THE ROLE OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN PRODUCT MANAGEMENT

VIKAS BATRA

JULY 2015

OUTLINE• What is Emotional Intelligence (EI)

• Emotional Intelligence in Product Management

• Are you Emotionally Intelligent enough ?

• Raising Emotional Intelligence

• Additional Resources

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCECapacity to recognize our own feelings and those of others and to manage them both in ourselves and in our relationships …. … in order to drive positive outcomes.

Regulation

Recognition Self Awareness

Self Management

Relationship Management

Social Awareness

Self Social

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE – SELF

Emotions

Thoughts

Actions

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE INTERACTIONS

Emotions

Thoughts

Actions

Emotions

Thoughts

Actions

Self Others

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN PRODUCT MANAGEMENTProduct Management is inherently people oriented.

Examples

• Product Discovery

• Understanding the real pain points • Product Delivery

• Influencing Stakeholders• Motivating/Inspiring Cross-functional Teams• Teamwork/Collaboration

• Product Marketing

• Influencing Customers• Manager of Product Managers

• Developing and Retaining Talent

ARE YOU EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT ENOUGH ?

• Symptoms

• Formal 360 Degree/Performance Reviews

• Online Self Assessment

• Comparison

BEHAVIOR CHANGE FRAMEWORK

Unconsciously Incompetent

Consciously Incompetent

Consciously Competent

Unconsciously Competent

RAISING YOUR EI • Document your ‘Ideal Self’; Identify Gaps

• Identify Skills you need to develop, with Definition of Done

• Understand/Follow your Development Style

• Develop Skills Sequentially

• Sustained Practice

• Experiment, when stakes are not high

• Document Progress

• Reflect

• Work with Partner(s)

RAISING YOUR EI – BENEFITS• Improved Odds of Success

• Greater Likelihood of Job Satisfaction

• Prepares for Leadership Roles

• Better Relationships At Work and Outside

RAISING YOUR EI• Self Awareness

• Document• Introspection/Reflection

RAISING YOUR EI• Self Management

• Regulating Negative Emotions• Accept your feeling• Label your feeling • Taking time to Respond - 4 Seconds

• Using Emotions to your Advantage

RAISING YOUR EI• Social Awareness

• Observe Harder• Tone, Body Language, Facial E• Listening to the “unspoken”

• Empathize and Anticipate – Before going into meetings

• Post-meeting discussion with partner

RAISING YOUR EI• Relationship Management

• Maintain a log • Acknowledging • Motivating

• Genuinely care for inside and outside work• Proactively reach out to help• Recognize and Give Positive Feedback

• Influencing • Providing Context.. Why are we doing what we are doing..• Finding Common Ground • Striving for Win-Win

RESOURCES• Readings

• Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman

• HBR's 10 Must Reads on Emotional Intelligence by Harvard Business Review

• Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry , Jean Greaves

• Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving by Roger Fisher, William L. Ury.

• www.eiconsortium.org