Emotional intelligence describes the ability, capacity, skill, or self-perceived ability to identify, assess, and manage the emotions of one’s self, others, and groups. People who possess a high degree of emotional intelligence know themselves very well and are also able to sense the emotions of others. This makes it an important and valuable aspect in workplaces.
Work conducted in most organizations has changed dramatically in the last 20 years. Naturally, the criteria for success at work are changing too. Staff is now judged by new yardsticks: not just by how smart they are, or by their training and expertise, but also by how well they handle themselves and one another.
This is strongly influenced by personal qualities such as perseverance, self-control, and skill in getting along with others. Increasingly, these new yardsticks are being applied to choose who will be hired and who will not, who will be let go and who will be retained, and who will be passed over or promoted.
Emotional intelligence can be seen as a missing link that unites conventional “can do” ability determinants of job performance with “will do” dispositional determinants. In this article let us learn a little bit more about emotional intelligence and how it can help you in your profession.
Why Emotional Intelligence at Workplace?
At work and in life, we face key moments that are challenging, distressing, and even painful. Emotional intelligence can help staff understand that the reality of an important moment cannot change, but the interior response to it is a personal choice. This enables individuals to focus on the task at hand and make the most productive choices without wasting time blaming, resenting, or complaining.
Project managers with higher emotional intelligence tend to use open communication and proactive leadership styles that can bring positive outcomes to the organization.
As employees become aware of their own emotions and learn to control them in service of their life goals, the workplace can become not only more pleasant but more productive.
Employees become more effective and optimistic, more able and willing to surmount obstacles. Those holding leadership positions in an organization can function more efficiently and productively, they choose to listen with empathy and team players take responsibility for their choices. It also increases managerial skills, team building, and employee competence at all levels (1).
Emotional Intelligence and Career Development
Emotional intelligence is one important characteristic that determines the career development of a person. A person with emotional intelligence possesses qualities like self-awareness, self-control, empathy, and social skills. Those with a higher degree of emotional intelligence have a better chance of getting a job offer.
These qualities help the person select a career that suits them and to excel in it. Persons with high emotional intelligence have the ability to identify the needs of people who deal with them and therefore be able to maintain healthier relationships with them.
Emotional intelligence and Leadership
To be effective leaders in the workplace, managers, supervisors, and other authority figures must be able to function productively with people under their charge. High-emotional intelligent leaders can use their social skills to foster rapport and trust with their employees. They tend to view their team members as individuals with unique abilities, backgrounds, and personalities. A good leader can create the type of work environment where each person feels relevant and motivated to succeed.
An emotionally intelligent leader will also be able to clearly understand the various situations that take place in the organization and anticipate the likely emotional outcome of each situation.
For leaders, the ability to understand and be aware of their own emotions and also those of others helps to keep those who work under them emotionally balanced. Leaders with high emotional intelligence manage relationships with others more effectively and this, in turn, will help to enhance the productivity of the organization.
When conflict arises, leaders with high emotional intelligence are better able to control their impulses, view the situation from all perspectives, and seek mutually beneficial solutions. Effective leaders are transparent and are not afraid to admit when they are wrong. They are also more likely to try to improve work relationships.
Emotional intelligence and Team Building
In many organizations, work is accomplished based on teams and the emotional intelligence exhibited by team members is crucial to the team’s performance. This emotional intelligence helps team members to unite and be efficient in operations. A team that does not show signs of emotional intelligence cannot succeed in its operations.
The team members should get a chance to know each other before work begins. If there is any negative behavior, the reason should be identified and corrective action is taken.
Decisions should be made based on the opinion of each member of the team. Each member should be supported in their activities. Everyone’s contributions to the team should be commended. In case any problem arises, the attention should be on solving the problem and not on finding fault with each other (2).
Emotional Intelligence Training
Emotional competencies can be learned. With a good training program in emotional intelligence, a firm can maximize the potential of the employees it already has, from the top to the bottom of the organizational chart.
Like any type of intelligence, emotional intelligence includes both an inherent and a learned component. Training programs in emotional intelligence teach employees the skills needed to become more emotionally competent.
With sufficient training, businesses can gain more emotionally competent staff members who function more efficiently, cooperate more productively and remain with the company longer.
A good training program in emotional intelligence includes work on integrity, defining key moments, embracing reality, exercising responsibility, clarity, action, and self-valuing.
Integrity is the ability to act on principle rather than emotion. It requires developing an inner moral compass and the strength to be “bigger” than the circumstances and challenges of our lives. Our moral compass determines how we perceive events and people; how we judge success or failure; whether we are optimistic and cheerful or pessimistic and joyless (3).
How Can You Improve Your Emotional Intelligence At Work?
The first thing to note is that self-awareness is key when developing your emotional intelligence. Before you can develop yourself, you need to have an understanding of where your strengths and weaknesses lie so that your developmental efforts can be targeted to the right areas.
There are plenty of things you can do to self-assess your levels of emotional intelligence in the workplace. To start with, try asking yourself these questions over the next few days in the office.
During a meeting or uncomfortable conversation- how could my actions be perceived by others? Am I expressing my views clearly, or could they be taken the wrong way?
While interacting with other staff members- try asking them how they are feeling – are you able to build a stronger bond with them by doing this? Try to speak about your personal life and steer the conversation away from work.
In a stressful or pressured situation- am I assessing the situation logically or emotionally? If I’m assessing it emotionally, am I able to view it through a logical lens instead? Does this help resolve the situation?
When reading your emails- record in two words how you feel after reading a noteworthy email, e.g. ‘discouraged and tired’ or ‘excited and invigorated’, and then identify any physical feelings or changes this emotion elicits – can you identify a clear link between your emotional and physical feelings?
When about to make an important decision- pause for 30 seconds and ask yourself ‘are there any alternative actions I could take or consequences I haven’t considered?
If you’ve asked yourself these questions, you’ve begun the process of identifying areas of weakness. For example, if you felt extremely uncomfortable with question two, discussing a colleague’s feelings, then your Interpersonal area could be developed to improve this, ultimately allowing you to build stronger relationships with colleagues which will help you succeed in the workplace.
Similarly, if you find yourself writing down negative emotions after each email you read, you might want to consider developing strategies to improve your optimism at work (3).
Conclusion
Emotional intelligence is indeed the most potent weapon which helps boost the self-awareness, self-control, motivation, empathy, and social skills of employees. An emotionally intelligent organization has employees who are productive, motivated, and efficient. They are committed to achieving their goals. They’re also happy, confident, and likable. Team members can work together most effectively, and provide better results for the organization as a whole. It is important to nurture emotional intelligence so that one can learn, manage and master his emotions, as well as the emotions of others and attain success at the workplace.
What are your thoughts on emotional intelligence? Let us know in the comments section below.
Author: Dr Pooja Nilgar (Content writer and editor)
References
- Gottman, J., 2014. Emotional intelligence.
- Arora, B., 2017. Importance of emotional intelligence in the workplace. International Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 4(4), p.257492.
- Hadizae, M. A., Raminmehr, H. and Hosseini, S. S. (2009). “Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and entrepreneurial organizations”, Journal of Entrepreneurship Development, 1(4), pp. 139-62.
- Schuller, D. and Schuller, B. W. (2018) ‘Emotional Intelligence On Emotional Intelligence’, Computer, 51(9), pp. 38–46. Available at: http://crimsonpublishers.com/rmes/fulltext/RMES.000572.php.
