Quiz

Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognise, understand and manage our emotions as well as those of others. It covers four areas: Self-Management, Self-Awareness, Social Awareness and Relationship Management.
The ability to express and manage our emotions is essential, but so is our ability to understand, interpret and respond to the emotions of others. In fact, some experts even suggest that it may be more important than IQ.

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In the workplace, there are always moments of tension, stress and hostility. Therefore, fostering Emotional Intelligence in companies is a good way to improve the working environment. Emotional Intelligence at work is involved in making favourable decisions, the quality of interpersonal relationships and the appropriate control of emotions such as anger, frustration or apathy, among others. It is essential to know how to resolve conflicts, establish consensus, convince others, recognise the ideas of others, work in a team and know how to express what you think without disapproving of what others think or do.

Empathy is a key competence of emotional intelligence that is manifested when communicating and relating to others. Empathy is the intention to understand feelings and emotions, trying to experience objectively and rationally what another individual is feeling.

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Empathy, or rather the lack of it, can interfere with working relationships, so knowing how to handle it is very important in the corporate environment, since it allows the development of stronger ties in the company. Empathy will benefit your relationship with employees and collaborators, as it significantly improves communication and interpersonal relationships. Empathy leads to a greater sense of comfort at work, as relationships become much more fluid, resulting in higher productivity and a better working environment. When you make an effort to understand your fellow human beings and put yourself in their shoes, reaching agreements becomes a much easier task.

Resistance to change is the unwillingness to adapt to altered circumstances. It can be covert or overt, organized, or individual.

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Understanding, recognizing and managing resistance is a key skill for any manager in charge of change or implementing new policies within his/her workplace. Manage it effectively and it can strengthen a workplace’s environment, strengthen employees’ support for new initiatives and foster employees’ engagement.
In the workplace, effectively managing resistance to change involves the application and implementation of structured methods and a pre-planned framework so as to steer business from its current state to a desired state.

From an individual perspective, employees or managers who are able to manage their own resistance to change are more likely to adapt to their workplace and possible changing environment.

Self-control is the ability to control your emotions, behaviours and thoughts by changing or inhibiting your first reaction. The latter is changed in order to express desirable behaviours or to put our best foot forward by overriding impulses that lead people to react in undesirable ways to diverse situations (unexpected, irritating, upsetting…).

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Self-control is an important component of organizational life, with organizational members needing to exert self-control to overcome their emotions and achieve long-term goals.
Indeed, within the workplace, many situations can trigger intense and undesirable reactions, including but not limited to unproductive meetings, excuses for poor performance, lack of communication, dishonesty etc. Given the amount of time people spend in the workplace, self-control represents a well needed skill.

On the other hand, excessive self-control tends to lead to be overburdened at work, social isolation, or other desirable outcomes.

Problem-solving is a mental process that involves discovering, analyzing and solving problems. The ultimate goal of problem-solving is to overcome obstacles and find a solution that best resolves the issue. Problem-solving in complex situations is a personal strength and starts with identifying the issue. To solve a problem, you must find out what caused it. This requires you to gather and evaluate data, isolate possible contributing circumstances, and pinpoint what needs to be addressed for a resolution.

Problem-solving skills help you determine the source of a problem and find an effective solution. Once you have determined the cause, brainstorm possible solutions. Sometimes this involves teamwork since two (or more) minds are often better than one.

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In the workplace, problem solving in complex situations is a MUST HAVE. Problem-solving is a part of everyone’s work, whether you are a manager or entry level. Problem-solving skills in the workplace help you determine why an issue is happening and how to resolve that issue quickly and effectively. Problem solving in complex situations is all about using logic, as well as imagination, to make sense of asituation and come up with an intelligent solution to avoid work conflicts.

Problem-solving abilities in the workplace are connected to other skills including analytical skills, innovative and creative thinking, adaptability and flexibility, resilience, initiative, influencing skills and teamworking.

Critical thinking is the key ability to think clearly and rationally, understanding the logical connection between ideas and engaging in reflective and independent thinking in situations which require problem solving skills as well. Critical thinking helps people better understand themselves and their goals.

Critical thinkers rigorously question ideas and assumptions rather than accepting them at face value. They will always seek to determine whether the ideas, arguments and findings represent the entire picture and are open to finding that they do not.

