EQ for PMs

The more complex the project, the more significant interpersonal skills become to achieving a successful outcome. Forget about technical knowledge and organizational brilliance: what gets projects done on time, on budget, and to everyone's satisfaction are the people involved. And without knowing how to work with them and ensure that they work well together, the most immaculately planned project can end up a smoldering mess of missed deadlines, misunderstood communication and frustrated team members.

Emotional Intelligence For Project Managers: The People Skills You Need to Achieve Outstanding Results (AMACOM; 2007), by Anthony Mersino, PMP, introduces readers to the basic concepts of emotional intelligence and shows how to apply them to their project goals. Providing a framework for applying emotional intelligence to meet the unique challenges of project managers, the book offers tools, techniques and guidance to communicate effectively with team members and stakeholders; evaluate emotional information to make better decisions; anticipate and avoid emotional breakdowns; deal with difficult team members and manage conflict; and cast a vision for shared project objectives that will energize, inspire and motivate.

The book includes checklists, self-assessments and hands-on exercises to help project managers become more proficient in self-management as well as social awareness, developing their ability to read and understand other people and respond to them with empathy.