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What Is Emotional Intelligence?

We are hearing a lot about Emotional Intelligence at the moment but what exactly is it and why is it important and so popular?

Emotional intelligence can be defined as the ability to control and express our emotions in a healthy way, and to understand, interpret, and respond to the emotions of others in an appropriate way. Many people focus on their IQ or Intelligence Quotient, but psychological studies have shown that there is also a thing known as an Emotional Quotient (EQ), and that those with a high EQ tend to do well in both their careers and social situations.

Defining Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence (EI) was first explored in the 1930s in the US and by the 1990s had become a mainstream concept used to help people with anger management and other issues monitor their own feelings and actions, and better grasp the effects of their emotions on other people. By also learning how to read the feelings and emotions of others, better communication could take place, and relationships improved.

The Four Aspects of Emotional Intelligence

Researchers have created a model of EI that is said to have four parts:

Recognizing emotions
Reasoning using emotions
Understanding emotions
Managing emotions

1. Recognizing

The first step in understanding emotions is to recognise them, and be able to identify them accurately. This will often include tapping into one’s own inner truth to sort out anger, disappointment, embarrassment, and other emotions. These might all be expressed in the same way by a person lacking in EI, who might demonstrate anger in all of these instances.

It might also be a case of recognising their own body language and the unconscious messages they are sending, and picking up on the non-verbal cues others are giving them, such as facial expression and body language. Standing too far away or too close to someone, for example, sends out certain messages they need to be able to read in themselves and others.

2. Reasoning Using Emotions

Human beings are not robots. We make many decisions in relation to our emotions, though we might not realise it. We will often do things on the spur of the moment due to mood. However, reasoning means getting the emotions under control and using them to make logical decisions based on who the person is and the life they wish to lead. Emotions help us focus on what’s important to us and filter out what isn’t important.

3. Understanding Emotions

We can usually identify emotions, but are not always able to interpret what they mean. For example, we can all spot anger in most cases, but need to get at the heart of why the anger has been triggered. However, not everyone who experiences anger shouts or throws things. Sometimes their reaction is a lot subtler, such as silence, sarcasm, or simply walking away.

Understanding emotions is also about not taking things personally. Is your boss really angry with you, or are they angry at the guy who cut him off in the parking lot?

4. Managing Emotions

Managing emotions is an essential part of EI, with your expression of emotions appropriate to the situation and context. Shouting, screaming and throwing things might be appropriate when you are two, but not when you are an adult – and certainly not in the office in front of all your colleagues.

Those who are able to regulate their emotions and not get ruffled no matter how stressful things get, are seen to be a reliable person in control of their life. Those who fly off the handle at the least little thing are seen to be unreliable and out of control, and therefore someone who needs to be dealt with cautiously.

If you’ve been struggling with relationships, it’s time to learn more about your EI.

Learning From Your Customers

As my experience today with EE has shown, organisations can learn a lot from their customers if they are prepared to listen. One of the dangers for any organisation that uses Social Media is that if you get it wrong when you are dealing with your customers the story gets told far and wide. You lose control of the story you want to tell and then you let others create the impression that your customers and potential customers have of your organisation.

If you want to get it right then training for your social media staff is essential – including responding to the questions the customer asks and not simply ignoring them when they are clearly unhappy. But equally important is the training and support you give your support/back office staff and that’s where I am going to focus in this post.

Let me share some of the poor experience I had with EE and as the good Learning & Development Professional that I am(!) I will also share my thoughts on where there are learning points for them to improve their customer service:

Placing The Order

I did something last night that I thought would be fairly straightforward. Having been a loyal customer of EE in its’ various incarnations for many years I decided that I would upgrade and recontract with them for my mobile broadband and also my partner’s mobile ‘phone. I have two mobiles with them as well as my mobile broadband service so they earn a not unreasonable sum from me each and every month.

I decided to do the upgrades through their online chat facility as it seemed the easiest and most straightforward approach. Initially it was and the Online Chat Advisor appeared to be helpful. But that’s where it ended!

Having placed an order for both the new mobile ‘phone device and the new mobile broadband device I was advised by the Online Chat Advisor that I would receive a text message to my mobile “that gives you your 1h delivery time slot, if you want to change the delivery day or time you can respond to the text directly, (not the address though, just the day or time).”

Feeling Let Down

This morning I did receive a text message which gave me a link to the couriers website. No mention of a 1 hour delivery slot. I then clicked through to the website only to find that if I wanted a one and a half hour delivery slot I would need to pay £10! So in order to ensure delivery when we would be available I reluctantly paid £10 and assumed that this related to both devices.

Sadly that transpired not to be the case and an hour later I received another text with the delivery information for the second device. Again I was expected to pay £10 to get a guaranteed delivery slot. So two separate parcels from EE, both being delivered by the same couriers no doubt at the same time and a charge of £10 for each. During a tortorous telephone conversation with their Customer Service Centre and having been passed through 5 different individuals I was advised that the message wasn’t correct because it assumed that I was buying during the week and then it would be right!

