Emotional and Social Intelligence in Project Management

Leading successful projects requires emotional and social competencies that are beyond the current scope of the methodology developed by the Project Management Institute. Projects include complex and dynamic social interactions involving power, human emotions, organizational politics, and interpersonal relationships. Emotional intelligence (EI) and social intelligence (SI) are socioemotional theories that focus on human emotions and relationships, and the understanding and management of these concepts. This research will include a review of the cognitive basis of EI and SI. Each of these social competencies will be reviewed in depth with their relationship to leadership in project management. The goal of this research is to develop the hypothesis that the next phase of project management research needs to focus on leadership and the social processes of projects using the lens of EI and SI