Emotional needs of others

An essential factor in developing your emotional intelligence skills is being able to identify the emotional needs, strengths, and weaknesses of others. Just as your emotions as a leader will affect those around you, so too will the emotions of your team. We will now focus on the skills and knowledge you will need to work with your team's emotional strengths and weaknesses and to be able to develop their emotional intelligence to increase team performance.

Let’s discuss the emotional strengths and weaknesses of others. As a leader, it is part of your responsibility to identify the emotional strengths and weaknesses of others. Emotional intelligence is imperative here as you are addressing the strengths and weaknesses of others. These conversations are not always easy and can sometimes be confronting if they are not delivered correctly.

As we progress through this part of the learning, we will look at how you can use emotional intelligence (EI) to build teams and recognise the emotional cues of your work teams and factors contributing to an emotional response. We will go into different cultural and emotional responses and seek to understand individual emotional reactions from people with various backgrounds.

Let’s begin with emotional intelligence to build teams.

When building teams, you must consider who you are working with, including their strengths, weaknesses, and emotional needs.

Failing to recognise the emotions of your team members can have the following consequences.

• Impact individual and team performance.
• Affect the well-being of individuals
• It affects the well-being of individuals and leads to workplace stress and burnout.
• Stifle teamwork
  • stifle collaboration
  • functioning
  • morale
  • teamwork.
• Increase absenteeism
• Lead to high staff turnover
  • This can impact business outcomes and performance in the short and longer term.

Factors of building workplace relationships

The following are some factors that need to be considered when building workplace relationships. Each factor is linked with the role in which strong emotional intelligence plays in building an effective team.

Emotional cues give us signals that help guide our reading of emotions. Emotional cues can be useful for sales, meetings, first interactions, monitoring team differences, and conflict. Cues can be quite individual so consider context and reasonableness when assessing the emotional cues of others. Sometimes, communication is made up of multiple aspects, which cannot always be interpreted accurately.

Non-verbal cues

When exploring the emotional cues of others, it is essential to consider much of what people are thinking or feeling can be seen on their face or through their body language. Facial expressions are generally a clear indication of their feelings, but how easily can you read them? There are seven emotions, Paul Ekman, an American psychologist identified. These include:

• happiness
• sadness
• anger
• suprise
• contempt
• disgust
• fear.

The following images are examples of various facial expressions associated with the seven emotions identified by Ekman. Click the arrows to work through the images.

Strategies to recognise emotional cues

Sometimes, it can be challenging to recognise the emotional cues of others. However, there are some strategies that can be implemented to recognise emotional cues. Some of these have been outlined in the following table.

As a leader, identifying the emotional cues of others enables you to respond appropriately. Not every person you interact with will warrant the same response to their emotional needs. You will need to adjust your communication style to suit the condition of your audience. These adjustments can be as simple as altering your language, tone, or the setting (you may wish to utilise an office space without anyone around or more informal over a coffee).

For example, suppose you are in a group and notice one of the employees displaying body language indicating feeling uncomfortable. In that case, you would unlikely call out that person in a ‘public’ setting. Instead, you would wait for the meeting to be over and approach the employee and invite them for a conversation.

Consider the following scenario.

In this scenario, Adrian has practiced emotional intelligence through:

• Observations during the meeting, picking up on nonverbal cues and body language.
• Acknowledging there appeared to be an issue, without assuming the problem, but recognising the increased workload.
• Considering the staff member's feelings and not singling her out, but inviting her for a one-on-one chat.
• Offering support should it be needed.

Depending on the outcomes of the meeting, Adrian may refer to the company policies and procedures related to managing emotional intelligence and provide Abbey some time to reflect on her current workload and emotional status in the workplace to help her cope.

The following video from LinkedIn learning provides information on the importance of recognising nonverbal cues in others and how to read them, and impact interactions.

Expressing thoughts and feelings

As a manager, you should encourage your team to express their thoughts and feelings within the workplace. There are various practices you can implement as a manager that can encourage the team to express themselves. Some of these include the following.

