Project Management: Soft Skills

Ed Direction Data Fellows: Asynchronous Module

July 2022

Welcome to the Project Management: Soft Skills Optional Asynchronous Module.

You will work through this module by scrolling through this learning space. To expand documents and slide decks that are included, you can click on the gray arrow at the top right corner of each item.
Feel free to focus on the pieces of this module that are most relevant to your topics of interest.
Please complete the Exit Ticket at the end of the module. We will use your submission to track completion.
Please contact datafellows@eddirection.org if help is needed.

Note-Catcher

Click on the button to the left to open the note-catcher, which is mirrored to follow the content as it is presented on the Learning Space. As you navigate through this module, you are welcome to use this optional tool to capture your notes.

Refer to your note-catcher each time you see this icon.

Session Outcome: This optional asynchronous module will enhance Data Fellows’ capacity for successful project management through the development and use of “soft skills” including inspiring messaging, emotional intelligence, and effective communication.

Success Criteria: Participants will be able to apply their understanding of the following as they serve as Data Fellows:

Distinguish the hard skills and soft skills necessary for success
Craft inspiring communication about their role and the overall project
Apply principles of emotional intelligence to build strong relationships
Flex their communication style to fit different audiences and contexts

Where we've been, where we're headed:

This module builds on key concepts from Webinar 9: Project Management and in the Asynchronous Module on Change Management. In both of these sessions, we turned our attention away from technical skills in order to focus on critical soft skills. Remember that your effectiveness as a Data Fellow will not be based solely on your spreadsheet and dashboard skills. Your success also depends on how you inspire, communicate, and organize.

In this asynchronous module, you will continue to hone the soft skills you can apply as a project manager and a change manager. Specifically, we’ll consider aspects of inspiring and strategic communication.

A Seat at the Table

In Webinar 9, we explored the importance of Data Fellows establishing themselves as full members of their LEAs’ RSSP project teams, primarily by attending and strategically contributing to the biweekly team meetings.

Switch Framework

In the asynchronous Change Management module, we unpacked the three-part Switch framework as a tool for investing people in the overall RSSP project as well as the data-specific components of it.

Part 1: What are Soft Skills? Why Do You Need Them? (10 min)

Soft Skills are behavioral competencies. They are also called Interpersonal Skills, People Skills, and Adaptive Leadership. Soft skills include proficiencies such as communication skills, conflict resolution, negotiation, personal effectiveness, creative problem solving, strategic thinking, team building, influencing skills, and selling skills (Lewis and Boucher, 2012).

As you’ve learned, successful Data Fellows will need to bring more than technical, hard skills to the role. This is because you are trying to affect change in the complex, ever-shifting context of post-COVID school recovery, which involves many stakeholders. In the language of the Switch framework, each of these stakeholders will need you to direct the rider, lead the elephant, and shape the path. This is where soft skills come in.

Pause and Reflect: Let’s return to one of the dilemmas we explored in our change management module. Reread the dilemma and the change management strategies in the first two rows. Then, list at least one hard and soft skill that each strategy requires. If it’s helpful, you can use the corresponding space in your note-catcher to jot down your thoughts. Then, compare your list to our list in the drop down menu below it.

Switch Framework Dilemma

To Direct the Rider...

Hard skills needed: data tracker creation and maintenance
Soft skills needed: written communication: how do you make the checklist easy to understand?

To Motivate the Elephant...

Hard skills needed: adult learning design
Soft skills needed: negotiation and planning -- coordinating time in probably already full school PD calendars

To Shape the Path...

Hard skills needed: use of data dashboard platform
Soft skills needed: problem solving -- anticipating what might be difficult to understand; adjusting based on feedback

Part 2: Using Communication to Inspire (25 min

Effective communication with various stakeholders is a critical soft skill. To be effective, communication must do more than convey information to an audience. It must also convey compelling rationale and produce authentic emotions aligned to the information provided.

Watch this TedTalk by Simon Sinek on "The Golden Circle" of communication to learn a proven strategy for inspirational communication.

Pause and Reflect: Consider the questions below as you watch. If it is helpful, you can write your answers in the corresponding section of your note-catcher:

Part 1: The Golden Circle (0:00 - 10:51)

What is the “Golden Circle”?
What does it mean to communicate from the inside out of the “Golden Circle”?
How is this different from the way people typically communicate?
What would it sound like to communicate from “the inside out” as a Data Fellow?

Part 2: Crossing the Chasm (10:51 - 17:48)

What is “Crossing the Chasm”?
When you think of the people you will work with as a Data Fellow, who is likely to be an early adopter? Part of the early majority?

Part 3: Leading With Emotional Intelligence (15 min)

Soft skills are highly correlated with the emotional intelligence quotient (EQ), or “the ability to identify, assess, and control the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups” (Emotional Intelligence, n.d.). Emotional intelligence includes recognizing and managing your own emotions, motivating yourself, recognizing and understanding other people’s emotions, and managing relationships with others.

A leading voice in the field of EQ is author and psychologist Daniel Goleman. Watch this video and respond to the reflection question below.

Pause and Reflect: Why is EQ important to your overall effectiveness as a leader? Why is it specifically important for effective communication? The note-catcher provides a place where you can record your thoughts.

Part 4: Strategically Flexing Your Communication Style (15 min)

The most effective communicators are able to read the context and audience and adjust their communication style accordingly. Because communication is so dependent on context and audience, there is no definitive formula for how to flex your style. However, there are some best practices that will serve you well.

Remember much of communication is nonverbal. What does your body-language say? What does their body language say?
Always ground your communication in “the why”. Start with vision and motivation and end with the “what”.
Determine what written and verbal communication structures and norms already exist in your context. Leverage them as much as possible. Be strategic about what to share via emails/newsletters, in group meetings, and in 1:1 conversations.
Monitor your air time. Know when it is time to talk and when it is time to listen.

Two additional frameworks that can help you improve the way you communicate are communication directions and communication styles.

Communication Directions

Communication Directions capture the organizational relationships across which communication occurs. The four main types are upward, downward, diagonal, and horizontal. Every organization will have its own methods and norms for each type. Being cognizant of this can aid your success in different scenarios.

Communication Styles

Communication Styles refer to each person’s natural preferences in how they give and receive information. The better we can understand our own style of communication and the communication styles of others, the easier it will be to communicate with them.

Read the article below to learn more about communication directions and communication styles. There is space in your note-catcher to respond to these questions:

Define and give an example of each of the four communication directions.
Why is it helpful to understand your own communication style?
Why is it helpful to understand the communication styles of those you work with?
What is the value of active listening?
Which tips related to written communication resonate most with you?
Overall, what key points and strategies from the article will help you flex your communication style?

Part 5: Apply Your Learning (25 minutes)

It’s time to put together your learning from this asynchronous module by applying it to your own role as a Data Fellow on your LEA’s RSSP team. As discussed in Webinars 9 and 10, becoming an integral member of this team is key to your success as a Data Fellow. The exercises to apply your learning can be found in Part 5 of your note-catcher.

Module Complete!

Congratulations on completing the Project Management: Soft Skills module. Please complete the Exit Ticket form by clicking on the link below. We will use the information you submit to track your completion.

Exit Ticket

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