#LearningPoint for EE – ensure that your systems work, the information your advisors give out is correct and that your advisors are aware of differences in your operating procedures if they are different at various times of the week/day.

Feeling Like A Hot Potato

The telephone call I made this morning was painful in the extreme. As I mentioned in the comments above I was passed through 5 different individuals before I got something even vaguely resembling a resolution – although I have to say I wait to be convinced:

When I spoke to the first individual (having paid their fee to be put to the front of the queue!) I started by explaining calmly and politely that I was an unhappy customer and would like to explain why. I started to do this but he kept interrupting me mid-sentence. I asked him if he would listen to what I had to say and was met with “well when you have done!” #LearningPoint – this is basic customer service stuff – if a customer tells you they are unhappy let them talk – get their story and then summarise back to them what you understand are their issues. Never, respond to them in a way which is bound to aggravate them even further!

I eventually managed to finish advising this individual that I was unhappy, felt I had been misled, had not received any confirmation emails about my order and was being charged twice for the delivery of both parts of my order. Their response was frankly amazing given that they are effectively a technology company. It appears that any dealing via the internet are not updated onto their systems for at least 7 days. So if you place an order online the people who answer the calls to their Contact Centres will have no information about it. Frankly if that is the case then I am staggered. However, if it is the case then there is a very clear #LearningPoint – get your systems joined up so that the people who are dealing with your customers have instant access to the information about those customers.

After this initial discussion I was then passed through 4 further individuals. Each of whom I had to repeat my complaint to because there was no handover of the call from the previous person. Indeed it felt like my call was being treated like the proverbial “hot potato” made all the more obvious by the fact that each time I was placed back in a queue to be dealt with. #LearningPoint equip your staff with the skills to handle calls, give them access to the information they need to ensure a first time fix in the majority of cases and ensure that your staff tell the customer what is happening.

In an ideal world I wouldn’t deal with an organisation that treats their customers in the way I have been dealt with today. But it’s not an ideal world because invariably with an organisation like EE we are tied into contracts which they would make us pay for to get out of. But these organisations need to change their attitudes because treating people badly when you think you have them tied into contracts is just storing up lost business for the future and leads to loss of new business right now from people who hear about how others have been treated.

If there is one overall #LearningPoint it would be treat your customers like you would want to be treated and ensure your systems, processes and procedures enable your staff to do that.

Simple really isn’t it! Are these Learning Points that the Leadership Team at EE are prepared to take on board and action? Only time will tell!

How To Improve Collaboration In Your Teams

In the world of work today, where more and more specialists are a part of the organisation, leaders who can effectively bring these diverse groups together to get things done are definitely at an advantage. Collaboration is the key and getting team members to work together in cooperation with each other is increasingly essential for success especially as more organisations move to a matrix approach in their management and leadership practices.

Getting a group of diverse people to work towards a common goal can be extremely rewarding to a team leader. It can also be unnerving and frustrating as well. Knowing how to collaborate effectively and to get others to collaborate to achieve can make a significant difference.

So let’s take a look at 6 tips which help you improve collaboration among your team members whether they are direct reports or are working for you from different parts of the organisation on a significant project.

Clearly define the goals and the expected outcome of the project the team is working on. Each member’s responsibilities should be explicitly identified. It may seem obvious to you but you want it to be obvious to the team member as well. They shouldn’t be wondering what to do next or who is doing what. Delegate key responsibilities to your team; those that make an impact on the project outcome.
If you have the opportunity then choose your team by carefully thinking about the people you want to work on this project. Assigning tasks to the right people is necessary to having an effective collaboration. When choosing members, consider each member’s skills, personality, their experience and their schedules.
Are there members of your team who are afraid to voice their opinions or to argue? These members won’t be adding to any helpful and stimulating ideas and need to be encouraged to speak up. Just because they are quiet doesn’t mean they don’t have good ideas. Always include every team member in discussions.
Recognize and celebrate good collaborative behavior. Mention the great work the team is doing in the company newsletter, on a podcast or annual report.
Provide your collaboration team with the right and necessary tools. Do they need specific software or task management tools? These types of tools can be especially important if you team works from different locations.
Once your collaboration is going, continue to mix things up. If the people on your team are collaborating more with people they know, like and trust it might be time to mix up your teams. For example invite the production guys to your design meeting. Better yet send everyone out for drinks or other social building time. This forces all your teams to come in contact and connect with the others.

I am sure that you can think of circumstances where improving collaboration among your team members is sometimes necessary. Team members need to know their role in a project and to be encouraged to collaborate with other members they don’t know in order to build trust to work together cohesively.