Use of the Employee Assistance Program

Directing staff to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) so that they can obtain counselling from qualified professionals. The EAP is designed specifically to help employees and their immediate families in times where their mental or physical health is compromised. Ensure you have spent the time with the individual to show them how to access the program and the facilities it offers.

Open door policy

Create an open-door policy/open environment so workers can come to you with any issues. The purpose is to encourage and ensure they feel comfortable to open up and confide in you. They will often turn to you as their leader for advice on how to manage tasks, people and possibly just simply for someone to talk to. Inform the team in the early stages that you have and open-door policy and offer reminders where you feel appropriate.

Team building exercises

Conduct team building exercises or workshops aimed at openly sharing thoughts and feelings across the team. These should be designed and pitched as a safe space and promote the idea of voicing their feelings.

Professional development

Arrange for the team to participate in professional development training to help foster understanding of emotional intelligence. 

Employee satisfaction surveys

One way to capture the thoughts, feelings and staff is through an employee satisfaction survey. These surveys can be a very useful tool if used properly. Some people may not feel comfortable discussing their thoughts and feelings about the workplace, so these surveys offer a safe opportunity for them to do so. Staff should have the option to put their names on the forms or remain anonymous.

Factors contributing to staff emotional responses

Emotional responses come from many different sources. Be sure to consider the whole picture rather than merely observing a response in isolation. Remember, some emotional responses are indicators of stress. Managing and monitoring workplace stress is a crucial responsibility of employers and leaders in the workplace.

Potential causes of workplace stress

Several factors can contribute to workplace place stress. Each stressor can affect each person individually. It is essential, as a leader, to understand these stresses and aspire to minimise them where possible.

Work-related stressors can be divided into the following four categories.

1. Working environment or conditions
2. The work tasks or work itself
3. Workplace relationships
4. External factors.

Let us look at these categories in further detail 

1. Working environment or conditions
   • Cluttered or cramped facilities
   • Inconsistent temperature (either too hot or too cold)
   • Poor ventilation
   • Inflexible work schedules or unpredictable hours
   • Lack of natural light.
2. The work tasks or work itself
   • Repetition of tasks
   • Lack of involvement and choice
   • Pressure on deadlines
   • Lack of training and support
   • Poor communication
   • Inadequate pay and conditions
   • The belief that management do not understand the requirements of the job.
3. Workplace relationships
   • Bullying, harassment and discrimination
   • Conflict with managers
   • Poor working relationships with colleagues
   • Negative workplace culture.
4. External factors
   • Financial concerns
   • Home or personal impact on employee emotions
   • Relationship issues
   • Caring responsibilities.

Now that you understand how to recognise the emotional cues in others, you will need to develop an understanding of how to respond to these cues. Responding to the needs of others is personal and is, more often than not, never the same. One common denominator, however, is empathy. You need to practice empathy regardless of who you are responding to. Seeing people in distress, whether personal, mental health-orientated, or work-orientated, is never easy. This is why, as a leader, you need to have your own emotions in check before you can appropriately respond to the needs of others.

Emotional distress and expressions

Some of the common emotions people experience through times of distress include:

• Fear
• Anger
• Frustration
• Embarrassment
• Guilt.

Each of these emotions warrants an expression from the individual who houses it. As a manager or leader, you must ensure that you can plan to respond to the emotional expressions of others.

When you are responding to emotional expressions, consider the following three-step plan.

1. Identify the emotional expression
   What is the emotion that is being displayed? Is the individual feeling:
   • Fear
   • Anger
   • Frustration 
   • Embarrassment
   • Guilt. 
2. Apply reason to emotion
   Consider the underlying cause of the emotion or the trigger. What is making the individual feel this way? For example, systems not working within the workplace impacting deadlines. 
3. Respond to the emotional expression
   Consider how you can neutralise the emotion and redirect the task. How will you be able to appropriately calm the individual down, ensure you have validated and acknowledged how they are feeling. 
   For example, “I understand it can be frustrating when the systems are not working, especially after all the time that has gone into it.”
   Then you will need to help devise a solution for the issue. Perhaps escalate it with the relevant department or adjust the deadline in this case. 

