Emotional Intelligence: Understanding what motivates people

Objectives for my session A bit about me and the teams I’ve managed What is emotional intelligence – why I think it’s relevant How do I use emotional intelligence as a manager Motivating teams – theory to practice Any questions

A bit about me Occupational Psychologist & Organisational Development Analyst to Manager Teams sizes of 2 to 54 New teams or established

What is Emotional Intelligence? “The ability to monitor one's own and others' feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one's thinking and actions" Salovey and Mayer (1990) Emotional intelligence has 4 elements to it Navigating Emotional Intelligence PUUM model of emotional intelligence What have you heard/ read about this? What do you think it is? In essence it’s the ability to understand emotions – both your own and those that are being demonstrated in others, recognise them for what they are and then use that knowledge and understanding to help you to navigate what you need to get done. Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the ability to identify, use, understand, and manage emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges, and defuse conflict There is some debate about whether it is actually an intelligence or a subset of our personality – I don’t think that this is particularly relevant – what we do know is that in roles where it is important to understand people and to be able to connect with people – operating with some emotional intelligence is key to being successful Salovey and Mayer – did some of the original research in this area and so I thought that you might like to hear some more about their model or approach to using EI For me – managing and motivating a team is a job that almost beyond all others means that I need to try to understand and connect with people – I don’t always get it right, but I do always try Can you think over the experiences that you’ve had at work or college so far and think about a time where one of your co-workers has been unexpectedly emotional? A couple of people to share with the whole group - What type of emotions did you witness? What did you understand at the time about what created those emotions? – were they angry at something at work or at you or was it just their journey in – or did you just not know? How did that display of emotions make you feel? – scared/ fearful/baffled/ concerned for the other person’s well being/ angry at the person How has that then affected what you’ve done?

Why I think its relevant? Managing a team is a people business People bring their ‘whole selves’ to work – emotion and all It allows me to choose my behaviour For me – managing and motivating a team is a job that almost beyond all others means that I need to try to understand and connect with people – I don’t always get it right, but I do always try Can you think over the experiences that you’ve had at work or college so far and think about a time where one of your co-workers has been unexpectedly emotional? A couple of people to share with the whole group - What type of emotions did you witness? What did you understand at the time about what created those emotions? – were they angry at something at work or at you or was it just their journey in – or did you just not know? How did that display of emotions make you feel? – scared/ fearful/baffled/ concerned for the other person’s well being/ angry at the person - Confession – until I sat down to prepare for this I hadn’t really thoy ----- If you’re a manager, ulti,ately your job is about getting things done – helping people to be happy motivated, etc, and when they’re not, how to help them You don’t leave your emotions at the door Emotional intelligence helps you to CHOOSE how you want to react in different situations

The Behaviour Cycle (Betari Box) The Behaviour Cycle is just quite useful to understand – as it explains why choosing your own behaviour is helpful – someone else’s emotional behaviour can provoke a response in me based on my attitude and this will then manifest itself in my behaviour Look what happens in this following example: ….. Example 1: Imagine that your drive to work is very stressful. The longer you sit in traffic, the more frustrated you become – and by the time you get to the office, you're in a negative mood. Your attitude causes you to use inappropriate negative behaviours. Your temper is short, so you yell at your assistant and then shout at a colleague when you discover a mistake in the report she just gave you. Your negative behaviour, in turn, affects your assistant and colleague. They are upset by your attitude and behaviour, and they then repeat them in other negative ways. Your assistant is sulky and unhelpful for the next few hours, and your colleague is sarcastic and resentful towards you as well. No real communication takes place. Example 2: Imagine that it's just after lunch. You've had your negative drive into work, and you've already yelled at your assistant and your colleague. As you sit at your desk angry, you realize that this all started with something incredibly silly: your drive into work. After thinking about this, you decide to exit the cycle. You begin by offering your assistant a genuine apology, which he accepts with a smile. You also apologize to your colleague, and you offer to work with her on the report to improve it. She also accepts your apology, and she thanks you for being willing to help fix her mistake. The end result: productive, meaningful communication can now take place, simply because you were willing to stop your negative thinking and step out of the cycle. If you think back to those questions that I was just asking you – how could you use this cycle to intervene? Go back to the original people who volunteered

How I use emotional intelligence Think Feel Do What happened there? 1. Practically using EI in my management style Ancedote about Jenny – reading body language and words disconnect lead me to prompt to ask questions about the issues See feel think do – this is about using EI to communicate and connect particularly in change – its about using language that corresponds with people’s feelings and emotions as a way of engaging people, rather than using very non emotional language – quite rational and jumping from there straight to action – working and communicating in that way can immediately turn off some of your audience What happened there – ever had moments where you’ve been part of something or witnessed something in a meeting and at the end found yourself asking ‘what happened there’ This happened to me with a customer – use the Sue Rudo example – reflection from the gut feeling – lead to approaching the next meeting less defensively and more seeking out of opportunities to work together 4. The pause button – for the brave – this is a leadership technique that allows you to stop something in the middle of what’s happening and reflect on the dynamics that are taking place rather than the content – why might this be useful? Look at the 1st example I gave you on the line manager snapping at a colleague – what could have happened with this technique ----- What motivates people? – learn this for the people you work with! The pause button helps you to understand what dynamics are going on in a team (or team meeting)

