I have already had several jobs and in all I have had to overcome some obstacle, something that is completely normal.
The Emotional intelligence at work Is a fundamental competence, and in my case, has probably been the most important. Without her, I may have left some posts or even fired me:
-In my first job as a waiter the bosses did not give me free time or send a message.
-Working in Iceland to learn English, the work environment was like hell, the mates were very hard and came to work 13 hours a day.
"In a HR consultant I had monotonous jobs and sometimes I was bored.
"At the University I had constant complaints from the people I had to attend to, and sometimes I saw that I did not have enough training to do my job.
-In another HR consultant I had to learn skills and knowledge that had nothing to do with my specialty.
Each one is different: one of relationship with bosses, one of work environment, one of monotony, another of stress and another of lack of training.
The Emotional intelligence In these cases is fundamental, because it will allow you to evaluate the situation, know your emotions and be able to give a correct answer.
I think the next decade will see well-conducted research that demonstrates that emotional skills and competencies predict positive outcomes at home, at school, and at work. The real challenge is to show that emotional intelligence matters more than psychological constructs that have been measured for decades like personality or IQ.-Peter Salovey.
Why is it so important
1-You will have better personal relations
Improving your emotional intelligence will allow you to interact and communicate more effectively.
2-Improve leadership capacity
If you are a team leader, it is essential to have this competence. With it you can better understand your employees, motivate them, improve their commitment or make them work well as a team.
3-Increase your motivation
Maybe this is the most important. To work well, not only do you have the right skills, but To have motivation . And with emotional intelligence you can learn to motivate yourself.
4-Conflict Resolution
There are always conflicts between people and therefore also at work. It is best that these are based on the task (for example how to make a report, what day to present it, what to include...) and not in personal relationships (criticize personal qualities of co-workers).
5-Self-control
Self-control Is also one of the most important skills, not only at work but in life in general.
Developing it will allow you to avoid doing things or saying things you should not do, work better or treat clients better.
Sometimes it is very difficult to support the most demanding customers. There are always those who are right but there are also those who complain without reason, are too demanding or rude.
Having self-control in such situations is important to take good care of people, one of the most important aspects of any business.
6-Controlling or avoiding burnout
He Burnout syndrome (Emotional exhaustion) is one of the most serious problems currently and one of the most common. Anyone who has to serve clients is at risk of suffering.
It also depends on external situations (rude customers, too much work) although you can learn to Control improving your self-esteem , Learning relaxation techniques , Planning your work or creating social support.
7-Upgrades and achievements
With high emotional intelligence you can increase your motivation, avoid the Procrastination And improve your ability to focus on goals. You can also create better working and Be more resilient . All these skills will help you in possible promotions and achievement.
How to develop emotional intelligence at work
Well, you have already known some aspects in which you will benefit this competition. There are more, although in my opinion those are the most important.
Now I'll tell you some ways you can learn it. At first it will be more complicated although in time you will learn gradually and you will observe results.
1-Making and receiving feedback / constructive criticism
With Feedback You will know if you are doing your job well if you have to improve or if you have to change how you do it, especially if you are new to your position.
Without it you do not have information, you do not know how to relate, how to work or what your bosses expect of you.
If you are boss, it is very important that you give it, and if you are an employee it is very important that you receive it properly and also give it to your colleagues. The way it is given is particularly important and not doing it well can lead to lack of satisfaction, compromise, worsen productivity and in the end to the loss of competitiveness of the company.
How to give it the right way?
- Avoid personal or destructive criticism : The destructive critics are the ones that are given of generalized form and go direct to the person. Something like: you do everything wrong! In a tone of contempt and out loud.
Logically, this type of criticism is detrimental because it can diminish the self-esteem of the other person and shows a total lack of emotional intelligence on the part of the person who gives them.
Never, ever, never throw criticism at the personality Of someone or some personal trait. This will only worsen productivity, commitment and motivation.
- Uses constructive and task-focused feedback and feedback : A proper criticism or feedback might be:"I would like you to review the report, include more specific information and I would appreciate it if you can do it more quickly." In this case, the criticism is not directed at personal characteristics and gives important feedback (it is said that it can do to make it better) and is done in a polite way.
- Gives concrete information : Feedback should have two objectives - give information on how to do things better and reinforce.