Fear

Fear in the workplace] can often be triggered by past experiences. For example, an individual may exhibit signs of fear through anxiety if they are close to missing a deadline at, the fear of being ‘in trouble or reprimanded in an unethical manner.’ While the workplace you lead may not be like that, an experience will cause trigger and evoke that sense of anxiety. It is easy to fall into a habit of avoiding or ignoring the emotion. ¹⁶

How to respond

When responding to an individual experiencing fear, it is important to remember these feelings are not always a response to something you have done but rather the situation. Ignoring or avoiding their feelings may come across as dismissive and unsupportive. However, addressing it early and offering the reassurance of the culture you create can help reduce the fear. When responding to fear, consider the following. ¹⁶

• Acknowledge the feeling or the fact you notice something is not correct.
• Offer support to the individual but avoid being pushy.
• Practice empathy without making the situation about yourself.
• Avoid interrupting.
• Actively listen to what the individual is telling you.
• Ask appropriate open questions to elicit a response.
  • How are you feeling?
  • What was the trigger to have made you feel this way?
  • What would you usually do to help cope with these feelings?
  • What can I do to help support you?
• Offer encouragement and words of affirmation.
  • You are capable
  • You are in a safe space
  • You are intelligent
  • You are a valuable asset.
• Work together on a solution and how to manage these feelings. ¹⁶

Anger

Anger is usually a result of frustration, an emotion all of us tend to feel. The feeling of anger itself is an acceptable emotion. However, the behaviours that result from anger are more unacceptable. Common behavioural responses to anger include yelling, swearing, or blaming others. When we see people angry, the feeling can often become quite contagious, and it can frequently stir anger within yourself, and it is easy to mirror this behaviour in response. ¹⁶

How to respond

When you have a handle on your emotions, your responses to situations that make you angry are easier to manage. It is essential to try to understand where the person’s coming from and focus on removing a personal response. When others are highly strung and showing signs of anger and frustration, you will unlikely be able to reason with them. Being rational is extremely difficult. ¹⁶ When responding to anger, consider the following.

• Wait until they are calm to determine what triggered the anger in the first place.
• Ask appropriate questions to elicit a response
  • What was the trigger?
  • How are you feeling?
  • How would you usually regulate your feelings and calm yourself down?
  • What can I do to help support you?
• Speak to them calmly and model respectful communication for the best possible outcome for everyone.
• Avoid interrupting.
• Actively listen.
• Offer support to help manage these emotions should they repeat themselves.
• Plan for responses.
• Promote mindfulness. Allow time and space to sit for a few moments to compose and self-regulate. ¹⁶

Frustration

Frustration and anger often go hand in hand, with frustration being a fundamental trigger. Feelings of frustration often come when we cannot complete something, we are not being heard, listened to, dismissed, or acknowledged, and from poor communication (just to name a few). Frustration can result in a lack of motivation, possible conflict, or disengagement- perhaps even a combination. ¹⁶

How to respond

Sometimes, frustration can be the result of ineffective or poor leadership. It is vital, as a leader, to be mindful of when you can see employees or team members becoming frustrated to determine if there is an action that needs to be carried out yourself. Practicing your emotional intelligence may be integral if the leadership practices are the trigger. You must acknowledge your strengths and weaknesses and adjust where appropriate. ¹⁶

Frustrations should often be handed in a similar way to anger. When dealing with the frustration you should consider the following.

• Speak to them calmly and model respectful communication for the best possible outcome for everyone.
• Actively listen.
• Acknowledge if you think you may have been the cause of the frustration.
• Avoid interrupting, especially when someone is feeling frustrated. Interruptions will heighten the feeling.
• Offer support to help manage these emotions should they repeat themselves.
• Plan for responses.
• Promote mindfulness. Allow time and space to sit for a few moments to compose and self-regulate. ^₁₆

Embarrassment

Embarrassment is a feeling that is often triggered by being asked to present in front of others (an introvert’s worst nightmare), unwanted attention to personal issues, the subject of workplace gossip, mistakes, or simply being shy. Embarrassment is a complex emotion to grapple with, especially for those who find it difficult to express themselves.

