TOP Benefits of Emotional Intelligence:
Emotional intelligence in the workplace offers numerous benefits, extending beyond simply completing tasks; it encompasses excellent communication skills and effective team leadership. Emotional intelligence starts with identifying our own emotions and how we manage these feelings. Through identification of our emotions, we can begin to use these emotions for positive reasons and to improve our day-to-day relations with others and with ourselves.
Reducing Anxiety and Stress
Anxiety is a term that is normally used in a negative light. There are medications to curb anxiety, tips on alleviating anxiety, but do we really understand the purpose for stress and/or anxiety? Anxiety can help keep us alert like in the nervousness before a speech. Identifying these emotions is the first step to controlling those feelings when they arise.
Managing the symptoms of stress and anxiety can be as simple as easy, physical exercises. For example, fast and shallow breathing is one of the symptoms that comes with these emotions. Identifying these symptoms and counteracting it is recommended. Hold your breath for five seconds or deliberately slow your breathing down, in through the nose and out through the mouth. Anxiousness also releases hormones into the bloodstream and keeps you stressed for a period of time. Working out, jogging in place, and other physical activities can also lower these hormones and relieve the stress.
Conflict Resolution
Everyone cringes at these words. Who is good at conflict resolution? You can be good at conflict resolution. With emotional intelligence, skills like effective communication, active listening and empathy, conflicts can be de-escalated quickly and rapport built in the place of negativity.
First, active listening is key to understanding what the conflict concerns. Empathy for each side of the disagreement allows you to feel the emotions of each person and better understand their position. Even social skills come into play when each side’s opinions and needs are mirrored for both sides to hear. From there, a solution can be determined so that everyone feels satisfied that they have been heard.
Relationship Management
Another benefit to emotional intelligence and all it includes is better relationship management. Once we come into focus with our own emotions, we can then use it to build and maintain better, more positive relationships, both in the workplace and in everyday life.
How does emotional intelligence aid in our relationships? First, through our communication. Through our empathy we can bring out the best in others, mentoring and motivating. Communicating in a more positive manner improves our relationships with everyone we encounter. Better communication equals better relationships.
Overcoming Obstacles at Work
Overcoming obstacles at work does not seem to be related to emotional intelligence, however, it is. When thinking of obstacles at work, one usually thinks about failure. Failure can come in all kinds of forms, and almost always feels negative. Failure can be controlled through more emotional intelligence. And with these skills, we can turn a negative event into positive growth.
The hardest and first step of the process is to recognize the failure. Admit to the emotions that you are feeling and then the learning process can begin. Determine how the failure could have been avoided and then make changes. Making a change to avoid future failure is growth, that came from a negative.
To learn more about Emotional Intelligence, Check out our Certificate course on Developing Emotional Intelligence.