Tips to Boost Your Team's Emotional Intelligence

Companies place great value on the abilities and skills employees bring to the workplace, but it's equally important to focus on our humanity.

Naturally, people want to connect and interact with their team members, and successful companies understand the importance of having employees who are emotionally and cognitively intelligent. So, how can you help your team members become more emotionally intelligent?

Emotional intelligence is the foundational behavioral skill that underpins all of these behaviors, including how we listen and communicate, handle conflict, and work together in teams while staying motivated and enthusiastic.

The term "emotional intelligence" became widespread in the 1990s and still receives much attention today. When we use emotional intelligence well, it can ease sensitive situations, help us make compromises when our differences clash, help us deal with difficult coworkers, and facilitate thoughtful and skillful communication.

Organizations seek more than just standard skills in job candidates to ensure they're the right fit. With unemployment rates remaining steady and talent competition fierce, companies are searching for managers and leaders with high levels of empathy and emotional control, along with experience in building trust, motivation, and the ability to earn employee loyalty.

The Importance of Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace

Emotion and personality are interconnected in each of us. You can't control how you feel about different situations, but emotionally intelligent individuals can choose how they react. They can learn to read, influence others' emotions, and influence their reactions as well.

Since relationships and interactions are critical in the workplace, it is important to help employees grow this skill, which has major advantages.

Reflect on instances where your emotions affected your job: maybe you were attacked by a strongly worded email you received, or you wasted time worrying and being tense, or you responded angrily rather than asking for the answers you needed.

Think of a moody coworker who withheld information regarding a project, but you opted to finish it instead of causing a scene. Over time, this led to tension and detachment.

The issue isn't with emotions per se. Strong emotions—even anger and frustration—can push us forward when channeled correctly. The issue stems from our incapacity to control our emotions and understand how to respond to others when they are experiencing them.

During the hiring process, ask questions focusing on potential employees' ability to handle different situations as this demonstrates their emotional intelligence:

1. When was the last time you failed at something?
2. When was the last time you received negative feedback? How did you feel?
3. Have you ever felt frustrated at work? How did you handle it?

Answers like "I was angry initially, but after pausing and reflecting, I realized I could improve. I don't think my manager enjoyed giving me negative feedback, but perhaps he was right that I could have done better, "indicates an employee's capacity to identify emotions.

Also, look for signs that the person is responsible, considerate of others' feelings, supportive of their team members, and able to handle emotions and move forward objectively.

Foundations of Emotional Intelligence

Understanding the two primary pillars of emotional intelligence—individual and social—is essential to building a solid foundation in the field.

The individual aspect, which focuses on personal competence, relies on self-awareness and self-management. On the other hand, the social aspect, which focuses on social competence, is based on social awareness and relationship management.

Emotional intelligence skills fall into four core areas:

1. Know yourself: Understanding yourself, emotions, and reactions.
2. Be yourself: Control your emotions, manage feelings, and control reactions.
3. Know others: Sensing others' feelings requires putting yourself in their shoes.
4. Invest in others: Mastering effective interpersonal communication and showing genuine empathy.

How to Boost Your Team's Emotional Intelligence?

1. Ensure Leaders Embrace the Right Attitudes

The emotional intelligence exhibited by leaders is mirrored in the team. Are you aware of your emotions and capable of regulating them? Pinpoint this skill by paying attention to the physical changes accompanying your feelings, like intense stomachaches or fast heartbeats during an angry outburst.

2. Help Employees Learn to Separate Feelings from Identity

Putting up a large list on the wall and having team members mark emotions to represent their sentiments is a great exercise for this; encouraging people to say "I feel frustrated" instead of "I am frustrated" fosters emotional awareness.

3. Ensure Employees Feel Appreciated

When an employee feels valued, they communicate better with others. Employees should be asked about their opinions on a particular project or change, given the opportunity to voice their concerns and feel heard, encouraged to vent any resentment or uneasiness they may have, and acknowledged for their efforts.

4. Provide Regular Truth-Based Feedback

Exchanging negative and positive feedback helps everyone become better employees, and asking questions like, "How are you?" and "What do you think?" are great conversation starters. If you have to give negative feedback, keep it objective, be open to hearing your team's feedback, and ask, for example, "If you were me, what would you change?" and be mindful of your reactions to what you hear; if you don't like it, think about why before responding.

5. Make Mindfulness Training Available to All Employees

Anger, frustration, and annoyance often stem from pent-up emotions, making proper communication difficult for many. Hence, teach employees how and when to deal with difficult people and situations to prevent emotional disturbances.

6. Encourage Stress Management

Be aware of the increasing workloads, deadlines, and pressures your employees may face. Provide support whenever possible by offering strategies and training to reduce stress and ensure emotional outbursts are minimized.

In Summary

Emotions can be useful even at work. Emotional intelligence, which involves reading and influencing people's emotions and reactions, may greatly assist you in your career.