Consultant| Canarys Automation LtdBangalore, Karnataka, India
Technical expertise is essential in project management, but soft skills like communication, leadership, and emotional intelligence often determine a project's success. Which soft skills have made the biggest impact in your project management career? How do you develop and strengthen these skills?
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Eric SimmsSenior Program ManagerBaltimore, Maryland, United States
I'd say empathy is the soft skill that has contributed most to my success as a Project Manager. When dealing with stakeholders with different goals and bad history between them the ability to demonstrate empathy with each stakeholders can make them much more willing to consider my compromises and strategies. This is especially important as I have rarely held formal power in my projects, and instead had to rely on referent and expert power. Saving Changes...
I've worked in orgs ranging from me being the only PM to having multiple PMOs. In doing so, I've found that audience awareness can be one of the factors in whether you're considered a leader or a worker. When you are talking about the project are you delving deep into the nuances of project management, or communicating the outcomes and speaking in a language your audience is interested in and understands? If you're speaking "project management" when an executive wants to hear action and value statements, the executive may get the impression that either you don't understand what they want or that you're talking down to them.
Strengthening this is a matter of education, communication, and practice. Stakeholder analysis and communication planning are the underlying skills that will help with this - understanding stakeholder needs and engaging with them to make sure their needs are being met. When you need to ask a clarifying question, make sure they know you are asking a clarifying question, especially if the person has a chip on their shoulder. I learned this the hard way but I'm not sure, in this case, if I could have done anything that would have made a difference - sometimes you can do nothing right, even when you're right. If you're in a situation like this, you want to know before you open your mouth.
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1 reply by Ashwin Kumar H M
Mar 23, 2025 12:08 AM
Ashwin Kumar H M
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Great insights! Audience awareness is definitely a crucial soft skill for project managers. I completely agree that how we frame our communication can determine whether we are seen as leaders or just task managers. Understanding what different stakeholders value—whether it’s technical details, business impact, or strategic outcomes—is key to making our message resonate.
Your point about stakeholder analysis and communication planning is spot on. Tailoring communication styles based on stakeholder expectations helps build trust and credibility. And yes, sometimes, despite our best efforts, certain situations remain challenging. In those cases, I’ve found that active listening and emotional intelligence can help navigate difficult conversations.
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Emotional Intelligence, Effective Communication, and Problem Solving have had the greatest impact on me. These skills are continuously strengthened through experience over time, unlike technical skills, which can be somehow acquired through formal education. Saving Changes...
The above responses resonate strongly with me. When I fit them together in a mental Venn diagram, the overlapping area to me is team building. That requires tailored communication using empathy and emotional intelligence. It requires getting others to communicate effectively and play nicely in the same proverbial sand box. It requires managing up, down, and laterally.
One of the ways I practice doing that is through the use of "commander's intent". I'm not smart enough to tell everyone how to do their jobs to accomplish large complex objectives. What I can do is try to make the desired goals clear enough that the technical experts can tell me how they can best support the desired outcome. Saving Changes...
Consultant| Canarys Automation LtdBangalore, Karnataka, India
Mar 17, 2025 12:26 PM
Replying to Aaron Porter
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I've worked in orgs ranging from me being the only PM to having multiple PMOs. In doing so, I've found that audience awareness can be one of the factors in whether you're considered a leader or a worker. When you are talking about the project are you delving deep into the nuances of project management, or communicating the outcomes and speaking in a language your audience is interested in and understands? If you're speaking "project management" when an executive wants to hear action and value statements, the executive may get the impression that either you don't understand what they want or that you're talking down to them.
Strengthening this is a matter of education, communication, and practice. Stakeholder analysis and communication planning are the underlying skills that will help with this - understanding stakeholder needs and engaging with them to make sure their needs are being met. When you need to ask a clarifying question, make sure they know you are asking a clarifying question, especially if the person has a chip on their shoulder. I learned this the hard way but I'm not sure, in this case, if I could have done anything that would have made a difference - sometimes you can do nothing right, even when you're right. If you're in a situation like this, you want to know before you open your mouth.
Great insights! Audience awareness is definitely a crucial soft skill for project managers. I completely agree that how we frame our communication can determine whether we are seen as leaders or just task managers. Understanding what different stakeholders value—whether it’s technical details, business impact, or strategic outcomes—is key to making our message resonate.
Your point about stakeholder analysis and communication planning is spot on. Tailoring communication styles based on stakeholder expectations helps build trust and credibility. And yes, sometimes, despite our best efforts, certain situations remain challenging. In those cases, I’ve found that active listening and emotional intelligence can help navigate difficult conversations. Saving Changes...
Great communication and emotional intelligence skills has been one of my core skills and I'd say it is innate. I have also been able to build on these skills through human interactions at all levels which has made my project management endeavour easy. Communication is vital and if it isn't disseminated well it can derail a project. Emotional intelligence is showing empathy to put yourself in one's shoes to understand why a team member is performing below par and see areas where you can offer assistance. Saving Changes...
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