Interpersonal Skills

To make the project success the project manager can’t make it happen alone. It is a team work and the project manager need to interact with project team and other stakeholders. During the interactions, all the time with all the stakeholders the things may not go as per the expectation. The project manager should possess the technique called Interpersonal Skills. It is a soft skill and there is no direct formula for this technique and can be built with application and experience. Let us look into some Interpersonal skills.

Leadership: It is the ability to get the things done. It involves focusing the efforts of a group of people toward a common goal and enabling them to work as a team. To achieve the goal one need to set the vision and maintaining it. Apart from trust building we need to respect, influencing, monitoring, and mentoring the team.

Team building: Team building is helping the individual and the group to grow and make the project success. We need to set the good environment so that the team starts trusting with each other and work towards the project. To achieve this the project manager should set right process, enhancing the team skills by facilitating the training programs, on site and off site meetings, etc..

Motivation: Most of the time the level of work which the people can contribute to the project depends on their motivational level. The project manager should motivate the team by assigning the challenging work or the work which they value most, appreciation, appropriate compensation, rewards and recognition.

Communication: Communication is the key factor for success or failure of the project. It should be always two ways. The project manager spends 90% of the time to ensure proper communication is happening from him and among the stakeholders. Conveying the right information, at the right time, to the right stakeholders using right media is called communication. It should be efficient and effective. The project manager should be a good listener. He should understand or recognize tone, modulation, body language.

Influencing: Influencing is to get others co-operate in making the project success. It can be achieved by setting himself/herself as an example, having and concluding the decisions in a collaborative way, adjusting the style as per the situation or environment, applying the power cautiously.

Decision Making: Four decision styles are command, consultation, consensus and coin-flip and four factors which affect decision styles are time constraints, trust, quality and acceptance. Decision making model can be described by six-phase model namely

Problem Definition

Problem Solution Generation

Ideas to Action, Solution Action Planning,

Solution Evaluation Planning

Evaluation of the Outcome and process

Political and cultural awareness: The project manager should understand and use the power and politics within the project environment. Organizational politics are inevitable. Avoiding these two factors may lead to unsuccessful projects. The team will be working with global environment and the factors like language, culture can influence in a negative manner and can hinder the progress of the project. So, we need to create the trust environment and win-win atmosphere.

Negotiation: Refer to the link http://bksprasad.blogspot.in/2016/01/negotiation.html

Trust Building: Without trust building across the project team and the stakeholders we can’t make the project success. Trust building can be done through

Open and honest communication

Informing the stakeholders about the right project status and the risks associated

Spending time with team to eliminate assumptions

Voicing your need directly

Not withholding the information out of fear

Open to innovation

Working towards project interest

Having concern about other opinions

Conflict Management: Refer to the link http://bksprasad.blogspot.in/2016/01/conflict-management.html

Coaching: Coaching technique is to develop the skills of the people to maximize their potential. It can be formal or informal. It results in motivation, confidence building, develop confidence and positivity. Counseling is different from coaching. Counseling addresses won’t whereas coaching addresses can’t and will convert to can. By using this technique the chances of making the project success is more.

Interpersonal Skills has to be applied throughout the project and is a technique used under the processes Develop Project Team, Manage Project Team and Manage Stakeholders Engagement.