How to respond

When responding to feelings of embarrassment, it is important to not draw further attention to the individual than necessary. This will only add more stress and anxiety.

Consider the following when managing feelings of embarrassment.

• Observe body language signs to look for include:
  • Blushing
  • Trembling
  • Sweating
• Avoid drawing attention to the individual.
• Learn what triggered the feeling, consider the context, who was around, and what was happening to cause it potentially.
• If you wish to speak with them privately, perhaps send an email to arrange a time rather than physically approach them in a more public space, such as in an office.
• Offer reassurance where possible.
• Practice empathy: the more empathetic you are, the more likely it is you could vicariously feel the same sense of embarrassment they are, so consider how you would like to be responded to.
• Avoid constantly bringing up the scenario.

Guilt

Guilt is often triggered by feelings of responsibility for another person’s situation. As a leader, you may often feel guilty about work distribution, workloads, etc. But guilt is not reserved for managers and leaders alone. Other team members may feel this way when they cannot perform a task to the appropriate standard, have not completed the task within the relevant time frame, feel guilty for having time off, and so on. It is imperative as a manager not to make your employees feel guilty for not completing a task or taking time off work due to sickness or a need for leave. ¹⁶

How to respond

At some stage, you will need to address feelings of guilt, but it is essential not to provoke the feeling to begin with. Those that feel guilty will often take on additional responsibility to compensate, over apologise, or may take longer to complete tasks. ¹⁶

When addressing guilt, or aiming to avoid it, consider the following.

• Acknowledge how the other person is feeling.
• Reassure them they do not need to feel guilty, especially regarding their well-being.
• Do not point blame at others or blame them for a task not getting completed without understanding the full context. In this case, you should ask the following questions:
  • What caused the project to miss the deadline?
  • What did you find difficult?
  • How did you respond to the challenges?
• Take responsibility where possible. If you think you can help them and it is within your means, then act within reason. If not, then guide them elsewhere to help find the solution. Apologise if you think it is necessary. For example, if you have made a comment about time off due to sickness or taking care of family, this will probably warrant an apology, as no one should be made to feel guilty for sickness or caring for the family. ¹⁶

As a manager, you must ensure that you have considered all avenues to best help your team, without burning yourself out. This is where you would need to refer to the company’s EAP for additional support when necessary.

Within your role as a manager or a leader, you will need to analyse the emotional responses of your co-workers. This helps to support their own development of emotional intelligence along with providing you the opportunity to aid and support them when necessary.

There are some methods that can be used to analyse or evaluate the emotional responses of others. These may include the following.

• Self-assessment
• External report or direct observations.

Each of these methods can be applied within the workplace. As the manager, you may need to work with others to develop methods of capturing data from the team.

A self-assessment is generally in the form of a template and as you know, completed by an individual. You can develop these assessments in line with your workplace. Encourage the team to complete one of these every few months and submit it to you for evaluation. There is no right or wrong responses in a self-assessment- this you need to emphasise. By collecting the forms from your team, you can review and analyse what areas display their strengths, and what areas they can improve on.

External reporting or direct observations will be completed by management or another relevant stakeholder. Observe how your team respond to stressful and emotional situations. ¹⁷

Take note of their:

• Body language
  • Facial expressions
  • Posture
  • Crossed arms
• Tone
  • Sarcasm
  • Hostile
• Vocabulary and responses to others.
  • Condescending

Culture can have a significant impact on how emotion is expressed. Some cultures are very demonstrative, while others are far less so. In a widely diverse country such as Australia, some consideration of culture and how it relates to emotional expression is valuable.

• Avoid stereotyping based on race or culture.
• Keep it formal, and consider your language style when interacting with employees.
• Watch your humour, as humour can be interpreted differently by different cultures.
• Avoid jargon or colloquialisms that other cultures may not understand.
• Do not interrupt when others are speaking – be patient and let the other person finish what they are saying; otherwise, this can cause the speaker to become embarrassed.
• Ensure diversity is celebrated in the organisation’s culture.
• Watch your non-verbal body cues and consider body language, communication approaches, gestures, and personal space needs.
• Simplify the language used to avoid complex or easy-to-misunderstand words.
• Try to gain an understanding of the different cultures of your co-workers.
• Schedule out-of-work activities to build rapport.
• Develop policies concerning anti-discrimination.
• Employ active listening.
• Confirm understanding.