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Critical thinking is a key skill in the workplace and is connected to problem solving. Critical thinking helps employers and employees solve problems and build strategies that make them better at their jobs. People who can engage in critical thinking in the workplace are reflective, independent, and competent. If you practice critical thinking, you logically connect ideas, evaluate arguments, find inconsistencies and errors in your work andthe work of others, solve complex problems, and engage in reflection.

It is an essential facet of any profession where the goal is to deduce information objectively without bias, analyze the context, solve creative problems, and come up with realistic solutions. This is helpful in workplace discussions and when positioning yourself as a thought-leader in your industry.

Judgement and decision-making skills are the ability of constructing evaluations about the world and act accordingly on the base of what is considered a choice among others after a good process of critical analysis. Decision making is strictly linked and dependent on judgement: the kind of judgement related to decision making (different from legal judgement or religious judgement for example) can be described as the ability to perform an inner thinking that will lead to an outcome, a decision.

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Judgement and decision-making skills are often linked to an higher chance of being more satisfied with one’s job or to an higher chance of employability. Indeed, in the workplace these skills are two of the most valuable because they show that a person, a worker, is capable of being independent and strategic, not too overwhelmed when something unexpected might happen.

One reversed side of the coin is that one can take a decision not considering all the factors that can motivate it or can undermine it and this can be overcome by taking into account all relevant information and considering each of the most probable outcomes.

Assertiveness, according to the Cambridge Dictionary3, is the quality of being confident and not frightened to say what you want or believe. It means to be self-assured and confident without any form of aggressive attitude in communication.

An assertive person is usually a critical thinker and an effective communicator, who speaks out for themselves and for their need and their believes.
It is believed to be an important skill to learn, especially when in young age, and it is a sign of a good self-esteem.

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Being assertive and not aggressive or passive4 in any work environment, both in the shoes of an employer and in those of an employee is a valuable skill, that can help to create a relaxed atmosphere where everyone has a clear idea of the boundaries around them and the other colleagues. Also, it is important to be able to speak out for themselves with a clear but gentle tone, sweeping aside any danger of misunderstandings or unspoken needs leading to anger.
In a workplace, being assertive involves the deep understanding of the hierarchical structure and the willingness from others to actively listen.

From an individual perspective, employees or managers who are able to be assertive without being aggressive and also able to accept others’ assertiveness are more likely to prevent all kinds of argument or discontent, building a trusty environment.

Communication plays a critical part in negotiation, communication is a process by which information is exchanged between individuals, through a common system of symbols signs and behaviors. Negotiation is a method of resolving disagreements and reaching agreements between two or more parties. Negotiation is a “give and take” procedure that leads to a compromise in which each party makes a concession for the benefit of all parties involved.

Besides communication, these are other skills necessary for negotiation: Active listening, patience and persuasion are important skills for negotiation.

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Communication is very important in the workplace, because communication allows for a good flow of operation in the workplace, which is essential for a company’s success. Good communication helps avoid any unnecessary problems and misunderstandings. It is important to have in mind that communication goes beyond the verbal and written information, but it is also non-verbal, understanding body language and facial expressions is also part of good communication.

Negotiation is vital to a company’s performance and, ultimately, survival in an increasingly competitive, dynamic, and confusing commercial world. As a result, managers must have and continually enhance their bargaining skills. Emotional intelligence plays a big role when it comes to negotiating, because one needs to be aware and able to control their emotions, as well as recognize the feelings of others.

People management is the process of overseeing the training, development, motivation, and day to day management of employees. Good managers make for good companies.

People want good leaders for their management. They want clarity, context, consistency, courage, and commitment from their leaders. Good people management is crucial for the engagement, retention, and development of employees.

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People management means encouraging employees (and supervisors) to change their behavior, and this requires knowing how to motivate people. Motivating employees is a skill that stems from an acute awareness of your emotions and your employees’ emotions, and also from the ability to articulate logic clearly. Motivation requires both- emotion without logic is manipulation and logic without emotion is bound to be ignored.

One of the most important people management skills is the ability to give useful, welcome feedback. You have to be straight with employees, and they want to hear feedback from their managers – but be careful not to be unnecessarily harsh. Successful managers deliver criticism in a way that employees fell the genuine interest in their work and well-being – they feel supported and prepared to take next steps, not like they have been insulted.