情商的力量——利用情商更好地管理專案、人員和政治（轉）

當一個專案成功時，大家走到一起互相祝賀；當一個專案失敗時，只有一個人會被指責：專案經理。為了更好地處理這種要麼成功要麼失敗的情況，你必須提高你的軟技能。

“情商”這個概念正變得越來越流行，它可以幫助你成功地處理專案政治和人員溝通，而且情商還使你能夠在某種程度上表現自己，從而在每次專案成功時獲得認可和嘉獎。

“情商是指如何聰明地使用你的情緒。”尼爾·E·貝徹瓦斯說，他是澳大利亞企業家研究院商學副教授、執行導師和變革管理顧問。“瞭解你何時悲傷、高興、生氣或沮喪並不困難，但情商的確可以告訴你何時該謹慎地與老闆或同事相處。”

出色的經理在艱難的時期必須要控制自己的情緒，然後根據當時的環境、情況和人員關係來決定最有效的溝通手段，託尼·保羅這樣認為。他是澳大利亞PicoNet諮詢公司的負責人和專案管理顧問。“在專案和工作環境的背景下，我使用感覺去了解我的客戶、團隊和同事如何理解我的觀點和行為。”他說。“畢竟，我要製造些影響，感受工作場所的氣氛同傾聽和閱讀報告一樣重要。儘管我們依賴於經驗來估計不同環境下合適的溝通方式，但理解個人期望對資訊有效傳達的方式同樣重要。”

認識自我，提高自我

研究人員認為自我意識、自我管理、社會認知和關係管理是取得生活和事業成功的關鍵情商能力。

情緒的自我意識能夠使你理解你的感覺，瞭解你所有的想法和行為，它可以使你更好地認識自己作為一名專案經理的能力，並且只承諾那些你能做到的事情。當你瞭解了自己的情緒，你可以避免做出無效的決定。

我們每個人都應該知道自己情緒的本性所遺傳的先天弱點，大衛·C·奈斯位元說，他是澳大利亞墨爾本市The TEMPORARY-Manager公司的負責人。“我在管理專案時，如果我們在處理日常事務和專案上的困難上出現分歧，我必須能夠提高與團隊成員、生產商和供應商的社交能力。”

奈斯位元已經在許多專案中成功的應用了情商，情緒的自我意識對專案成果有重大影響，他說。“清楚地理解我們自己情緒天生的優缺點的能力是非常重要的。我們要慶幸：我們沒有人孤立的發揮作用，我們要改正像過分自信這樣潛在的不利行為，以不至於使我們對團隊其他成員過於專橫。”

對於提高團隊士氣和凝聚力，情商也扮演了一個重要的角色。“情商為我們對待特殊的人和事時所需要提高的那些方面提供了指引，還有我們那些擅長的方面。”瑪麗·路·雷佈德說，她是PMI墨爾本分部的副主席。“我們甚至可以勇於同專案團隊進行坦誠布公的溝通，勇敢地揭露那些有待提高的方面以建立信任。

自我管理是一種保持自己誠實正直品質的能力。在逐漸認識自我感受的時候，我們將會自信地面對大部分事態，即使是在專案失控、政治鬥爭激烈和意外的變更發生時，我們的同伴也會把我們視為可靠的合作者。

如果你提高自己瞭解他人感受的能力，你可以變通你的反應與對專案團隊和利害干係人的影響。你可以知道在合適的時候說合適的話，你也可以預見團隊成員的期望、動機和懷疑。而且，你可以認識到如何推銷自己和如何建立一個可靠的關係網。

“那些鍛鍊情商能力的經理能夠經常成功的建立關係和激勵他人。他們可以比別人更快地升到高層。”阿羅莎·費爾南多說，她是跨國建設開發商Sierra建設有限公司下屬的Sierra澳洲專案和Sierra全球網路公司的CEO。“他們擅長於管理專案並且與干係人建立良好的關係。”

