INTRODUCTION :

Looking to understand emotional intelligence (EI) and how it applies to the

workplace. In this mini project , we will clarify what EI is, its importance in the
workplace, and how it affects business performance and job progression. In
addition, you will learn how to improve EI for yourself and the workforce,
equipping your team with the skills needed to excel in the workplace, and find
new ways to help the business grow.

What is emotional intelligence?

Emotional intelligence (EI) describes a person's ability to identify, understand,

manage, and harness their own emotions and those of the people around them.
EI is a vital skill for interpersonal communication and has become an area of
interest across multiple disciplines, including the workplace.

Employees acting with EI generally produce advantages in their career

development and provide benefits for the organization. A workforce made up of
emotionally intelligent individuals improves relationships within the team and
helps to generate a positive work culture.

Emotionally unintelligent staff struggle to manage their feelings. As a result,

they often act impulsively without clear thought to their behavior and that the
consequences of their actions won’t affect themselves or the people around
them.

Developing EI can help individuals better understand themselves, equipping

them with the skills needed to guide future thought processes and actions.

Examples of emotional intelligence in action in the workplace include:

 Constructive feedback instead of personal criticism and

challenging behaviors, not people.

 Supporting colleagues through recognizing their emotions and

working to reduce stress.

 Keeping calm and productive under pressure.

 Helping to resolve conflicts that arise between team members.

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  Creating a workplace where people are free to express themselves
openly.
Another term for EI is emotional quotient (EQ), with researchers often
comparing it to intelligence quotient (IQ). While IQ measures a person's
knowledge and problem-solving skills, EQ focuses on their emotional
awareness and their skills.

IQ and EQ are not static metrics, and individuals can work to improve both their
intellectual and emotional capacity.

HISTORY OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH

The phrase "emotional intelligence" was introduced in a 1990 paper by Peter

Salovey and John D Mayer published in the journal "Imagination, Cognition,
and Personality." In their work, the two psychologists present an Emotional
intelligence framework including:

"a set of skills hypothesized to contribute to the accurate appraisal and

expression of emotion in oneself and in others, the effective regulation of
emotion in self and others, and the use of feelings to motivate, plan, and achieve
in one's life."

Salovey and Mayer also began research programs to develop methods of

measuring EI and exploring its importance. These programs included studies
where participants were shown an upsetting film. Results showed people who
could identify and name the mood the film produced in them (known as
emotional clarity) recovered faster.

Many attribute modern interest in EI to Daniel Goleman and his 1995

bestselling book "Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than
IQ." Goleman, who trained as a psychologist at Harvard, argued that EI is a
better indicator of business success than cognitive intelligence or IQ.

The book also described the four main components of Emotional

intelligence:

 Self-awareness

 Self-management

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  Social awareness

 Social skills
Goleman went on to apply his ideas around EI to business leadership in the
popular 1998 article "What Makes a Leader?" published in the Harvard
Business Review, and it has become one of the most requested reprints in the
magazine's history. The article discussed another component of EI exhibited by
influential leaders: Motivation.

Why Emotional Intelligence is important in the workplace ?

EI plays a vital role in the workplace and significantly affects how employees
interact with one another, handle stress, and perform their work.

Benefits of Emotional Intelligence in the workplace

1. Working towards the organization’s goals regadless of obstacles that arise.

2. Greater motivation among staff to understand their own emotions and those
of their colleagues.

3. Healthy communication that produces common goals across the business

4. The workplace having a positive outlook when it comes to the job at hand.

5. Flexibility : high EI means employees can respond to change effectively and

handle any additional stress it brings.

6. Improved efficiencies with empathetic staff making decisions based on what

is best for everyone involved.

7. Career progression,staff with high EI are likely to excel in leadership

positions

Plus, EI is contagious. Hiring emotionally intelligent staff or developing EI

skills in existing employees can produce an even greater return. Other
employees learn to understand and manage their own emotions and become
better team members.

It is essential to consider that the benefits of high EI vary depending on the role
within the organization.

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For example, EI can be particularly effective in human resources. This is
because HR employees are constantly communicating with staff around the
organization, developing relationships, and working to solve problems different
staff members have.

They must learn to effectively communicate and empathize with others and find
ways to identify problems even when they are not explicitly told.

They are also deeply involved with recruitment and spotting new candidates
who could be the right fit for a given role. EI is a crucial skill during job
interviews, and HR individuals need to be able to get to know and understand
potential hires quickly.

The value of EI for businesses is evident in research. Below are some key
findings demonstrating why organizations need to consider EI when developing
their workforce.

Job satisfaction
Multiple studies across different industries have shown emotional intelligence
has a positive effect on job satisfaction. Examples include research on school
heads, call center staff, and university lecturers.

