Leadership Skills for PMs: Edition 7 – Building Relationships
Productive relationships with sponsors, key stakeholders, vendors, and the project team are essential to project success. And successful project managers build relationships, rather than treat discussions as transactions. Here are approaches that help build strong relationships.
- Be present. Every discussion is an opportunity to get to know someone better. To really get to know your stakeholders, eliminate distractions during conversations. Put away your phone, close your laptop, and don’t watch for other people passing by (even if you really need to talk to them). To build and maintain relationships, really listen and respond only after carefully considering what someone says. With mindful focus, each interaction is a positive step in fostering a healthy relationship.
- Follow through. As a project manager, work to be the person who always follows through on commitments. Relationship building isn’t a once and done exercise. Reach out to continue and expand communication with others. Schedule informal get-togethers. Invite stakeholders to relevant, well-planned meetings. Take opportunities to solicit their views.
- Focus beyond the words. Research by psychologist Albert Mehrabian suggests that body language and tone of voice communicate more than the words used. Develop your emotional intelligence and watch for the true meaning behind what stakeholders’ say. If you struggle to “read the room” or interpret stakeholders’ intentions, consider training in emotional intelligence. Also, use the richest medium possible (phone rather than email, video rather than phone, in person rather than video) so you can get the most out of every conversation.
- Adjust your schedule and agenda to meet the needs of others (and yourself). Everyone has good and bad days, which can show up in how we communicate. Be flexible with stakeholders. Work with them on topics and approaches that are sensitive to their mood, available time, and level of interest. It might be better to move a crucial conversation to another day to achieve a successful outcome and maintain a positive relationship. Note: The same applies to you, the project manager. If you’re in a bad mood, wait until your mood improves before having an important conversation with a stakeholder.
- Take a long-term view. Building constructive relationships takes time. Some conversations will be easy-going and some will be challenging. Build trust through honest interactions. Be open, sensitive to others’ needs and perspectives, and listen to different points of view. Share information proactively, even with bad news. Avoiding difficult conversations won’t lead to successful relationships. Consistency and trustworthiness over the long term are keys to building strong relationships.
You know you have a meeting or conversation coming up. Use it to practice being present and see what happens!
For more about building relationships, check out Emily Anhalt’s Skills to Build Stronger Work Relationships course.
_______________________________________
This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 99,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.
Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.