It is essential to consider the cultural impact on emotions and expression in your workplace and amongst key stakeholders. Think about, discuss, and learn about the culture positively and informally.

Cultural intelligence defined

What is cultural intelligence? Cultural intelligence is the ability to understand, relate to, and communicate with people from other cultures. Cultural intelligence is not just communicating with people from different religions, countries, or ethnic backgrounds but also includes differences in cultures across generations. There are quite a several similarities that cultural intelligence has that relate closely to emotional intelligence. Consider the interplay of emotion and culture in a workplace situation. By building cultural intelligence, you will be more aware of the different emotional responses which may arise at work.

Methods of building on cultural intelligence

Several methods can be used to build on cultural intelligence. They should be included in workplace policies and procedures for fostering emotional intelligence. Cultural consideration comes with ethics and understanding to ensure the best comes from leaders and the relevant stakeholders (employees, clients, etc.)

Let us look at some of the methods and strategies used to develop cultural intelligence. You are testing your cultural intelligence to determine where you sit and what areas you could improve. Ensure you avoid assumptions about other cultures, always do your due diligence, and actively research and understand different cultures. Be intentional with building your knowledge, and create a plan for how you will address the culture. You may extend this knowledge to support the entire team in practicing cultural intelligence.

The following are some examples of strategies that can be used to approach various cultural differences in the workplace.

• Get to know your employees and their cultures. Consider where to aim to research, perhaps aligning it to their customs, language, behaviours.
• Create a goal for yourself- perhaps this may be to research two vastly different cultures and actively practice approaches to them.
• Keep a record of how often you are practising cross cultural behaviours and track what was successful and unsuccessful.¹⁸
• Foster cultural awareness amongst the team through professional development with diversity. Staff would need to attend a workshop to help support their understanding of cultural practise and equip them with skills that can be used during their interactions with others.
• Acknowledge and celebrate holidays- this all comes down to the research you carry out when getting to know your team. You should not assume all individuals will be practising the same holidays or celebrations. Learn what their cultural traditions and aim to celebrate each culture equally. ¹⁸
• Seek feedback from others to continue with best practice and avoid the less ideal practice.

Those with a high cultural intelligence are equipped to handle a variety of circumstances. Similar to emotional intelligence, there are specific skills that are required in order to practice cultural intelligence effectively.

Activity

Complete the following activity to test your cultural intelligence. This Simple Quiz reveals what type of cultural intelligence you have

Cultural differences

There are many cultural differences that might impact the workplace. Such differences could include dress codes, feedback, communication styles and religious beliefs. An example of cultural differences is eye contact. Not all cultures use eye contact in the same way. In some cultures, it is seen as a sign of respect to avoid eye contact with someone who is considered an authority or more senior person. Eye contact can indicate active listening and shows engagement and attention.

Many people expect eye contact in conversation as a part of listening and politeness. When having a conversation with a co-worker or employee, be sure to remember how eye contact can be perceived. Eye contact:

• It is an important part of communication.
• Often seen as a sign of politeness
• Often an expectation that indicates active listening
• Can be used differently across cultures.

In the following video, we learn more about eye contact and culture.

Culture: expression of emotions

While we may differ in many ways across cultures, research has shown that some emotions are expressed similarly across cultures. Paul Ekman, an American psychologist, proposed that the seven emotions are expressed in similar ways across cultures, such as the corners of the mouth turning up for happiness and corners of the mouth turning down for anger.

It is not considered appropriate in some cultures to show emotions such as anger, disgust, nervousness, or embarrassment. These emotions may be hidden by behaviours such as laughing, nodding, smiling, or giggling.

The following video explores some of the common practices that should be implemented when communicating across cultures.