Customer Service and Leadership

What’s the relationship between Customer Service and Leadership? I firmly believe that as a Leader at any level of an organisation you have responsibility for setting the standards of customer service that your part of an organisation will deliver. As a role model for your team, whether it’s internal or external customers the way you deal with your customers will set the standard that your team will deliver against.

Customer satisfaction should be the number one priority of any business. It can make a huge difference to the bottom line. As a leader you have a responsibility for training your team members to ensure that they are always striving to increase your customers’ satisfaction and building a good relationship with the customers.

15 Ways to Increase Customer Satisfaction:

So how exactly do you ensure that they are always striving to improve the levels of customer service that your clients are receiving? The following suggestions of benchmarks that you and your team can measure and monitor yourselves against might help you to achieve your goal.

Listen to what they have to say. Some will just need to rant, even if they are in the wrong. Don’t take it personally and always respond in a professional manner. Others may have a valid point and need to know someone is actually listening to them.
Don’t refer the person to someone else. No one likes to get the run around and be shoved off onto someone else. Get the answers the client needs as quickly as possible.
Keep your promises. Only agree to what you can actually deliver. Telling the client you can deliver more than you can not only stresses you but you lose the customer’s trust.
On the other hand, under-promise and over-deliver whenever possible.
Be courteous. Thank your customer for their business. Let them talk without interrupting.
Develop personal relationships with your clients. Treat each one as if he’s your most important client, even if he is your cheapest.
Anticipate their needs. Go the extra step and be ahead of them.
Apologize if you are wrong or make a mistake. Everyone makes them.
Respond quickly to communications. One working day turnaround time should be top priority for all customer inquiries.
Be honest. If a requested deadline can’t be met let your client know before you take their order.
Keep in touch with the customer. Follow-up with a postcard, an email or a simple thank you phone call.
Ask for feedback from your customers. They will give you information to help you improve your customer service and your business reputation.
Listen to what your unsatisfied customers have to say. Act on their advice if it is the right thing to do.
Smile. Be happy and courteous. Never answer the phone, a text or email when you’re angry. Before you pick up the phone or keyboard, paste a smile on your face and in your voice.
Throw away your scripts. People want to hear from real people who treat them like individuals. Each situation is different so you shouldn’t have a prewritten script that won’t fit everyone.

Customer satisfaction is one of the most important parts of any business. Learning how to deal with your customers the right way will increase your customer satisfaction, build a community that trusts you and lead to a bigger bottom line. The standards you set and agree with your team as their leader in terms of customer service could also form the basis of your relationship with your team couldn’t they? Customer Service and Leadership go hand in hand. What do you need to do to make you and your team more effective?

Are You Ready To Step Up and Lead?

Are you doing enough to stand out from the crowd and step up into that leadership role within your business or organisation?

Some years ago I came across an individual who had all the talent, skills, resourcefulness and potential for a promotion. However, they continued to go unnoticed while many of their colleagues were being recognised and indeed promoted. We agreed that she needed to find ways that they could get noticed at work and onto the fast track to a promotion.

First there were four questions that needed to be considered:

Am I gradually slipping into more and more obscure roles at work?
Have my colleagues with the same experience and talent already moved up the ladder?
Are my ideas and opinions looked upon as insignificant by my manager and team leaders?
Am I ready to move into the spotlight?

When she realised most of her answers were yes she knew she had to learn how to increase her visibility.

She needed to begin by learning to promote herself. We are the salesperson for our own skills. Just as with a job interview, where we sell ourselves to a potential employer, the same is true for when we are ready for a promotion.

10 Steps To Get Noticed

She came up with 10 ways to get noticed at work and get on the fast track to a promotion.

1. Dress professionally and appropriate to your positon. Be well groomed and invest in your appearance.

2. Be on time to the job, for meetings and functions. Be there for important events.

3. Respect others and yourself. Treat others with respect. Greet people with pleasantries. Be helpful and supportive to new employees. Make friends in other departments. Give complements and tell others when they are doing a good job.

4. Share your knowledge. Go ahead and share it with your boss. Be prepared to share your skills.

5. Make your presence felt whenever possible. Do your research ahead of time. Ask good questions and be visible at meetings and important functions. Add value as well as hard work.

6. Find your niche by knowing your stuff and your worth. Be confident in what you know. What are you really good at? Become the expert in it.

7. Be a good communicator. Your body language, how you talk, and your conversations should all reflect your confidence. Speak up clearly. Be assertive.

8. Get know throughout the organization. Be someone others recognize for their friendliness, hard work and the value they add to the company.

9. Be a leader. Don’t be afraid to head up committees.

10. Stay up to date with what is happening in the world. Know who the company competitors are and what they are doing. Do your market research. Join LinkedIn, start your own blog based on your profession, be on Twitter following your business. Be visible.

There are many ways to become more visible to your employer and get on the fast track to a promotion. It takes more than hard work and longevity. Suzy began implementing many of these tips and is on the way to getting that promotion she’s been eyeing.