均衡評價標準

情商除了有助於搭建成功的關係外，它還可以用作選擇合適員工和經理的標準。情商能力現在被許多企業採用來進行招聘和提升。現在許多公司錯誤地認為專案管理不需要什麼正規培訓，這樣，應該有一個均衡的方法來選擇專案經理以確保他們擁有專案和管理能力，“軟技能”：情商和“硬技能”：技術。

愛立信澳大利亞公司採用了情商作為專案管理技能規劃的一部分。克里斯·卡特萊特是愛立信澳大利亞公司專案管理技能經理，他曾協助PMI開發專案經理能力發展架構（PMCDF）。他說：“我認為相對專案管理的九大知識領域來說，情商提供了更寬廣的視角。但在這方面很少有經驗資料，我發現這好像要依賴於經理們對此的理解。”

熟能生巧

澳大利亞墨爾本市的摩西專案服務有限公司的主任顧問琳達·伯尼特別欣賞提高情商能力的努力。她說：“如果傳統專案管理過程中的困難包括開發一份合理的進度表、WBS和掙值分析圖的話，那以我的經驗，在各個層面上發展和維持與干係人有效的關係的工作、管理個人情緒，還有最佳化對專案有利的組織內部政治環境等這些工作會更加困難的。”

一步一步提高情商

●自信。你是專案經理，你管理著專案。主動承擔責任。當你瞭解自身的時候，你就會自信的領導專案。
●嘗試理解團隊成員的期望、動機、志向和個人能力。
●對業務的人員方面給予足夠的重視。別指望技術可以搞定一切。把人作為專案裡最重要的財產來對待。
●與團隊成員建立感情。嘗試去理解和信任別人。讓他們知道你會提供幫助。與團隊緊密團結並提供支援。
●謹慎地處理衝突。在瞭解了事態之後再行動。
●平易近人。定期地與團隊成員談話，傾聽他們的問題和關注點，討論他們的想法。
●激勵你的專案成員，幫助他們渡過難關，給予他們支援和鼓勵。
●設法與專案干係人建立良好的關係。
●不要完全依賴於技術培訓來取得專案成功。在規劃培訓和發展計劃時，集中精力在專案人員方面。
●不要過分依賴於流程。靈活地進行變更並且要有創造性。

作者簡介：Madhu Fernando是澳大利亞墨爾本市的管理諮詢公司Innova Strategies公司的總裁兼主任顧問。

原文：

Strong Feelings
Manage projects, people and politics better by using your emotional intelligence.

By Madhu Fernando

When a project succeeds, everyone steps up for a pat on the back. When a project fails, only one person can expect the blame: the manager. To better handle these make-or-break situations, you must improve your softer people skills.

Known as the increasingly popular “emotional intelligence” (EI), these skills help you successfully handle project politics and human interactions and enable you to present yourself in a way so you can be recognized and reworded every time you achieve a project success.

“EI is about using your emotions intelligently,” says Neil E. Béchervaise, executive mentor, change management consultant and adjunct professor of business, Australian Graduate Institute of Entrepreneurship. “Knowing when you are sad, happy, angry or frustrated doesn’t take great smarts, but it does tell you when you need to be careful about how you react with your boss and your work team.”

Competent manager must control their emotions during trying times and determine the most efficient method of communication, which depends on the environment, the circumstance and the relationship between people, according to Tony Paul, a project management consultant and principal of PicoNet Consulting in Australia. “ I use my senses to read how my clients, team and colleagues perceive my views and actions in the context of the project and the working environment,” he says. “After all, I am there to make a difference, and reading the mood of the workplace is as important as listening to what is said and reading the brief. Even though we use our experiences to expect communication in certain manner for each circumstance, and understanding of the individual’s expectation is critical to the way in which a message is most effectively delivered.”

Keep It Real
Researchers suggest self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management are the key emotional competencies you should practice to succeed in you personal and professional lives.

Emotional self-awareness allows you to understand what you feel, to be aware of all your thoughts and actions, and as a project manager, to better understand you capabilities and to commit only to what can be delivered. When you recognize your emotions, you can avoid making ineffective decisions.