What are you finding motivating about work? Motivating teams What are you finding motivating about work? The difference between being not dissatisfied and actually satisfied and engaged? Team Motivation   What motivates people? What motivates you? Discuss as a group and write answers on a flip chart Introduce the Herzberg model and ask if anyone has come across this before? Discuss the hygiene and motivating factors and compare them to the list the group made. Step One: Eliminate Job Dissatisfaction Herzberg called the causes of dissatisfaction "hygiene factors". To get rid of them, you need to: Fix poor and obstructive company policies. Provide effective, supportive and non-intrusive supervision. Create and support a culture of respect and dignity for all team members. Ensure that wages are competitive. Build job status by providing meaningful work for all positions. Provide job security. All of these actions help you eliminate job dissatisfaction in your organization. And there's no point trying to motivate people until these issues are out of the way! You can't stop there, though. Remember, just because someone is not dissatisfied, it doesn't mean he or she is satisfied either! Now you have to turn your attention to building job satisfaction. Step Two: Create Conditions for Job Satisfaction To create satisfaction, Herzberg says you need to address the motivating factors associated with work. He called this "job enrichment". His premise was that every job should be examined to determine how it could be made better and more satisfying to the person doing the work. Things to consider include: Providing opportunities for achievement. Recognising workers' contributions. Creating work that is rewarding and that matches the skills and abilities of the worker. Giving as much responsibility to each team member as possible. Providing opportunities to advance in the company through internal promotions. Offering training and development opportunities, so that people can pursue the positions they want within the company. Exercise Ask delegates to write down some ideas of what they could do back in the workplace to motivate their team – will need to consider individuals, dynamics, roles etc Ask for examples of ideas people have come up with and discuss as a group – has anyone come up with an idea you might try that you hadn’t already thought of? Some ideas; Keep the employees interested in their work. Employees doing the same tasks over and over may become bored and de-motivated. Continually find ways to make each job more enriching for the employees Reward employees for enhanced performance. Employees deserve rewards for acting motivated and continually demonstrating quality performance. Visibly rewarding higher performers motivates other workers to attempt to receive the same reward. Give valued rewards. Remember that pay isn't the only reward employees value. Other valued rewards might include new equipment, the ability to work on exciting projects, an increase in benefits or a secondment to another team Acknowledge employee individuality. Special attention raises employee self esteem and gives them ownership of their position. Employees who feel that they are an essential part of the organization work are more motivated to help the organization succeed. Promote participation. Employees will be more motivated to carry out activities that they helped plan. Collect employee ideas in a suggestion box and regularly employ good ideas from the box. Encourage co-operation. Set performance goals for work teams and reward teams for meeting objectives. Promote each employee as a valued team member. Explain your actions and your decisions. Too often, managers give orders without explaining why. Employees are more motivated to complete an activity when they know why they are asked to do it. Supply accurate feedback, even when it's negative. Employees who perform poorly need to know what they can do improve. Often, this motivates them to do what's necessary to improve performance. Conversely, positive feedback goes a long way toward letting high-performing employees know they're appreciated.

Herzberg model Factors for Satisfaction Factors for Dissatisfaction Achievement Company Policies Recognition Supervision The work itself Relationship with Supervisor and Peers Responsibility Work conditions Advancement Salary Growth Status Security What helps you feel satisfied and dissatisfied at work? – it’s different for different people. What creates motivation? What are the ‘hiding’ factors?  Step One: Eliminate Job Dissatisfaction Herzberg called the causes of dissatisfaction "hygiene factors". To get rid of them, you need to: Fix poor and obstructive company policies. Provide effective, supportive and non-intrusive supervision. Create and support a culture of respect and dignity for all team members. Ensure that wages are competitive. Build job status by providing meaningful work for all positions. Provide job security. All of these actions help you eliminate job dissatisfaction in your organization. And there's no point trying to motivate people until these issues are out of the way! You can't stop there, though. Remember, just because someone is not dissatisfied, it doesn't mean he or she is satisfied either! Now you have to turn your attention to building job satisfaction. Step Two: Create Conditions for Job Satisfaction To create satisfaction, Herzberg says you need to address the motivating factors associated with work. He called this "job enrichment". His premise was that every job should be examined to determine how it could be made better and more satisfying to the person doing the work. Things to consider include: Providing opportunities for achievement. Recognising workers' contributions. Creating work that is rewarding and that matches the skills and abilities of the worker. Giving as much responsibility to each team member as possible. Providing opportunities to advance in the company through internal promotions. Offering training and development opportunities, so that people can pursue the positions they want within the company.

From theory to practice What works for you might not work for someone else in the team Takes time to find out Hard to gain the trust and understanding v easy to lose I don’t always get it right Knowing what works – it may not be the same thing every time.

Any questions? Can you measure emotional intelligence in recruitment etc? Yes, but I would err away from it. It’s a key part in influencing people, but it’s not the only thing. When you misjudge a situation, how do you go about picking yourself up and readdressing the situation? - An apology, self-reflection, what can I do to make this better, If you are prepared to go some way to show that you know you were wrong. Can you coach someone above you into emotional intelligence, or learning it – old dog new tricks? - Coaching, developing a mutual relationship of understanding each other’s views. Sometimes, the thing that you fear, may not be as bad as you think, and the person may be more open to it that you thought. Takeaway quiz – think about what you might say, and what your colleagues might say about you? Is this how others experience me?

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