Behavioral Models and Various Personality Styles

Abstract

Knowledge of project management technical skills is not sufficient to avoid project failure. Project managers also need well-developed “soft skills” in order to be successful, and the development of soft skills is not feasible unless project managers possess good emotional intelligence (EI). This is the ability to recognise andmanage your own feelings and to deal effectively with the feelings of others. The key to developing EI is having a strong knowledge of personality styles. People are fundamentally different in the way they think, act, feel, perceive, and respond. The better you are at adapting to these differences, the more successful you will be as a project manager. This paper briefly reviews the origins of the study of personality, including some of the more common and well-known behavior models. The primary focus is on the most common personality model in use, the Four Quadrant Model. This model states that differences between individuals can generally be categorised into four basic and easily recognized personality styles. In addition to discussing the key strengths and weaknesses of thesesfour styles, the paper will address how each style responds under stress. It will also provide tips on how to identify the styles of project stakeholders and explain how project managers can learn to flex their own styles to effectively communicate with other people based on their personality style.