Empathy and Project Management

So, our little collective has published quite a few articles around Empathy in the workplace at this point.  Most of these articles have been focused on why we believe in Empathy, and more specifically about how to lead a team with Empathy, including the tools and tricks that can help.  This makes sense, as all of us have had more than our fair share of time managing and leading teams, and team management is likely the first thing that most people think of in terms of managing with Empathy.

However, there are other business areas where an Empathy mindset can have a substantial impact. In my career, for instance, I often find myself not managing people per se, but more directly, managing projects; and often I get asked if it’s possible to manage a project with Empathy.  Spoiler alert, the answer is a resounding, YES!

Whether it’s a project, a program, or a product (I’ll use project going forward, but it should apply to any level of scope), an Empathy mindset can be more valuable than a great ticketing system or, pardon me, the perfect project plan.  The reason for that is straightforward:

I have never in my career seen (or even heard of) a project that went perfectly from the moment of conception through delivery.  The bottom level root cause in every case is always, in fact, people.  No matter what phase or aspect of a project, a human was involved somewhere, and we humans are, understandably, simply, not perfect. If people drive projects, then managing a project with Empathy carries all the same benefits as managing people with Empathy.

So, I guess that’s the end of this article: if Empathy is good for people, it’s good for projects that involve people!  Building a team is building a team, whether it’s a group that works together over the long term, or a group that comes together for only one project.  However, there are a few key aspects and tools of managing with Empathy that particularly impact projects. Some of the most powerful are the power of building trust, and the value of understanding your project team.

I doubt anyone would push back against building trust.  However, I would argue that it is one of the especially critical when managing a project.  In part, this is because it is considerably harder to accomplish.  As a project is, by nature, a temporary organizational structure, there is likely less familiarity between the people involved, and less time (in most cases) to build it.

As we have noted, lack of trust hides mistakes and problems.  For a team manager, this leads to lower performance overall, which is undesirable, for certain.  On a project, however, it can drive delays and failures that can’t be compensated for.  Managing with Empathy means focusing on building those connections, which is the best way to build that trust.  We know this matters. Just look at all the mechanisms people use to try to drive trust and familiarity: pizza parties, team huddles, co-locations, etc.  These are all short-hand techniques we use to try to build trust.  Admittedly, this is because they can and do help!  However, they are a poor replacement for real Empathy, and for working to really understand the people working together.  So much so, in many instances, they can be viewed as manipulation, and have become a bit of a punchline.

What’s going to drive excitement (or lower morale)? Is it the same for everyone? Is that pizza party going to be appreciated, or mocked?  The difference is often down to whether the team trusts your motivation behind it.  If you don’t understand your team, they won’t understand you.  Every group is going to be different, and understanding those dynamics improves your ability to build trust.  Encouraging that deeper sense of caring can be the difference between a successful project built on trust, and a failed project that leaves people unhappy and unlikely to trust you in the future.

Similarly, the mindset of working to understand people better, in turn encourages better, more realistic planning.  The primary purpose of any plan is coordination and efficiency. We often fall into the trap of assuming the plan is what matters, when it’s really the people.  Understanding people on a deeper level, and taking their personal complexities into account, can let you build a plan that addresses problems and issues more directly, giving you more realistic plans.

The common practice for many project managers is to do this by ‘buffering’ their plans to account for human differences.  In most cases though, this is just a stop-gap driven by not having the time or energy to understand the real issues.  Failing to understand what really drives specific delays is why buffers often fail.  The more efficiency and coordination you require, the more critical it is to have a deeper understanding of the people involved.  Having that understanding mindset means that your plans will be looking around corners better, which in turn, leads to better performance.

What does all this mean then?  Well, it means yes; it is not just possible to manage a project with Empathy, but in fact it can lead to better plans, and improved performance against those plans.  Project teams, just like development teams, are really just an extension of the people involved, and connecting with those people on a deeper level makes managing easier.   For projects, it especially improves the synergy of trust in, and execution against, your plans.  In effect, driving projects with more Empathy should be everyone’s goal.

*Sidenote: Ok, ok, let’s not get into the AI discussion here; if you’ve got a job managing projects, it’s because people are in the mix somewhere.  Once the AI overlords take over, these articles won’t matter much at all (unless we can use this convince them to treat us with Empathy, of course!), but until then, let’s assume people are still important.