Improving Technology Project Outcomes With Emotional Intelligence

• In Event: Lead Away, But Don't Mislead Me!

Short Description

The purpose of this quantitative, correlational research study was to examine how emotional intelligence helps project outcomes. The poster illustrates the significant relationship existing between the emotional intelligence (EI) competencies of Hispanic team members and project outcomes within the technology sector in the United States.

Detailed Abstract

Introduction
Besides the business pressures to keep projects performing, the technology sector faces ever increasing diversity in its workforce, bringing to the project teams challenge of developing soft skills such as emotional intelligence (EI). In the present study, the focus was on the Hispanic population because few researchers have conducted studies involving the significant value of EI and project outcomes from the Hispanic perspective. The number of Hispanics in the work force has experienced dramatic growth and is projected to continue to grow. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2010), 50.5 million Hispanics were living in the United States, approximately 16 percent of the entire population. By July 1, 2050, the Hispanic population in the United States could reach 132.8 million (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). The present study was an opportunity to contribute to the body of knowledge of technology management by exploring the relationship of EI competencies and project outcomes, which could deepen the understanding of the influence of diversity within the project team and the influence to the outcomes of the projects. The present study could deepen the understanding of EI, from the Hispanic perspective, and how it could influence project outcomes, and as the number of Hispanics entering the workforce will increase, the understanding of this relationship will become important for project leaders.

Objective
The purpose of the quantitative correlational research study was to examine if a significant relationship existed between the Emotional Intelligence (EI) competencies of Hispanic team members and project outcomes within the technology sector in the United States. Therefore the objective was to explore the degree of association or relationship between the identified predictor and criterion variables. The predictor variables included the EI competencies: Emotional Self-Awareness, Emotional Self-Management, Emotional Awareness of Others, Emotional Management of Others, and the criterion variables: Project Timeliness, In-Budget Project, and Scope Creep.
Research Methodology
Research study was to examine if significant relationships existed between two sets of identified variables (Salkind, 2008).The hypotheses were tested to provide information about the variables, the null and alternative hypotheses were:
Ho1: There is no statistically significant relationship between a Hispanic employee’s use of EI competencies and the project outcomes.
Ha1: There is a statistically significant positive relationship between a Hispanic employee’s use of EI competencies and the project outcomes.
Ho2: There is no predictive value in the relationship between EI competencies of Hispanic employees as appraised by the Genos EI and the outcomes of projects.
Ha2: There is predictive value in the relationship between EI competencies of Hispanic employees as appraised by the Genos EI and the outcomes of projects.
Population and Sample
The targeted population for the research study included Hispanic American professionals who worked in technical projects. As members of a rapidly growing minority group in the United States, Hispanic Americans were also more commonly found in project management teams, either as leaders or as members of the teams. .
Recommendations
For project managers and project stakeholders of high tech projects employing a diverse workforce, a significant recommendation is to explore the possibilities of integrating EI in the employee development curriculum for project teams. Project managers should explore means to make EI training a routine part of employee development. Managers might also practice EI skills in their daily interactions with project team members inside and outside the organization. For the short term, the employee development programs could include EI training for selected team members, then prioritize the critical projects, which could benefit from an EI trained workforce. Then, for the long term, the deployment of EI development programs could be implemented in stages throughout the organization.
The EI concept would integrate the development programs and job-related training provided to employees to improve their skills, providing a foundation for practicable knowledge. Having EI-trained project team members should produce better and cohesive teams, providing them with the tools needed to improve their opportunities to complete successfully the projects assigned to them.
While research study results were found from studying the specific targeted population, Hispanics, and industry selected, high tech, these findings may provide some insight and value to other industries and populations. The EI concept may be applied to many industries and populations, providing potential benefits to leaders, to managers, and to employees in their attempts to improve the success rate of projects in the organizations.

Participant

• Art Trejo, School of Advanced Studies (SAS) - University of Phoenix