Ithuta JV

Source - Article by Bob Andrew

The University of Washington’s School of Business Administration now offers an executive program on Emotional Intelligence, which it defines as “the ability to regulate emotions in a way that enhances communication and co-operation”. Emotional Intelligence, or EI as it is now being referred to, has its roots in the concept of “social intelligence” first identified in 1920 by EL Thorndike who defined it as “the ability to understand and manage men and women, boys and girls-to act wisely in human relations". EI goes a bit further: it involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others emotions to guide one’s thinking and actions.

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Project Managers need to recognise that they need to be emotionally intelligent for a smooth project. Team members should also be encouraged to become emotionally healthy, and maintain a high level of self-awareness, be able to observe themselves and recognise feelings when they happen. Team members need to fully appreciate how emotional synergy between diverse people can achieve the best results. Managing emotions in others is essential for handling relationships and resolving disputes.

The project ‘culture’ needs also to reflect a high level of EI and reflect an awareness of the project context and the ability to accept changes. Project systems and procedures should be elegant, yet simple, and encourage innovation, not stifle it. An emotionally intelligent project will not have lost its pioneering spirit and will thrive on adventure.

Psychologists have often informed us that, in a sense, we have two brains, two minds and two different types of intelligence: rational and emotional. How we proceed in life and in a project are determined by both, not acting separately but acting together. Many project decisions will be based on rationality and emotion. Thus the old paradigm of using your head, not your heart, when important decisions have to be made may not always be possible, or the best option: perhaps it would be better to harmonise head and heart.