Staff who are satisfied with their job generate a range of benefits for the
organization, including:

 Higher productivity

 Lower employee turnover

 Greater loyalty and engagement

Many factors determine whether an individual is satisfied with their job or not
(including recognition, growth opportunities, etc.). However, EI helps generate
emotional wellbeing, higher self-esteem, and positive moods that contribute to
an employee being happy in their role.

On the other side, EI also reduces adverse effects such as stress, which can lead
to burnout and job dissatisfaction.

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Job Performance
Studying skills critical in the workplace, TalentSmartEQ found emotional
intelligence to be the strongest predictor of performance, accounting for 58% of
success across all job types. Additionally, they found that 90% of top
performers scored high for EI.

Other research collated by the Institute for Health and Human

Performance shows:

 More than 80% of competencies that differentiate top performers

belong in the domain of EI.

 Companies whose executives exhibit high levels of EI increase

their chances of being highly profitable.

 After a Motorola manufacturing site implemented stress

management and EI training, employee productivity improved by
93%.
A rigorous meta-analysis of 43 prior studies on the link between EI and job
performance by O'Boyle Jr et al. found a direct and significant correlation. The
analysis considered personality differences and traits, which they found were an
added predictor of job performance and career success.

The meta-study also found the two personality traits leading to significantly
higher job performance were conscientiousness and emotional stability. 85% of
an individual's job performance can be attributed to conscientiousness, whereas
general EI translates to roughly 13.5%. In this context, EI may not be the
defining characteristic for job performance, but acts as the difference between
good and top performers.

EI is a critical factor in job performance due to employees having the ability to

make better decisions, form and maintain effective relationships, cope with
stress more effectively, and handle constant change.

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Daniel Goleman's pillars of EI

While Daniel Goleman was not the first to define emotional intelligence, his
writings popularized it and brought EI to a broader audience.

By breaking down a broad and complex concept into more manageable and
accessible ideas or pillars, he helped make EI more accessible to different fields,
particularly business.

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1. Self-awareness

The first pillar focuses on understanding one's own emotions – knowing what
you are feeling and why you feel a particular way. People with high emotional
self-awareness can reflect on their:

 Mood

 Strengths

 Weaknesses

 Wants
Self-awareness for people is important to monitor themselves and discover how
feelings may affect their actions.

Having self-awareness in the workplace helps staff track their emotions and
determine how this may affect their job performance as well as how it may rub
off on the colleagues around them.

An example may be an employee who knows they respond poorly to tight

deadlines. In response, they always plan ahead and ensure work is completed
well in advance.

Self-awareness regarding emotional intelligence manifests itself in decision-

making and ethics.

Listening to our emotions helps us sense whether something feels right when
making decisions. Combining this intuition with hard data can generate the best
decision for a given situation.

It also provides people with an ethical framework to apply to future decisions

and actions.

"The Emotional Intelligent Team," a 2007 book by Marcia Hughes and James
Bradford Terrell, broke down emotional awareness into seven steps:

1. Individual senses an emotion

2. Acknowledges the emotion

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 3. Identifies more facts

4. Accepts the emotion

5. Reflects on the potential reasons for the emotion occurring at that

moment (consider other feelings present or preceding it and what
the emotion's purpose might be)

6. Act on the emotion appropriately

7. Analyze the response – its effectiveness in the situation and what

can be learned moving forward

2. Self-management
Awareness of an emotion is a good start, but the next step is to learn how to
manage them and reproduce the desired response. For example, we can all
remember a boss or colleague acting impulsively or irrationally without self-
management or regulation.

These actions generally produce an undesirable environment where staff cannot

perform to their best abilities. They often create emotionally charged
workplaces filled with unresolved conflict and resentment, for example, staff
can be distracted by poorly managed disagreements and unwilling to collaborate
or innovate for fear of repercussion.

Effective self-management in emotional intelligence allows people to handle

their emotions better. This means limiting or even reversing the effects of
distressing emotions and reaping the rewards of positive emotions.

Negative emotions can affect decision-making and how we act, sometimes

crippling employees and preventing them from acting at all.

The goal of self-management is to take emotional responses and recognize

them, but not let them hijack your behavior or control how you handle
relationships.

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As a result, self-management helps employees remain focused, work towards
their goals, become flexible in response to dynamic situations, and always be
motivated for the tasks to come.

3. Motivation
A vital trait of every leader or successful employee is motivation. Motivated
people are driven to achieve goals and exceed the expectations set for them.

High emotional intelligence means this motivation is derived from completing

the goal itself, not external factors such as financial reward or status. They have
a genuine passion for the job that makes them strive to work hard and perform
as well as possible.

Motivated employees enjoy fixing problems and seeking creative challenges.

They maintain a positive attitude (even in the face of new obstacles), are always
looking to learn, and take pride in their work.

