Success Mantra

How does Emotional Intelligence affect our productivity in 5 simple ways?

Emotional intelligence is “the ability to control emotions of oneself and others, to distinguish them from each other and to apply this information to guide one’s own thinking and action” (Salovey and Mayer, 1990). Psychologists Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer, two of the leading researchers on the topic, define emotional intelligence as the ability to recognize and understand emotions in oneself and others. This ability also involves using this emotional understanding to make decisions, solve problems, and communicate with others.

Emotional intelligence (EI or EQ) is simply a person’s ability to not only be aware but to understand their own emotions and those of others and use that to manage how they react and respond in a social context. The concept started being used in the 90s after Goleman published the Emotional Intelligence book. Since then, studies continue to be done on the concept and it is often used to improve the interaction between people but it is widely used in the workplace.

Emotional Intelligence has direct impact on productivity because people who have high levels of EQ, have better social relationships with people including management, colleagues as well as customers leading to not only performance improvement but satisfaction in doing what they do no matter the level of their job. When you have the skills to understand what others are going through and why they are behaving like that and knowing how your own emotions are affecting your reasoning and thinking is very valuable in dealing with complicated relationships and managing conflicts and it is what sets leaders apart.

5.ways in which Emotional Intelligence impact productivity.

1. Stress management and self-care

In todays world, stress is taking toll both emotionally and physically. You’ll be required to be taking tough decisions almost every day, and working long hours on a regular basis. Emotionally intelligent people know their own limits, and can recognize when the stress of the job is starting to get the better of them. Every job has its moments and it is bound to be frustrating at some point.

Emotionally intelligent people recognize this and understand their limits and can recognize easily when the stress of the job is becoming too much. Such people will take necessary breaks whether it means going for a one-week vacation all in the bid of preventing exhaustion. They know that they will be more productive if they are rested and not under any stress.

Some employers see it as lazy when an employee goes on leave but emotionally intelligent employers understand that this is a necessary part of creating a motivated and productive workforce.

2. Understanding emotions and controlling responses.

A person who can understand and have the ability to control on their own emotional responses, they become less susceptible to mood swings or counterproductive reactions to frustrating situations. If a person knows how to control their emotional response to situations, they are less likely to be moody or react in a counterproductive way to certain situations. If a person allows anger and panic to control them, they are unable to think rationally, or even focus on one issue at a time, wasting valuable time and compromising on productivity.

When a person allows anger or panic to get the better of them, it forces their mind to race, and prevents them from thinking rationally, or focusing on objectives one by one; this wastes time and instantly compromises their productivity. Instead, it’s better to recognize where those “hot” emotions are coming from, bring them under control and proceed as calmly as possible.

      What’s more, they’ll proactively take breaks, whether that means an extra 10 minutes at lunch or a week-long vacation, and prevent themselves from ever becoming fully exhausted. As a result, they’ll get more done in a day and be far less likely to burn out.

3. Encouraging collaboration.

Collaboration is very important aspect for any organisation to grow which may be in any stage regardless of its size. As you might guess, emotionally intelligent leaders are much better at collaborating with other people. These people can read the emotions of others easily, recognizing their strengths, weaknesses and reactions for what they are.

They’re also adaptable, since they’re empathetic, and more willing to make sacrifices for the good of the team. Emotionally intelligent leaders understand this and encourage teamwork more than individual accomplishments. Such people can easily read the emotions of others, recognize their strengths and weaknesses and react appropriately. The Guardian has well described the phenomenon in its article.

4. Feedback

Feedback whether positive or negative is very important for an organization to grow. Feedback is not that it will be given from the upward level but it should be obtained from the employees down the line. It is the emotionally intelligent people who follow this trend.

Such people at the end of the day are able to give constructive feedback so as to improve productivity. By giving and receiving constructive feedback, relationships productivity within the organization are improved and in the end because everyone is working towards the same goal.

   The best leaders gather feedback, both internally and externally, to better understand how their companies are performing and how they can do better. Emotionally intelligent entrepreneurs are able to accept this feedback, even if it includes negative or harsh criticism, and understand it without taking it personally.

     They’re also able to give feedback to their team members more productively, since they can deliver it with more sensitivity and greater focus on individual needs.

They are also empathetic and as such, are willing to make sacrifices for the good of the organization.

5. Valuable partnerships

Emotional intelligence allows people to create better strategic partnerships and attract better people to their brand; it may even help people to attract more social media followers. Such people allows for the development of better partnerships and attracts more and better people to support the brand. Through emotional intelligence, understanding is created between partners and clients alike where they have a better understanding of what they want from people and people are able to communicate better. This way productivity and efficiency are increased and better relationships are created.

The basis here is that one would be able to understand exactly what their prospective partners need or want from you, and be able to communicate more effectively with them once the partnership agreement is drafted.