Interpersonal skills
“Interpersonal Skills” is a tool/technique for the process “Develop project team”.
Interpersonal skills, sometimes known as ?soft skills,? are behavioral competencies that include proficiencies such as communication skills, emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, negotiation, influence, team building, and group facilitation. These soft skills are valuable assets when developing the project team. For example, the project management team can use emotional intelligence to reduce tension and increase cooperation by identifying, assessing, and controlling the sentiments of project team members, anticipating their actions, acknowledging their concerns, and following up on their issues.
“Interpersonal Skills” is a tool/technique for the process “Manage project team”.
Project managers use a combination of technical, personal, and conceptual skills to analyze situations and interact appropriately with team members. Using appropriate interpersonal skills allows project managers to capitalize on the strengths of all team members.
Examples of interpersonal skills that a project manager uses most often include: – Leadership. Successful projects require strong leadership skills. Leadership is important through all phases of the project life cycle. There are multiple leadership theories defining leadership styles that should be used as needed for each situation or team. It is especially important to communicate the vision
and inspire the project team to achieve high performance.
– Influencing. Because project managers often have little or no direct authority over team members in a matrix environment, their ability to influence stakeholders on a timely basis is critical to project success.
Key influencing skills include: ?? Ability to be persuasive and clearly articulate points and positions;
?? High levels of active and effective listening skills;
?? Awareness of, and consideration for, the various perspectives in any situation; and ?? Gathering relevant and critical information to address important issues and reach agreements
while maintaining mutual trust.
– Effective decision making. This involves the ability to negotiate and influence the organization and the project management team. Some guidelines for decision making include: ?? Focus on goals to be served, ?? Follow a decision-making process, ?? Study the environmental factors, ?? Analyze available information, ?? Develop personal qualities of the team members, ?? Stimulate team creativity, and ?? Manage risk.
“Interpersonal Skills” is a tool/technique for the process “Manage Stakeholder Engagement”.
The project manager applies interpersonal skills to manage stakeholders? expectations. For example:
– Building trust,
– Resolving conflict,
– Active listening, and – Overcoming resistance to change.
This definition was found in the PMBOK V5
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