5 High Emotional Quotient ways to Engage with Employees during a crisis

Great leaders are distinguished by high Emotional Quotient ways to enat work, which includes Self-awareness, Self-management, Empathy, Relationship management, and Effective communication. 

In many organizations, managers and leaders take up the responsibility to keep the team engaged and focused. During a crisis, leaders can employ various other procedures to keep the employees motivated on track. EQ at workplace is a very important skill for the higher-ups to possess since it totally deals with our own as well as others’ emotions.  

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“Great things never came from comfort zones.” 

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5 types of high emotional quotient ways to engage with employees: 

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1. Self - Awareness

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This is the very first step of Emotional Quotient, it is the skill to be aware of, control and ultimately express emotions. It also teaches us how to identify hidden emotion and be aware of it. 

EQ is the ability to identify, to recognize and understand one’s own emotions and to know how emotions affect behaviour, decision making, time management and performance. This skill plays a major role in managers’ and leaders’ team management abilities during a crisis. 

They need to balance the eq at workplace between both employer and employee. One of the best parts of managing high emotional quotient depends on how we manage emotions in a positive and healthy way and take initiatives to follow through on commitments in order to adapt to certain situations during changing circumstances. You can turn your emotional quotient at work into positive ways with your strengths and weaknesses by having self-confidence. 

A manager needs to call this out explicitly and should normalize that it is imperative for people to take time off and unplug. At the same time, it is also essential to pay attention to the overall employee performance patterns for making sure that team members are being productive.

Working well with others is a process that begins with self-awareness and emotional awareness. 

It is also the ability to recognize and understand how other people are experiencing one’s emotional awareness. A leader can effectively develop additional social and emotional skills that will foster fruitful and effective relationships.

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2. Self-Management

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This refers to the ability to regulate one’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviours effectively depending on the changes in different situations. It is also known as “self-control” or “self-regulation”. Emotions are important sources of information that tell us about ourselves and our feelings towards others.

During stressful circumstances, it also takes us out of our comfort zone. They are the reason why we often get overwhelmed and lose control of ourselves. Self-management is the way you manage stress and stay emotionally present.

It is your ability to control impulsive feelings and behaviours, to manage your emotions in healthy ways by taking up few initiatives, to follow through on commitments and adapt to changing circumstances. 

A high Emotional Intelligence (EI) can help to navigate the social complexities of the workplace and can help motivate others. Self-management skills are important in the workplace because they help you contribute with others in a better work environment for yourself and for your co-workers.

Nowadays, many companies rate EI as important as technical ability and employ EQ tests before hiring candidates.

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3. Empathy

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It defines the ability and capacity to understand, feel, and share what the other person is experiencing from within their frame of reference. In other words, it is the capacity to place oneself in another’s position. Empathy encompasses a broad range of emotional states. 

Leaders having a low level of empathy during a crisis may contribute to conflicts in social interactions and thereby heighten levels of negative emotions experienced by employees. 

It is a given that leaders will encounter their teams to be more distracted, having periods of low productivity with work from home. During these tough times, since everyone is going through many different emotions, being empathetic is crucial. 

Empathy helps to create an environment where team members feel safe to express their concerns.

In this way, it creates a psychological impact on employees with safety as a priority. Workers, thus feel at ease to contribute to a creative solution. If you’re having a hard time in connecting with your employees, you should listen to your team leader and his/her empathetic responses. 

By acknowledging co-workers' feelings and making sure you understand their tough circumstances, you would be better equipped to deal with people in a healthy way, which would ultimately lead to a better work environment.

With changes every passing day, making sure you are caring and supporting your team members on a personal, professional, physical and psychological level is unequivocally the need of the hour!

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4. Relationship Management

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Relationship management is the key tool that links all members of a particular supply chain. However strong or weak a supply chain is, relationship management will dictate the strength and effectiveness of the supply chain. It is a strategy in which an organization maintains an ongoing level of engagement with its employees. 

During a crisis, there is an initial sprint of changes: shifting to working from home, changing strategies, moving online, etc. Things continue to change and as they do, there are ups and downs with emotions, energies, stress and focus. 

Two people can’t possibly have the exact same needs, opinions and expectations every time. Resolving conflict in constructive ways can strengthen trust between people. 

Although things might change, ensure care and support are provided to your fellow team members all throughout their journeys. This is what cultivates resilience for yourself and others, where both parties stay engaged, healthy and connected. 

Uncontrolled emotions and stress can also impact your mental health, making you vulnerable to anxiety and depression. Managing your emotions according to situations would culminate in a sustainable, healthy and strong intra-personal and inter-personal relationships.

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5. Effective Communication

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Exchanging ideas, thoughts, knowledge and information consistently to expand one’s knowledge and expertise with others is done solely through effective communication. Communication is one of the important tools that aid us to connect with people.

Proper and effective communication is something that will connect you with others in the long-term. It also helps you solve a number of ongoing issues.

Managers and leaders must be equipped with vital communication skills to develop and to be able to interact with people. This will also foster sharing thoughts by reaching out to them. 

‍Communication is not merely essential but is the need of the hour. It allows you to trust people and at the same time leverage timely opportunities. 

Verbal and non-verbal communication is equally important in maintaining healthy connections with others. Mistakes occur due to a lack of communication and to avoid this phenomenon is why effective communication and having a high emotional quotient is a must in today’s day and age in all organizations.