Following on from our previous blog showing you how Emotional Intelligence will make you a better leader, we will now explore 3 ways Emotional Intelligence will improve your communication. There are ultimately many ways that Emotional Intelligence (EQ) will make you a better communicator within the workplace. Like we have explored previously, Emotional Intelligence allows you to perceive and understand the emotions of others. By improving your Emotional Intelligence, you will be able to take on board other people’s emotions, and you will be able to communicate with them more effectively. This is especially beneficial in helping you to manage your staff and your working relationships more effectively. You will also learn how to communicate better within your organisation, with colleagues from all levels, as you will be able to understand the emotions of your colleagues and you will also have more confidence in communicating more effectively, especially within a wider team.
In this article, we will explore how Emotional Intelligence makes you a better communicator, and we will give you 3 ways Emotional Intelligence will improve your communication. We will also explain why it is a key skill that everyone aspiring to progress within their careers, into positions of management, leadership and director level roles should seek to develop. As a result of mastering this skill, you will reinforce your place as a leading role within your business. Here at In Professional Development, we are here to help you achieve your career aspirations.
How Does Emotional Intelligence Relate to Communication?
Emotional Intelligence allows you to learn more about your emotions, and to be able to effectively recognise what you are feeling. This is important because your emotions are directly linked to how you communicate. By improving your Emotional Intelligence, it allows you to manage your emotions better. This will help you to communicate effectively. This is especially important in the workplace, as effective communication is the key to presenting yourself, your knowledge and your expertise to your colleagues, and it is the key to being able to apply yourself well in the workplace. Good communication skills are also the key to creating beneficial working relationships with your colleagues.
As we will elaborate on in this article, recognising and understanding your emotions is the first step to being able to communicate effectively. By being able to clearly and accurately translate and express these emotions effectively in your communications, you will become much more comfortable in communicating with your colleagues.
Emotional Intelligence also allows you to perceive and understand the emotions of your colleagues better. This allows you to communicate them and to respond to them appropriately. A lot of communication signals are nonverbal, and if someone lacks Emotional Intelligence, then they struggle more than others in communicating effectively. By having heightened Emotional Intelligence, you can read the emotions of your colleagues better, and this will allow you to adjust how you communicate with them, so that you can communicate with them appropriately to suit their emotions.
Emotional Intelligence Improves Self-Control
Emotional Intelligence can improve your communication by allowing you to stay calm under pressure and ensuring that you stay in control of your emotions and how they effect your communication. By staying calm under pressure, you can communicate to your colleagues in a calm, professional and clear manner. Emotional Intelligence improves your self-control, and this allows you to stay calm and to react to situations in a calm and reflective manner. Instead of letting nerves negatively affect your communication, and instead of mumbling and talking very fast, you can stay relaxed and communicate clearly and effectively. This is helpful when under pressure at work. Even if you are stressed or under pressure, you will be able to handle these situations better, and you will be able to communicate effectively with your colleagues to create solutions. In doing so, you will build stronger working relationships with your colleagues through more effective communication.
By improving your self-control, you will also prevent conflict. When your colleagues are under pressure, they may not be as Emotionally Intelligent as yourself, and this may become apparent in how they choose to communicate. They may lack the same level of self-control, and they may appear to be frustrated and tense in their communications to you. It is in these situations where having good self-control will be useful. If a colleague is frustrated when they are talking to you, your first response is probably to become frustrated as well when you reply to them, and you may be inclined to say something that could spark a conflict. This is where it is important to have good self-control in order to minimize conflict. By assessing their emotions, controlling your own, and by responding in a calm, clear and professional manner, you will continue to build strong working relationships in times of pressure.
Emotional Intelligence Improves Diplomacy
Emotional Intelligence allows you to read situations well, and to read the emotions of other people well. This enables you to react to situations effectively, and to communicate appropriately with other team members to reach a productive solution. Responding from impulse may not always produce the most effective response, therefore utilizing Emotional Intelligence to read the situation will allow you to restrain yourself for responding impulsively, and it will allow you to respond in a measured, calm and reflective manner. By becoming more diplomatic in how you communicate, you will prevent conflict between colleagues and departments, and you will build strong and productive working relationships.
It is easy to confuse being diplomatic with being passive. The difference is, you are being tactical with your communication style in order to reduce conflict. This is with the goal of being more productive as an organisation. Being passive is avoiding conflict, however being diplomatic in your communication allows you to be tactical and manage conflict effectively.
Emotional Intelligence Makes You More Assertive
Sometimes it is beneficial to be assertive, however this is not to be confused with being aggressive. Being assertive is communicating confidently, clearly and with effect. Emotional Intelligence improves your assertiveness by allowing you communicate effectively. By being aware of your emotions, and by having self-control, you can communicate your thoughts clearly and with confidence. In turn, this will make you more assertive and confident, without coming across as pushy or aggressive. By becoming more assertive, you can put forward your ideas and your experience effectively, instead of being passive and letting others take the lead. This is beneficial as your colleagues won’t always know what your skills and expertise are unless you communicate them and put them forward.
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Communication is ultimately a skill that is greatly improved by becoming more Emotionally Intelligent. By becoming more Emotionally Intelligent, and by improving your communication, you will build better working relationships through calm, clear and professional communication with your colleagues. This will enable you to drive your organisation and yourself towards success.
We offer a variety of courses, such as coaching courses, in which you can learn about Emotional Intelligence and other vital skills to improve your own leadership skills. To find out more about our courses, visit our Courses page, and click on the relevant course. Alternatively, or if you’d like more information before booking, email us at enquiries@inpd.co.uk, send us a message using the form on our Contact page, or call us on 0161 826 3139. We look forward to hearing from you and advising you on the right course for you.
