importance of Soft Skills

I spent some time exploring the new Career Framework Initiative from PMI.  The framework is intended to provide project managers, program managers, and portfolio managers with a career path or progression from one job to another.  This is likely most helpful to project managers who are wondering where their careers may go. 

I was interested to see how the PMI framework laid out so I went through the website in detail to learn all that I could.  The simple career path looks like this:

1. Project Manager Level I
2. Project Manager Level II
3. Project Manager Level III
4. Program Manager
5. Portfolio Manager

Here is a summary chart of the entire framework, showing the experience levels, education levels, qualifications and competencies by each rung on the ladder.  Download pmis_pm_career_framework.pdf

I was delighted to see that the framework does include a number of the soft skills competencies that I am focused on.  In the categories of interpersonal and leadership skills, you will find a number that are important soft skills that up to this point have not found a place in the PMBOK® Guide.  Here are some of those competencies that I have addressed in this blog and in my soft skills workshops for project managers.  These first four fell into the category of 'interpersonal' skills:

• Communicates with others
• Establishes and maintains interpersonal relationships
• Possesses good listening skills
• Resolves conflicts and negotiates with others

PMI put the remaining skills into the category of 'leadership' skills:

• Celebrates accomplishments
• Delegates work and empowers stakeholders
• Demonstrates high ethics and values
• Displays model behavior
• Displays social awareness
• Embraces diversity
• Encourages partnering
• Engages others
• Inspires others
• Possesses self-awareness
• Provides creative environment
• Recognizes contributions
• Supports team building

I am pleasantly surprised that PMI even used the emotional intelligence words like social awareness and self-awareness. 

Though not the point of the career framework, it looks through the development of the framework, PMI is starting to appreciate the importance of the soft skills to progression as a PM.  I would like to see these soft skills mapped against the career families (most have not been).

New Technology May Help Prevent Relational Breakdowns

An article on CNET describes technology invented by Nissan to keep drunk drivers from being able to start and drive their cars, thereby keeping them off the road.  It got me thinking...if we can use technology to stop people from doing destructive things with their cars, perhaps we could also use it to help them avoid destructive behaviors in our relationships.

Here are some elements of the safety system developed by Nissan to determine if drivers are too drunk to drive:

• Odor sensors on the seats detect alcohol on the breath
• Sweat detectors on the shifter knob measure perspiration
• Camera that monitors eye alertness

So what are some ways we can use technology to prevent us from causing relationship breakdowns?  I think we have to focus on anger; anger seems to be behind many of the things we do to harm our relationships.  Here are some ways in which we might let our anger go unchecked and harm our relationships:

• Email Letter Bombs
• Angry Tirades
• Crying

Let's look at each of these and see if there is some technology we can use to prevent them from occurring.

Email Letter Bombs - Email letter bombs can be a career and relationship killer.  They happen when we lose control of our anger and attempt to use email to straighten something or someone out. 

I think the technology already exists to prevent us from creating and sending email bombs, flaming emails, or even dumb instant messages.  There are grammar and spelling checkers that can be reconfigured to look for specific words or phrases (e.g. you stupid idiot, I hate you, you're an ignoramus).  You could also have a keystroke monitoring program that would check for those words and phrases and prevent you from typing them or sending them.  You could also develop a macro to run in outlook that would check for inappropriate phrases.

Angry Tirades - Another potential relationship killer would be launching into an angry tirade or going off on somebody.  Again, the technology may already exists to help prevent you from doing this.  It would simply take the reconfiguration of an existing device on the market - the implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). 

The current purpose of an ICD is to jump-start a heart that is stopped or to stabilize a hear that has an irregular heartbeat.  The device uses a high voltage shock to start or stabilize a heartbeat.  However, we could quickly re-purpose one of these devices to measure a fast heartbeat - a sign that we are angry - and then deliver a high voltage shock that drops us to our knees.  That high voltage charge just might be enough to help us get over our anger and help us pause to reflect the ramifications of our situation.

There are some downsides to this approach of course.  The most obvious downside is that a fast heartbeat could result from not just Anger but also Fear and Excitement.  So, a device based on a fast heart rate might not only help us prevent our anger from boiling over, it might also harm us if we go too excited.  So for example if the Cubs won the pennant, we might get a dose of unwanted high voltage. 

Crying - In some relationships, crying is an acceptable emotional response.  However, in most work situations, crying is going to be viewed as a little bit out of place.  Especially if you use it to explain why your project is late (similar to how you might use crying with a police officer to wriggle out of a ticket). 

So what can we do to prevent crying at work?  Well, we can re-purpose the Nissan eye-monitoring camera to scan our eyes.  If excess moisture is detected, those eye-monitoring cameras could immediately trigger a high powered fan.  You could also include some sort of blast furnace to provide sufficient heat to immediately dry any tears.

I encourage you to think about creative ideas for applying technology to help us with our relationships.  Or, we could spend our time and energy focusing on being more aware of our emotional states and then managing our emotions.  Which is what this blog is (normally) all about.

Bad Bosses, Worst Bosses, and Dumb Bosses

I read a couple of great posts over at BrainBasedBusiness about dealing with bad bosses.  They are The Worst Bosses get Promoted, not Punished and 5 Reasons Bad Bosses Get Their Way.  The timing was good because I was also reading the book When Smart People Work for Dumb Bosses.  It's not because I am currently working for a bad boss, though I have had a few in my career.  It's actually research I am doing for my newest emotional intelligence workshop for IT professionals.

In those posts from BrainbasedBusiness, Dr. Ellen Weber discussed some of the physical and chemical responses in the brain that escalate or de-escalate stress and conflict.   Weber goes on to provide some tips for staying calm and dealing with bad bosses. 

Unfortunately, we don't often get to choose who are bosses are and we could end up dealing with one at some point.  Here are a few additional thoughts on working with problem people and bosses that I am working on for my emotional intelligence workshops:

Stick to business & avoid confrontation - Sometimes you may want to simply focus on getting the job done and not on confronting or "fixing" others.

Document everything - Though it takes more work, it is sometimes necessary to create a paper trail so that you have records of what has transpired.

Seek help - Don't  suffer alone.  Reach out to other managers, peers, or the HR department when you are struggling with a bad boss.  Our relationships with others can strengthen us during tough times.  I would caution against sharing your problems with peers who only inflame you or the situation.

Refocus your energies - If you find yourself under pressure from a difficult boss, it may be a good time to put your energies into other pursuits outside work.  Seek out hobbies or other activities that energize and rejuvenate you.

Consider a move - You are gifted and valuable!  Don't throw away your talents to those who don't appreciate them.  Go to another department within the same company or leave the company if necessary.  Better to leave the bad boss in the rear view mirror then continue to be under the gun.

Don’t take it personally - Generally bad bosses are that way because of themselves, not because of you.  After evaluating any areas where you may have contributed to the situation, and taking appropriate action, don't take anything else personally.  Don't see the situation as something you have caused.

Like Dr. Weber, I would encourage you to provide your tips and feedback.