Social Skills: Managing Groups and Building Rapport

PMBOK v8 Definition

Social skills are the culmination of the other dimensions of emotional intelligence. They are concerned with managing groups of people, such as project teams, building social networks, finding common ground with various stakeholders, and building rapport. Social awareness and social skills allow for better bonds with project team members and project stakeholders.

Why It Matters for the Exam

This concept appears frequently in PMI exam questions about leadership, stakeholder engagement, and team development. Expect questions that test your ability to distinguish social skills from other emotional intelligence components (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness) and to identify which specific behaviors demonstrate social skills in project situations.

Key Points to Remember (for the exam)

• Definition Core: Social skills = managing groups + building social networks + finding common ground + building rapport
• Relationship to Emotional Intelligence: Social skills are the culmination of self-awareness, self-management, and social awareness
• Key Behaviors Tested: Establish rapport, build effective teams, manage attitude
• Required Foundation: Self-awareness and self-management skills are required to remain calm and productive during difficult project circumstances
• Stakeholder Impact: Social skills enable better bonds with both project team members and project stakeholders
• Leadership Basis: Emotional intelligence is the basis of all forms of leadership
• Common Confusion: Social skills are NOT the same as social awareness—social awareness involves empathy and active listening, while social skills involve action (rapport, team building, attitude management)

Typical PMI Exam Example

A project manager notices that two key stakeholders have conflicting interests that are causing delays. The project manager schedules a meeting, actively listens to both parties, identifies common ground, and facilitates a compromise. This scenario primarily demonstrates the project manager's social skills (finding common ground with various stakeholders and building rapport).

PMI Exam Traps

• Trap: Confusing social skills with social awareness

• Reality: Social awareness = being empathetic and employing active listening; social skills = establishing rapport, building effective teams, and managing attitude (action-oriented)

• Trap: Thinking social skills only apply to the project team

• Reality: Social skills apply to managing groups of people AND building social networks with various stakeholders

• Trap: Assuming decision-making is part of social skills

• Reality: Decision-making is a separate skill area; social skills focus on interpersonal relationships and group management

• Trap: Believing social skills are innate rather than developed

• Reality: Social skills are a dimension of emotional intelligence that can be developed through self-awareness, self-management, and social awareness

Important PMI Connections

Quick Review Questions

1. A project manager who builds social networks, finds common ground with stakeholders, and establishes rapport is demonstrating which dimension of emotional intelligence?

2. What are the three key behaviors associated with social skills according to PMBOK v8?

3. Why are self-awareness and self-management skills necessary for effective social skills?

4. How do social skills differ from social awareness in the emotional intelligence framework?

5. A project team member who shows empathy and employs active listening is demonstrating which component of emotional intelligence?

PMBOK v8 Reference

Section 5.7 - Emotional Intelligence (Figure 5-11: Components of Emotional Intelligence)