Communication is critical to building emotional intelligence amongst others. Communicating how people like to be communicated with, rather than only in the style that suits you, is key to building relationships. For example, a person prefers a quick meeting and to the point with a summary of what they need to do and when they need to do it. There is little to be gained from a long, drawn-out meeting. They will likely leave feeling frustrated. Having a team with high levels of emotional intelligence allows for better communication because they are more willing to try and understand each other, collaborate, and be attuned to the team’s emotional pulse. This results when leaders take the time to model the behaviours they expect and create an environment where teams can develop their communication by taking cues from leaders in the organisation.

Leaders modelling emotions

Leaders must model what they desire from team members. In other words, lead by example. Well modelled and deliberately demonstrated behaviours show others how to identify, manage, and control emotional responses. As a leader or manager, you should always aspire to role model the use of language to refer to emotions promotes the notion that talking about emotions is acceptable workplace behaviour. The following are three ways in which to model and demonstrate behaviours as a leader.

1. Teaching by doing (leading by example)
2. Giving overt and subtle cues to prompt behaviour.
3. Provide a strong role model for appropriate and inappropriate behaviours in the workplace.

The following video, “The art of managing emotions” by Daniel Goleman, illustrates why managing emotions in the workplace is a key leadership skill.

That video has several key takeaways, especially from a leader’s perspective. It is crucial to ensure the team stays in a state of flow; this is what drives performance and, when accomplished, releases the feeling of satisfaction. In a leadership role, you must always ensure you know how your team is performing. Set the goals with them and be flexible in achieving them because rigidity will make achieving goals more difficult. This will often result in losing focus and the state of flow.

Give immediate feedback to the team. Let them know how they track, whether they are close to their goal, acknowledge their performance, and encourage their progress. Ensure you challenge them. Know your team well enough to know when and how to challenge their skills. It is essential when challenging skills and you stay in their domain. Challenging does not mean you would give someone who is gifted with literacy a numeracy task to challenge them; this will have the opposite effect. They will become disengaged and less likely to perform well as the domain is incorrect to their skill set.

Finally, it is important to consider the social brain with the idea of a brain-to-brain bridge that connects people and triggers the sense of emotional intuition. Remember, emotions are contagious, we often pick up on the energy around us, and as a leader, you have generally considered the gravity; those around you are drawn to you. What you are feeling will often transcend into those around you. Many people are a product of their environment in any case whether it is a positive or negative one. As a leader, you need to create the environment you want you and your team to work and thrive in to stay in a state of flow.

Establishing emotional intelligence skills

By now, you will have equipped yourself, as a leader, with the skills and knowledge of. Let us take a look at how to foster these skills in others.

Educating the team about EI

Introduce the concept of emotional intelligence to the team member if they haven’t heard of it before. Explain its role in better performance at work, conflict management, and overall internal harmony of an individual. The following table illustrates methods you can use to help educate the team about managing their emotional intelligence.

Tools to develop emotional intelligence in others

Now that you have shaped your understanding of what you can do to educate others on emotional intelligence, you will need to put that into practice.

Implementing emotional intelligence initiatives in the workplace involves a process and key leadership. Let’s take a look at the steps you can take to improve emotional intelligence in the workplace.

Understand your emotions

Always start with understanding your emotions and getting them in check before you implement any practices in the workplace. Consider the following:

• How you feel about the workplace and colleagues
• The affect your emotions have on others
• The impact of negative emotions on our interactions with colleagues.

Identify the strengths and weaknesses of employees

Ensure you have taken the time to get to know your team. They are all equipped with various skills, experience both life and professional. With these differences, naturally comes different emotional responses. As the manager you need to take the time to get to know your team and pinpoint where they need extra support. Using external quizzes or internal assessments based on EI can help gauge an understanding of the emotional awareness of the team. You may also wish to observe their performance during interactions, tasks and meetings. ⁴

Define workplace guidelines

Workplaces should be equipped with sets of rules, guidelines or a code of conduct that clearly stipulates the desire and appropriate behaviours of the team within the workplace. Take the time to go through the expectations with the team during induction and refreshers where you feel necessary. ⁴

Give employees a voice

Invite and encourage your team to share their opinions and their ideas. You can cultivate this through involvement of decision making and opening discussions. Ensure you have frequent back and forth conversations where possible to continually build on communication skills. ⁴