An example of high EI and motivation in the workplace could be a leader

overseeing a struggling team. While low emotionally intelligent individuals may
look for extenuating factors out of their control to blame for the situation, strong
EI means the leader uses it as an opportunity to prove their worth and turn the
team around.

4. Social awareness
Social awareness, or empathy, is about accurately sensing how other people feel
about a situation. It requires excellent listening skills and the ability to
understand people, build a rapport, and become attuned to their body language,
tone of voice, and expressions. and expressions.

People with high social awareness can read their colleague's emotions, relate to
them, see the situation from their perspective, and take it into account to make
objective decisions.

Empathetic individuals think beyond themselves and remove personal bias to

make decisions for a team or organization.

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It is important to remember that empathy is not the same as sympathy. It takes
other people's emotions into account to make the best decision based on all the
available information.

5. Social skills
The final pillar of emotional intelligence is putting all of this together to
enhance social skills and relationship management. This is more than just being
friendly and personable. It means taking the emotions of everyone involved to
manage social interactions successfully.

EI's social aspect is often described as "friendliness with a purpose." For

example, social skills help create purpose in a workplace by getting the desired
response from a team and ensuring everyone is on board with an idea to make it
a success.

Excellent social skills allow leaders to effectively communicate their vision and
inspire others to work to their best. It requires them to negotiate, find common
ground, and collaborate with a wide range of people.

Strong EI means leaders can sense the reaction to a situation and adapt their
response, moving the team in a positive direction. This must be a genuine
attempt to find a good outcome for all involved and not an attempt at self-
interest and manipulation.

It also leads to improved conflict resolution. EI helps reduce tension when

disagreements occur, bringing both sides together to reconcile issues in a
positive manner.

How to improve emotional intelligence in the workplace

There are a number of ways to improve EI and make it a more prominent

component of how your business operates. These include:

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1. Understanding your emotions

Start by focusing on the first pillar, and learn to be aware of and understand
your emotions.

 What emotions do you currently feel about your work or your

colleagues?

 How do these emotions affect the people around you?

 Are you letting negative emotions affect the way you interact with
colleagues or perform your work?
Becoming more aware of these factors is vital to improving emotional
intelligence. A simple tool to get started is to name the emotions you feel as
they arise. This helps you recognize them again in the future and begin to track
where they affect your behavior.

Once you begin naming and tracking emotions, you can assess your weaknesses
- times when you let negative feelings (anger, frustration, apprehension, fear,
overwhelmed, jealousy, inadequacy, etc.) cloud your judgment and stop you
from performing to your best.

2. Get feedback

Understanding your emotions on your own can be difficult. When it comes to

self-analysis, we often have blind spots and struggle to see things in ourselves
that would be easy to identify in others.

To overcome this and ensure you aren't biased in your findings, ask for a second
opinion. It could be your boss, colleague, friend, or family, anyone who knows
you well and can provide helpful information regarding your response to
different situations depending on your mood or emotional state.

You may discover some hard truths you don't like or want to hear. But learning
to accept criticism without becoming offended or defensive is another critical
part of developing emotional intelligence leading to two lessons in one.

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3. Respond don't react

When disagreements or conflicts occur in the workplace, many people are prone
to emotional outbursts or venting their displeasure.

Emotionally intelligent people learn to stay calm during stressful situations.

Instead of reacting impulsively, they take a second to understand their emotions
and respond in a more calm manner that gets them closer to a resolution rather
than making the situation worse.

The emotional intelligence of team leaders is also a critical factor in

defining conflict management styles.

4. Active listening

Listening and paying attention to nonverbal cues is vital to developing

emotional intelligence. Waiting for your turn to speak without taking the time to
understand your colleague's point of view is a quick way to cause issues in the
workplace.

Active listening helps prevent misunderstandings, shows the proper respect to

the person speaking, and gives you the best chance of responding appropriately.
It is also an excellent starting point for employees to improve
their communication skills.

5. Practice

Unfortunately, emotional intelligence is not simple. It is also not one single

thing. Instead, it is an array of skills that require continual practice. Therefore,
to truly develop your EI and equip yourself with skills to handle your feelings,
you need continual training.

EI requires a high degree of self-analysis, which often means acting differently

from your first instinct. Becoming an EI master takes a lot of time and effort, so
don't be discouraged if you don't see immediate results; keep going and try
again the next day.

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Tips for implementing emotional intelligence in the workplace

1. Start with yourself

Before improving the emotional intelligence of the wider team, you need to
work on yourself. This means studying your own emotions and developing the
skills required to harness them positively.

Raising the EI of a workplace requires a leader with extensive knowledge of the

subject and experience applying it in real-life situations. See the previous
section for techniques to begin working on your EI.

