Project
LeadershipCornell

Certificate Program

Even experienced project leaders will ask themselves “Why won't people listen to me?” or “What went wrong with my plan?” Of all the skills critical to project leadership, emotional intelligence may be the most important—and least understood. 

In this course, you will learn to identify, analyze, and manage emotions, both yours and your team members'.

It is a common mistake among project leaders to focus too heavily on the mechanics of project management while neglecting the critical people skills that keep everyone engaged and working harmoniously. In this course, from Robert Newman of Cornell's College of Civil and Environmental Engineering, project leaders will explore concepts of emotional intelligence and practice skills relevant to managing emotions so that they can enjoy better project outcomes. You will focus on five critical aptitudes: communication, relationship management, decision making, conflict management, and motivation.

Even experienced project leaders often find that regular meetings and status updates don't lead to meaningful communication. When the team doesn't fully understand project goals or how the work is going to get done, that lack of clarity will have a direct impact on whether the project is on time, within budget, and will lead to quality output. At the same time, team members may mislead you about their progress. Stakeholders may not always explain their expectations. Customers may be unclear about what they want and need. What's going wrong? And how can a project leader do better?

In this course, authored by Cornell Instructor Robert Newman, you will examine typical project-related communication problems and explore practical strategies for overcoming them. You'll learn to host kick-offs and lead meetings that actually guide the team toward successful outcomes. You will practice communicating with a fresh, even sometimes unfamiliar, perspective in order to bring about productive and high-functioning working relationships.

You are required to have completed the following course or have equivalent experience before taking this course:

• Leverage Emotional Intelligence for Project Results

Getting skilled people to behave and perform as high-functioning teams can be a challenge. In this course, you'll take a look at how teams tend to progress, what might impact motivation and engagement, and how culture can influence behaviors and results.

This course, authored by Cornell Instructor Robert Newman, will show you how the fundamentals as taught by top researchers like Frederick Herzberg, Bruce Tuckman, and Meredith Belbin can help turn a group of workers into a high-performing team.

You are required to have completed the following course or have equivalent experience before taking this course:

• Leverage Emotional Intelligence for Project Results

Seasoned project leaders sometimes apply the same leadership approach to every situation. In this course, authored by Cornell Instructor Robert Newman, you'll explore a number of leadership styles to assess their relative strengths and weaknesses. You'll learn how to manage safety concerns, when to be directly coercive, and see how creative collaboration and a shot of inspiration can turn things around for a team.

After taking this course, you'll be ready to employ a particular style or model of leadership just as a carpenter would a tool. Does the occasion call for a hammer or a saw? Every style of leadership has its merits and its place. Find out what style works best for the situation. 

You are required to have completed the following course or have equivalent experience before taking this course:

• Leverage Emotional Intelligence for Project Results

As a project leader you need to be able to distinguish between when conflict is healthy and when it's damaging to relationships and productivity. In this course, authored by Cornell Instructor Robert Newman, you'll learn to identify various causes and sources of conflict and learn to foster healthy disagreement within a project team.

You are required to have completed the following course or have equivalent experience before taking this course:

• Leverage Emotional Intelligence for Project Results

When errors, misses, over-runs and problems occur during projects, a balanced, measured response from the project leader is critical. If you underreact, stakeholders will begin to doubt your effectiveness. If you overreact, your teams will be in fear, crushing any creative effort and stifling information sharing. In this course, authored by Cornell Instructor Robert Newman, you will examine the human elements of project monitoring and control and review common errors that occur on projects. You'll learn how to ask the right questions and improve team connectedness.

You are required to have completed the following course or have equivalent experience before taking this course:

• Leverage Emotional Intelligence for Project Results

Symposium sessions feature three days of live, highly interactive virtual Zoom sessions that will explore today’s most pressing topics. The Project Management Symposium offers you a unique opportunity to engage in real-time conversations with peers and experts from the Cornell community and beyond. Using the context of your own experiences, you will take part in reflections and small-group discussions to build on the skills and knowledge you have gained from your courses.

Join us for the next Symposium, in which we’ll share experiences from across industries, inspiring dialogue around best practices, innovation, and the future of project management. You will support your coursework through discussion and application of your knowledge, exploring pressing challenges and trends. By participating in relevant and engaging with eCornell classmates, you will discover a variety of perspectives and build connections.

Upcoming Symposium: January 28, 29, and 30, 2025 11AM – 1PM ET

• Tuesday, January 28, 2025 11:00 AM ET to 1:00 PM ET
  • Virtual Team Strategies for Project Success
• Wednesday, January 29, 2025 11:00 AM ET to 1:00 PM ET
  • Leveraging the Agile Methodology
• Thursday, January 30, 2025 11:00 AM ET to 1:00 PM ET
  • Effective Project Resourcing

All sessions are held on Zoom.

Future dates are subject to change. You may participate in as many sessions as you wish. Attending Symposium sessions is not required to successfully complete any certificate program. Once enrolled in your courses, you will receive information about upcoming events. Accessibility accommodations will be available upon request.