Stress management

Teach employees how to manage their stress. Help teach the importance of goal setting, encourage physical movement, provide stress counselling, and offer a flexible environment. ⁴

Encourage employees to share their emotions

Using an open-door policy or open work environment enables the team to speak about their feelings confidently and openly. Inform the team this is in place, foster and encourage it. You may wish to check in with members of the team for meetings weekly or fortnightly, this can be in a team or in one-on-one settings. ⁴

Building workplace relationships and successful teams

Successful teams come from effective leadership and the building of workplace relationships. However, building workplace relationships cannot be achieved if the leader or the group is not equipped with the appropriate level of emotional intelligence. If your goal is to form deeper connections with professional colleagues, you must learn how to “tune in” to these people before you “broadcast” on their preferred communication channel. ⁴

Let’s take a look at what contributes to building positive workplace relationships.

Stress management

People with high emotional intelligence can better manage their stress, which can positively influence others in the work team.

Effective communicator

People with high emotional intelligence know when to communicate, what to communicate, and how to communicate.

Conflict solver

People with high emotional intelligence are better able to resolve conflict in the workplace without resorting to anger and blame.

Quick learner

People with high emotional intelligence can reflect on the mistakes they have made to ensure they do not repeat them.

Co-operator

People with high emotional intelligence can work with others to reach mutually beneficial goals.

Leadership qualities

People with high emotional intelligence can coach and mentor others in the workplace by being role models.

To build successful teams, leaders need to become more attuned to employees’ communication styles, which can be done if they employ emotional intelligence skills to build relationships. Some critical parameters must be in place to create better emotional intelligence in teams.

Did you know?

Google found out that not only is communication important, but what’s even more important is that everyone contributes to the conversation. This is the mark of successful teams. They communicate in a way where everyone naturally adds to the conversation dynamics because they allow for equitable time to hear everyone’s thoughts rather than wait to be heard. They actively listen and exchange ideas.

The following video, “Secrets of Successful Teamwork: Insights from Google will provide you with more information.

As you will have learnt, emotions are contagious and when paired with certain behaviours that can have impacts on others. Imagine the atmosphere of the workplace if there was an increased amount of tension between staff due to a conflict. Tension or negativity can be demotivating and often results in work tasks not getting done.

In a leadership role, you are essentially responsible for role modelling and fostering the desired behaviours of others. The following are some strategies that can be implemented that can help educate the team on how the impact of behaviours can affect others. These strategies can also be implemented as a means of ensuring team engagement.

Self- reflection

Self-reflections can be carried out in various contexts. You may wish to record a meeting that involves a heated topic.

One practice that could be implemented, is a recording. Record a meeting or interaction where a heated topic/task was discussed.

Review the recording and recall any emotions you felt or could identify during the session.

Ask the following questions based on how you felt during this experience

• How did you behave?
• What was your body language?
• What was your language and tone like?

Observe the behaviours of others

Observe how others in the session responded in relation to your comments, behaviour and emotions.

Consider the following:

• Did their posture change?
• Did their language or tone change?
• Did they seem to display any emotions of their own?

Seek formal feedback

Another strategy that could be implemented is seeking formal feedback. Seek out a mentor, manager or peer to meet with you to discuss the impacts of your personal behaviour and emotions in relation to a specific experience, task or project.

During your meeting with the chosen stakeholder, you should:

• Discuss the emotions you felt during the experience
• Your resulting behaviour
• How this may have impacted others.
• Ask them for their point of view on how the same scenario played out and was received/perceived by others.

Their responses may be captured in a follow -up email post-discussion.

Workshop

Implementing a team workshop is another effective strategy to enhance behavioural awareness. For this, you will need to bring the team together and run a workshop.

The team should be provided with a scenario and role played by team members. Delegate various roles to the team and have them act out the scenario.

Once the scenario has played out, n work together to review and discuss the key behaviours and emotions demonstrated in the role play and the effect these had on others in the role play.

This information can be captured on a white board, collaborating the responses of the team.

Knowledge check

Test your knowledge and complete the following two (2) tasks. Click the arrows to navigate between the tasks.