Is it true that emotions have no place at work? Many people answer in the affirmative, but the emotional experience does not go anywhere. So, the correct formulation of the question would be: why is it important to manage emotions in the workplace?
Why We Need Emotions
Emotions are mental processes that are a response to external circumstances. This can be seen in the behavior of children who begin to shout and stomp their feet if something causes them anger and a sense of protest. Adults experience the same feelings, but can consciously choose behavioral strategies instead of jumping straight to action.
Emotions supply us with quick, but sometimes overly unquestioning programs of action. In primitive times, this may have saved a person’s life. Nowadays, the world has become much more complex, and one cannot simply run away from a problem or get into a fight to deal with it.
What Is Emotional Intelligence
The term “emotional intelligence” first appeared in the 1960s in the work of psychologist Michael Beldock on the expression of experience. While IQ tests measure logic, reasoning ability and mathematical skills, EQ (emotional quotient), allows you to successfully use these qualities.
Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand one’s feelings, to trace how and why they arose, and to decide whether or not to let them flow. Psychologists admit that it’s impossible to forbid emotions, in fact, such a practice is fraught with neurosis. But it’s up to us to manage our emotions.
To react in an “emotionally intelligent” way, you have to realize what happened, accept your experience, and direct your energy to something you can affect. Besides, developed social-emotional skills allow us to successfully build relationships with others.
Emotional intelligence today is included in all kinds of lists of competencies of the XXI century, without which in the future cannot do on the labor market. It belongs to the soft, or non-cognitive skills. That is, the ones associated with interpersonal interactions and required in any professional field, regardless of whether you are engaged in software development or work as a chef.
What’s the Benefit of EQ in the Workplace
Emotional intelligence can be both individual and general to a particular company or work team – it’s called collective emotional intelligence. According to American work organization specialist Judy Bell, teams where EQ is high have higher productivity because workers interact better with each other. Companies with low EQ have higher turnover, lower productivity, and lower sales.
The fact that things are bad with emotional intelligence in the team is evidenced by frequent employee outbursts of anger, conflicts, lack of understanding of the specifics of neighboring departments and specific colleagues, as well as difficulties in interacting with customers and contractors. A 2005 American study found that four out of five workers lost valuable work time worrying about an unpleasant incident, and more than half of those surveyed put things off by avoiding co-workers with whom they didn’t have a relationship.
Here are a few work situations in which knowing how to deal with genuine emotions and desires can serve you well.
A Professional Takes on Too Much
The employee or supervisor tends to tackle everything and get into everything at once. This causes their productivity to fall, and at a time when the company is growing rapidly, the problem is especially noticeable.
In this situation, it’s important for the specialist to recognize his or her worries that hinder delegation: for example, fear of losing control or excessive desire for approval, which leads to unproductive perfectionism. Similar to 22Bet partners who are constantly improving themselves and their services, a successful leader knows his or her gaps and surrounds himself or herself with employees who compliment him or herself and each other. A high level of self-knowledge allows you to articulate your own strengths and weaknesses so that you can do what you do best, rather than wasting resources.
Meetings End in Fights
Discussions within the team lead to disagreements and even scandals because different team members have different points of view.
An important question that lies in the realm of emotion is: Why does a quarrel really happen? It is believed that professionals are “adults,” which means they should not be offended or act out of a spirit of contradiction. But there’s no such thing! We will rebuff and rationalize to the last, claiming, “I’m not upset at all, it’s just that my strategy is better.” Often, however, behind these words is the disappointment that our ideas are not appreciated. As a result, the person does not notice how he or she begins to fudge the facts in order to be right. So, it’s important for every debater:
- Asking themselves where what they are confident as a professional ends and what they are defending begins in order to win the argument.
- Understand where that boundary lies with your opponent.
These skills will help move the discussion in a productive direction and develop a common strategy instead of arguing.
The Customer Wants the Weird
Is it possible to fulfill a customer’s desires and at the same time create a quality product if the terms seem strange and difficult to meet?
To successfully negotiate, you need to be a bit of a psychologist: all of us are often not aware of what we really want. Let’s say the client came with samples, showing them as an example of successful execution, but it is obvious to the developers that there are much more modern and interesting solutions. You can either agree and make a product that would be a shame, or you can enter into an argument based on specific details, and possibly lose the client. However, the main thing is to understand what the other side likes in the examples given, and to help correctly formulate the request. There is a high probability that the most valuable thing is not an outdated design or poor technical execution, but something else entirely. Once you have identified the core value, you can set the right goal.
Thus, modern science does not relegate experience to the background, but to careful study. At the same time, emotional intelligence is considered one of the obligatory qualities of professionals, and its development is one of the important practices for successful work.