2. Identify employees' strengths and weaknesses

Employees are more than just their job title or role. They are the product of a
series of unique lived experiences that add up to the employee you work with
daily. As a result, they have different talents and skill sets that contribute in
different ways toward the company's overall goal.

They also have entirely different emotional responses to their job that affect
how they perform and interact in the workplace. Therefore, to get the most out
of every employee, you need to understand their emotional intelligence
strengths and weaknesses.

While this can be time-consuming and require many resources, including EI

tests, it can help quickly identify areas for improvement.

By understanding your employees' different EI levels, you can design specific

training or adapt your management style to interact with each effectively. The
goal should always be to accentuate the team's strengths while alleviating the
effects of any weaknesses.

3. Defining workplace guidelines

Every workplace has rules, guidelines, or a formal code of conduct, defining

what leadership expects of employees and how they should behave.

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Staff emotional intelligence should be a significant consideration when
determining guidelines and defining how employees are assigned tasks,
communicate with one another, and receive feedback.

The guidelines you implement can go a long way to improving EI in the

workplace. Without clear rules in place, poor habits can creep in, increasing the
likelihood of poorly managed emotions in the workplace.

4. Give employees a voice

Giving employees a voice, showing them you value their opinions, and
responding to any feedback they have, can make staff feel more connected to an
organization. This can help improve emotional intelligence by:

 Engendering positive feelings towards the business

 Improving employee communication skills

 Helping leadership become aware if EI issues arise

 Providing an outlet for negative emotions such that they do not

build up and create more significant problems
Having frequent back and forth communication with staff members is a great
way to understand their emotional state and discover any workplace
development issues.

Listening to any frustration or apprehension they have, letting them know it is

ok to have these feelings, offering support, and working towards a solution, are
good ways to improve emotional wellbeing.

It is also great just to show people you value their opinion and say thank you for
their hard work.

5. Assertiveness training

Assertiveness training can help employees handle their emotions and learn how
and when to deal with difficult situations.

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Becoming more assertive teaches people how to express their feelings
constructively and respectfully such that disagreements can be resolved without
resentment between parties lingering. This prevents pent-up anger or frustration
and goes a long way to stopping future emotional flare-ups.

6. Stress management

Employees also need mechanisms and support systems in place to cope with the
stress associated with their job. By investing in team wellbeing and instilling
emotional intelligence skills related to stress management, you can avoid
burnout and improve job performance even during trying times.

Leaders should understand the stress their employees are under as a vital part of
their job. This means being aware of growing workloads, significant upcoming
deadlines, and even factors from their personal life that may compound
workplace stress.

Whenever possible, you should find ways to alleviate the pressure when
someone feels burdened by a considerable amount of stress. This could mean
reducing their workload or offering time off, such as a personal/mental health
day. However, in the long term, it can be helpful to provide stress management
training to help employees deal with high-stress situations better in the future.

7. Employee development

Emotional intelligence is linked with greater job performance and satisfaction.

Therefore, improving EI in your workforce can help increase the value of
employees, developing them into well-rounded individuals capable of handling
greater responsibility.

To do so, organizations need to invest in their employee development, enabling

staff to learn new EI skills through L&D platforms and content.

8. Encourage employees to share their emotions

An open work environment where employees are free to share their feelings
respectfully has real benefits for an organization.

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High emotional intelligence means staff is comfortable sharing their feelings in
real-time rather than holding in emotions (potentially leading to an uncontrolled
outburst).

For example, if a staff member disagrees with how leadership is handling a new
project.

Differences of opinion and an employee feeling angry, frustrated, or mistreated

will always occur within an organization. The trick is to find a way for this not
to interfere with the work.

An employee unwilling to share their emotions generates resentment, perhaps

reducing engagement. However, if they feel comfortable discussing their
feelings, managers can better explain their decision or work towards a
compromise that improves the project for everyone.

There are many ways to develop an open work environment where staff is
comfortable sharing emotions.

During onboarding, make it a priority to welcome new hires and make them feel
at home quickly. Strengthen relationships amongst employees through team-
building events. Conduct regular check-ins to ensure healthy and open team
dynamics.

9. Routine and fact-based feedback

Feedback, positive or negative, is a great learning tool for helping employees

develop. However, for it to be effective, everyone in the organization requires
the emotional intelligence to give and receive feedback honestly, without
judging the individuals involved.

You want to reach a point where regular feedback based on facts helps everyone
improve without feeling attacked or personally criticized. This means finding
the right time and place for feedback to occur and delivering it respectfully.

For an open work environment to be successful, employees should know that

negative feedback with the goal of improving the workplace is welcomed if it is
given correctly.

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Finally, constructive feedback should always be a dialogue, not a lecture, and
come with suggestions for improvement.

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