It is not the same to say"please improve the report"that"please, I would like the report to have more specific information on the subject, to make it longer, improve the appearance and include the references from where you obtained the information" .
The second form is much more complete and that way you will know what to do specifically to improve.
- Reinforces : Feedback should not be given only when it is observed that others do wrong things, but when they do them well.
If you see a co-worker straining and saying,"You're very good, today you've done great,"you'll reinforce their behavior and be more likely to act that way again.
Besides, you do not have to wait for others to reinforce you. If they do not do it, do it with yourself when you have tried or obtained good results:"today I have made geniral"or! I am the best.
2-Work empathy
People value a lot more work in which others respect us. That way, we will be committed, motivated and less likely to leave the company.
Empathy Is basically the competition to put yourself in the shoes of others. With it you can guide the rest of behaviors. If you see someone who does the wrong things and you have empathy for him, you will tend to want to help him and To communicate assertively .
To improve it, it is best to remember to put yourself in the shoes of others, not simply to judge. Whenever you see someone having a bad time, ask yourself what your life will be like and what you should be feeling.
3-Take advantage of collective intelligence
If there is a good atmosphere in a work team and the members are competent - and have emotional intelligence - they will obtain better results than in one where the environment is bad and personal relationships are conflicting.
The great advantage of the teams is that when several people meet, they bring different talents, skills and knowledge. In this way, a group with a greater potential than each individual is formed. "The whole is greater than the parts."
I do not know if the intelligence of the whole group will be greater than that of each individual separately, but the capacity for creation and influence will be greater.
It may be that one person is good communicating, another leading, another very creative, another knows languages, another is investigating. That allows possibilities that would be impossible with only one skill or knowledge.
To maximize the power of the equipment:
-Try to involve all individuals: this is done by respecting turns of speech and encouraging the most timid people to participate.
-By clearing the rules: the rules should be to have forbidden insult or personal criticism.
- It promotes fellowship: it can be created by doing free time activities in which people get to know each other better or by making dynamics in which people talk more about their personal issues than work.
- Avoid fomenting resentment or rivalry.
4-Improve the working climate
Having a good working climate is essential for workers to feel committed, motivated and comfortable working.
The factors that influence a good working environment are:
- Leadership : That the boss has an appropriate style, preferably democratic, that is to say, he worries that things are done well, but also by people and that they ask for their participation.
- Work groups: that the relationship in the work teams be harmonious.
- Good personal relationships at work.
- Autonomy: that the employee has some autonomy to work and does not have to constantly ask for permits or ask what to do.
- Communication: that there is an adequate communication between employees and clients.
- Remuneration: that salaries and other rewards are appropriate.
- Training: Provide appropriate training when necessary.
5-Create informal relationships at work
If relationships at work are not exclusively about work and there are also informal relationships (friendship), productivity can be improved and problems solved more efficiently.
Troubleshooting Which are not anticipated is given especially better in informal work teams. In critical situations - such as a fire, an avalanche of customers, an accident - it will be very important for the members of the company to trust each other. There will be a sense of cohesion that will promote the willingness to solve the problem.
If there is no cohesion and trust, it is likely that some distrust others and that actions are not done together.
To create informal relationships not only matters the personality of the members of the company - if they are more or less extroverted - but the environment or climate, norms, culture and processes: if there are breaks in which you talk and drink coffee , If it is allowed to speak, if the culture is relaxed, if the humor is fomented...
6-Accepting diversity
Because diversity is a reality (for example, Spain is the most multiethnic country in the world. EU ), We must know how we can increase the positive consequences of this phenomenon. Thus, research asserts that diversity, if promoted with certain conditions, increases the information, communication and quality of work teams.
To take advantage of the benefits of diversity, I advise you Read this article , But briefly I leave several tips:
- Avoid prejudices towards races or ethnicities.
- Controls task conflicts and avoids personal conflicts.
- Uses heterogeneous groups for difficult and homogeneous tasks for tasks that require easy tasks: heterogeneous groups (with people from different cultures) work best in tasks that involve creativity and that are not urgent homogeneous groups perform better in simple tasks, with time pressure and Monotonous
- Promotes communication: make meetings or dynamics.
- It promotes a culture of positive attitudes towards differences, in which diversity is valued as added value.
And what do you think of this competition? Have you put it into practice? What problems do you have at work? I am interested in your opinion. Thanks!