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Why is Emotional Intelligence so Important?

Posted by Emotional Intelligence Assessment, UncategorizedNo Comments

 

Emotional intelligence (EI) is defined as the ability to identify and manage emotional information in oneself and others and focusing energy on required behaviors. Also known as “social intelligence,” the skills and competencies that comprise EI complement a person’s cognitive and technical skills.

What is it?

Emotional intelligence is an important part of a person’s ability to successfully cope with work demands. Because of our constantly changing environments, people often require more than just basic task competencies or technical know-how to be successful.

Those who possess a particular blend of skills and traits are more suitable for functioning and succeeding in various challenging roles. Emotional intelligence provides an important catalyst of social and cognitive functioning and helps a person become better at decision making, empathizing, leading, communicating, and being resilient.

Research shows that when people are emotionally intelligent and are aware of their feelings, they are better equipped to confront challenging issues and manage change. EQ service provider TalentSmart tested emotional intelligence as well as 33 other workplace skills, and found that emotional intelligence is the strongest predictor of greater performance – leading to 58 percent of success in all types of jobs.

Sources of Emotional Intelligence

We need to understand several aspects of the brain in order to understand the sources of emotional intelligence.

The emotional mind is located in the amygdala and feeds into the rational mind, guiding its operations. The rational mind, located in neocortex, refines and sometimes overrules the input of the emotional mind.

The amygdala and neocortex usually work in tandem, but when emotions are running high, the amygdala overtakes the rational mind. In highly emotional moments, the amygdala plays a crucial role in how a person reacts.

Categories of Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence falls into five general categories:

  1. Self-awareness: Knowing what you’re feeling when you’re feeling it.
  2. Self-regulation: Using your emotions to serve you, instead of having them get in the way, and recovering well from emotional distress.
  3. Motivation: Delaying gratification to pursue important goals and persevering when faced with setbacks or frustrations.
  4. Empathy: Sensing what others are feeling and seeking other perspectives.
  5. Social skills: Interacting with others comfortably, cooperating, negotiating, persuading, and leading.

Promoting Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace

Research shows that people who show high levels of emotional intelligence are stronger leaders, better
Decision makers, foster better relationships, increase team efficiency, and are better equipped to confront challenging issues and manage change.

EQ has also been shown to be a more accurate predictor of success at work and in life than the more traditional IQ test. When bright people fail in the workplace, it’s usually caused by a lack of emotional intelligence. The good news is that these skills can be developed and improved.

Emotional intelligence training courses give participants strategies for developing each skill. Participants can learn effective strategies to confront issues, tackle problems, and manage change and stress with composure and clarity.

The Four Aspects of Emotional Intelligence

It’s important to be able to manage emotions by recognizing how thoughts and emotions are connected. Self-control can be improved by identifying physical cues that indicate one’s emotions may be taking over. Those who want to improve their emotional skills should learn how to use assertive communication to express their needs and feelings appropriately. There are four aspects of emotional intelligence that should be worked on when attempting to improve EQ skills:

  • Intrapersonal skills. The ability to recognize one’s emotions as they occur and the ability to exhibit self-control in emotional situations.
  • Interpersonal skills. The ability to recognize others’ emotions, have positive relationships and minimize unproductive conflict.
  • Adaptability skills. The ability to be flexible in changing conditions, manage stress productively and solve problems effectively.
  • Resilience skills. The ability to bounce back from setbacks, regain self-confidence and maintain a positive perspective in the face of negative events.

How to Improve It

So what can you do if you’re lacking in emotional intelligence? Luckily it can it’s a skill that can be improved with the proper training and practice. Join HRDQ for a webinar on Sept. 27 at 2 p.m. EDT that will show you how to train and develop emotional intelligence in individuals. The webinar, titled “Emotional Intelligence: How to Develop Skills for Success,” will explore four vital components of intrapersonal skills, interpersonal skills, adaptability, and resilience, and will also discuss strategies for continuous improvement. Register here: https://www.hrdqu.com/webinars/emotional-intelligence-develop-skills-for-success/.

This webinar is based on Emotional Intelligence: A Scientifically Proven Method for Developing the Skills of Success. This training program introduces the four essential aspects to honing this soft skill, and gives strategies for further development, helping people to confront issues, tackle problems, and manage change and stress with composure and clarity. Click here to learn more: https://www.hrdqstore.com/emotional-intelligence-rtl-title.

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jul
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How to Lead Workplace Change

Posted by Change in the WorkplaceNo Comments

The only thing constant in life is change. This common phrase is really true. In the workplace especially, things can change constantly. New procedures are developed, projects tend to vary, employees come and go, acquisitions happen. But the difference between an organization that fails at change and one that succeeds is its leaders and how they led the change.

To thrive in an environment filled with constant change, it’s important to lead employees through it. But the responsibility for leading change is no longer just for the C-suite. For a change effort to have the greatest chance of success, it needs to be championed by a lot of people at many levels throughout an organization. Change efforts gather momentum from thousands of single actions by many people working together toward a shared vision.