Each of us must understand “the innate weaknesses that are inherent to my ‘emotional’ nature,” says David C. Nesbit, principal, The TEMPORARY-Manager, Melbourne, Australia. “When I am managing projects, I must be able to improve my social interactions with team members, vendors and suppliers in such a manner that communications are as efficient as possible given that we all have differing attitudes and opinions when dealing with the day-today issues and difficulties experienced in our projects.”

Nesbit, who has successfully applied EI to a variety of projects, says emotional self-awareness will have a significant impact on a project’s outcome. “The ability to clearly understand the nature of our [own] emotional strengths and weaknesses is vital,” he says. “We must appreciate that one of us function in i9solation and that potentially adverse behaviors such as strong assertiveness or over-confidence need to be modified so we are not too over-bearing to other team members.”

EI also plays a significant part in building team moral and cohesion. “EI provides a guide for those areas we need to improve and also areas in which we are strong and know that we will be good at dealing with a particular person or issue,” says Mary-Lou Raybould, PMI’s Melbourne chapter vice president. “We might even be brave enough to open up to our project teams and disclose areas where we are not so strong as a way of being open and honest on the path to building trust.”

Self-management is the ability to control you emotions with honesty and integrity. In identifying how and what you feel, you will be able to manage most situations confidently, and your peers will view you as a trustworthy collaborator, even when projects get out of control, politics become heated and changes occur unexpectedly.

As you improve your ability to understand how others perceive a situation, you can modify your reactions and any subsequent interactions with project team members and stakeholders. You will know what to say and when to say it, and you can foresee team members’ expectations, their motivations and their uncertainties. In addition, you’ll see how to market yourself and how to build a strong peer network.

“Managers who practice emotional competencies are always successful I building relationships and motivating others. They climb to the top much faster than the others,” says Arosha Fernando, CEO of Sierra Projects Australia and Sierra Global Network, a subsidiary of Sierra Constructions Ltd., a multinational infrastructure development company. “They are good at managing their projects as well as building successful relationships with all the stakeholders.”

Balance the Scales
In addition to making for successful relationship building, EI helps in the proper selection of staff and managers. Emotional competencies are now used by many organizations to hire and promote people. While some organizations mistakenly assume project management requires little formal training, there should be a balanced approach in selecting project managers to ensure that they possess project and management skills: both ‘soft’ EI skills and hard technical skills.

Ericsson Australia uses EI skills as part of its project management competence mapping. “I find it gives us a broader view than just looking at the nine knowledge areas,” says Chris Cartwright, Ericsson Australia manager of project management competence, who worked with PMI to help develop the project Manager Competency Development Framework. “While it is difficult to provide empirical data in this area I have found that it seems to be in line with the perceptions of the managers.”

Practice Makes Perfect
Lynda Bourne, PMP a principal consultant for Mosaic Project Services Pty Ltd., Melbourne, Australia, especially appreciates the hard work involved in perfecting emotional competencies. “If the traditional project management processes of developing a good schedule, a work breakdown structure and an earned value chart are considered hard,” she says, “then in my experience, the job of developing and maintaining effective stakeholder relationships at all levels, managing one’s emotions and optimizing the internal politics of major organizations to the benefit of the project is much harder.”

EI Step by step
●Be confident. You are the project manager, and it is your project. Take ownership. When you understand yourself, you will be able to lead with confidence.
●Try to understand you team members’ expectations, motivations, aspirations, and individual capabilities to perform the job well.
●Give right priority to the human side of the business. Do not rely on technology to do everything. Consider people the most important asset in your projects.
●Be empathic toward members. Try to understand and trust people. Show them you are there to help. Work closely with you team and show you support.
●Manage conflicts carefully. Do not react to situations before you understand them.
●Always be approachable. Talk to the team members regularly, listen to their problems and concerns and discuss their ideas.
●Motivate your project team members and help them get through difficult situations, while providing support and encouragement.
●Work on building better relationships with all stakeholders.
●Do not rely on technical training completely to achieve project success. Focus on human aspects of projects when you plan training and development sessions.
●Don’t trust the process too much. Be flexible to changes and be innovative.

Madhu Fernando is president and principal consultant with Innova Strategies, a management consultancy based in Melbourne, Australia.[@more@]