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Interpersonal Skills Project Manager: A Demigod?

- Part 2
In Part 1 of this article, I elaborated on Leadership, Team Building and Motivation. In this concluding part, we take a
closer look at
Communication
Influencing
Decision Making
Political and Cultural Awareness
Negotiation
Communication The PMBOK states that a Project Manager spends 90% of his time in
communicating. This reiterates the importance of this must have Skill.
Recent studies and surveys in Communication models show us that in a
successful transfer of Communication, words only account for 7%, body
language 55% and tone of voice 38%. Project Managers across the globe are
now increasingly working with Virtual Team and inherently face challenges in
Communication. It is clear that for effective Communications, Project
Managers should work on honing their
a. Nonverbal Communication This includes your facial expressions, body
language and even physical appearance.
b. Para lingual Communication This is the tone and pitch of your voice
when communicating with people. Believe me; if you are rewarding
someone with a sarcastic tone, then the Team Member will be
demotivated instead of being motivated.
c. Feedback - It is a good practice to confirm what you have understood
and provide feedback. You can summarize the points discussed, ask
questions for clarifications etc.

Influencing - Influencing is using your


relationships with your team members to get
them to cooperate into making the right decisions
for the Project. Leading by Example or Walk the
talk acts as a great influencer and consequently
motivator. Collaboration is the key to being a
great Influencer. A Project Manager needs to
adjust his style depending on the Team Member
personality.

Decision MakingA Project Manager needs to make decisions throughout


the Project. The decision making process itself should be transparent so as to
influence and convince the Team to follow through the Decision. There are 4
basic styles of Decision Making practiced by Project Managers.
a. Command The Project Manager arrives at a decision and the decision is
binding on the Team Members.
b. Consultation The Project Manager Consults his Team Members and
independently arrives at the decision.
c. Consensus The Project Manager allows the Team Members inputs and the
whole team collectively arrives at a decision.
d. Coin Flip As the name suggests this style of decision making is completely
random. Depending on the situation the Project Manager decides on the
style to be followed.

For any style of decision making the following steps may be followed.
a. Define the problem fully
b. Generate different solutions to the problem. Various brainstorming or group decision making
techniques may be followed.
c. Define evaluation criteria for selecting the right solution.
d. Involve key stakeholders to gain acceptance of the solution
e. Evaluate the decision making process and document the learning.

Political and Cultural AwarenessBeing aware of your Team


Members background and culture, goes a long way in managing the
team better. Respecting differences as well as similarities helps
create win-win scenarios. During Project implementation, especially
when dealing with vendors and other stakeholders from different
background and locations, awareness and respect for their local
customs and traditions, creates a stronger bond. When Project
Managers are working with Virtual Teams, this skill is a must to be
developed Skill. Ignoring the cultural and regional practices will
always result in conflicts.

Negotiation- Project Managers negotiate to come to an agreement when


parties have often opposing or sometimes similar viewpoints. Good Listening
and Communication skills help reach an agreement with the least discord.
While negotiating, Managers should focus on interests and issues and not
positions. A negotiation should always be steered to win-win proposition.

ConclusionThe Project Manager is expected to have a Know-it-All and Be-it-All persona. While this is a really Tall
Order, almost taking a mere mortal to a demigod position, it is not that difficult to achieve. Using time tested tenets
of Management Theory, improvising through self-development, keeping abreast about the trends and happenings in
your own field of expertise will help Project Managers hone their Inter-Personal skills. As mentioned in the earlier
part of the article, the 3 tenets: Knowledge, Performance and Personal Skills are the 3 legs of a tri-pod on which
successful projects are shaped.

Yogeeta Deshmukh BE, ITIL, PMP

References
PMBOK 4th edition
Head First PMP, 2nd Edition by Jennifer Greene and Andrew Stellman
http://pmworldjournal.net/article/challenges-of-managing-a-virtual-team-with-an-ocean-in-between/

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