Dimensions of Leading Change

Leaders need to handle and delegate the change effectively in order for it to be successful and adapted by the entire organization. There are five dimensions of leading change that should be followed:

  • Modeling the Change. To lead change, you must be able to show others what it means to change. You need to adapt the change first, and encourage others to follow.
  • Communicating about the Change. Communication and transparency are key. If the change is not communicated effectively with the team, they will be less likely to want to adapt to the change.
  • Involving Others in the Change. Because participation builds commitment, change leaders may need to involve others in the process. This requires a mindset that change is something everyone helps create, rather than change being something they have no control over and have to just deal with.
  • Helping Others Break From the Past. Leaders need to help others understand why the change is a good thing and encourage them to look to the future with an open mind. The goal is to generate innovative ideas for achieving the change.
  • Creating a Supportive Learning Environment. Leaders should create a supportive environment as the change happens. As the team practices new behaviors, mistakes may occur. There will be a period of trial, error, adjustment, and retrial. It’s important to be understanding during this time.

Learning More

To learn how to lead change at work, attend HRDQ’s webinar “Change Training: Leading Organizational Change Efforts” on Aug. 2 at 2 p.m. EDT. Participants will learn why change initiatives fail and how to ensure their success, how to implement a framework to actively lead change efforts, ways to plan for the success of future change through close evaluation of the current initiative, and how to apply techniques for increasing and gaining commitment to the change. Visit https://www.hrdqu.com/webinars/change-training-leading-organizational-change/ to register.

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jul
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Common Trainer Mistakes to Avoid

Posted by UncategorizedNo Comments

Every trainer makes mistakes, whether they are new or seasoned. But the difference between an average trainer and an effective one comes after those mistakes are made. A good trainer learns from their mistakes and applies their results to future training sessions. There are a few commons mistakes, however, that all trainers should know from their very first session. Below are a few of these frequently-seen mistakes – and the solutions to them.

Mistake: No Transfer Strategy

One of the biggest mistakes that trainers make is they have no “transfer strategy.” A transfer strategy is where training begins, long before it’s actually delivered, and continues until results are seen. The behavior everyone has during the training makes the difference. What you do before, during, and after training is very important. The solution for a poor transfer strategy is focus and clarity. The trainer needs to have clarity on the materials in order to provide the best training possible.

Mistake: Too Much Content/Too Little Time

Another common problem is when training consists of too much content in a small timeframe. If there is too much to learn, nothing will be learned. To solve this, apply the minimalist set principle. Divide the content into three buckets: “Need to know,” “Nice to know,” and “Where to go.” Deliver the need to know information first.

Mistake: Content Chunks Are Too Long

Content needs to be delivered in easily digestible chunks. Throwing too much information at participants won’t help them retain it. Training expert Bob Pike says people can listen with understanding for about 90 minutes, with retention for 20 minutes and actively perform a task every eight minutes. Training sessions should not exceed 90 minutes without a break. During the session, deliver the content in 20-minute chunks followed by a review. People should be actively engaged every eight minutes during the session.

Learning More About Mistakes

There are many more mistakes out there that need to be known by trainers. To learn more about how to avoid mistakes when training, attend HRDQ’s webinar on “The 7 Greatest Mistakes Trainers Make (and How to Avoid Them)” on Sept. 9 at 2 p.m. EDT. Join training expert Bob Pike as he explores the worst mistakes trainers make when designing and delivering training and how to avoid them. He will cover mistakes in the following areas:

  • Learning transfer strategies
  • Chunking content and the amount of content presented
  • Asking and answering questions and going off schedule
  • Training measurement and evaluation
  • Keeping participants energized throughout the training
  • Opening and closing the training program and handout development

Bob will also cover fixes for the common training mistakes during the webinar. This program is ideal for managers, leaders, HR professionals, trainers, and organizational development professionals. Register here: https://www.hrdqu.com/webinars/7-greatest-mistakes-trainers-make-avoid/.

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jun
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Team_effectiveness

Workplace Team Effectiveness: Success and Failure

Posted by UncategorizedNo Comments

We often lose clarity rather than gain it in an area that enjoys a resurgence of focus and research. Team effectiveness is one of those areas that has gotten a lot of attention recently, and many professionals are still scratching their heads. Regardless of widely varying opinions, surveys and research findings, one thing we know for sure is that teams are both a success and a catastrophe. That is, their efficacy is polarized; they often lead to greater productivity, and just as often, their efforts seem to be all but wasted, and they diminish into one more empty campaign introduced by a popular leadership guru or author.

According to a psychology professor at Harvard University, work teams cluster at opposite ends of the success continuum. We also have a greater knowledge of what distinguishes the successful teams from the all out failures. Here are the findings:

What Are Team Effectiveness Skills, Anyway?

Successful teams favor consistent, periodic training sessions versus one intensive training session and just as important is time spent working together and gathering experience as a group. Team members also must be given the opportunity to stretch with each new project or phase of a project, and the responsibility for giving them the ability to grow lies with the leader.

Neither a Dictator nor Collaborator Be

Many leaders maintain their traditional, didactic boss demeanor when working with a team. The flip side is the ultimate collaborator, who gives up all authority to move the team ahead when it is hungry for leadership. The best solution lies in between; successful team leaders back off from the patterns of a traditional boss while maintaining a certain amount of leadership in the group.

Rewards for Successful Teams

One difficult part of the surge in teamwork mentality is that most American companies’ compensation programs are based solely on individual performance. If an organization is serious about building a team culture, then measurement tools (at least a cursory program) must be in place and compensation or other rewards should be tied to team performance.

All in all, teams are important and the results of teams can be remarkable. But if they are left on their own to develop and grow, they may not produce the desired results. They need to be fostered and led. Members need to know that their efforts at becoming a better team are valued by the organization.

Learn more about how to create your own team effectiveness with the HRDQ resource Team Effectiveness Profile, and attend the upcoming free webinar Team Effectiveness: What is it Anyway?

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