STUDENT ASSESSMENT TASK 1

BSBLDR511
Develop and use emotional intelligence

Q 1) Explain emotional intelligence and the importance of this characteristic at work.

Emotional intelligence is the capacity to understand and manage your emotions. The skills
involved in emotional intelligence are self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy,
and social skills. Recently, it has become a bit of a buzz word in human resources
departments across the globe but researchers are saying that it is time emotional intelligence
be taken seriously. Embracing the nuances of human emotion in the workplace can have
pragmatic benefits, such as better collaboration among employees and a happier workplace.

Emotional intelligence is widely recognized as a valuable skill that helps improve

communication, management, problem-solving, and relationships within the workplace. It is
also a skill that researchers believe can be improved with training and practice. Every day we
make emotionally charged decisions. We feel plan A is better than plan B and we sometimes
make choices based on our emotions or gut feelings. When we understand the origin and
source of these emotions, especially when working in a team, we are more at attuned to each
other.

Q 2) Explain each of the five essential principles of emotional intelligence as defined by

Daniel Goleman).
Daniel Goleman, a world-renowned behavioral scientist said that “the part of the brain which
supports emotional and social intelligence is the last circuitry of the brain to become
anatomically mature. The notion of EI consisting of five different components was first
introduced by Daniel Goleman, a psychologist, and best-selling author. According to Cherry
(2018), the 5 components of EI are: self-awareness, self-regulation, social skills, empathy,
and motivation.

1) Self-awareness: Self-awareness refers to the capacity to recognize and understand

emotions and to have a sense of how one’s actions, moods and the emotions of others take
effect. It involves keeping track of emotions and noticing different emotional reactions, as
well as being able to identify the emotions correctly. Self-awareness also includes
recognizing that how we feel and what we do are related, and having awareness of one’s own
personal strengths and limitations. Self-awareness is associated with being open to different
experiences and new ideas and learning from social interactions.

2) Self-regulation: Self-regulation includes being flexible, coping with change, and

managing conflict. It also refers to diffusing difficult or tense situations and being aware of
how one’s actions affect others and take ownership of these actions.
3) Social skills: This component of EI refers to interacting well with other people. It involves
applying an understanding of the emotions of ourselves and others to communicate and
interact with others on a day-to-day basis. Different social skills include; active listening,
verbal communication skills, non-verbal communication skills, leadership, and developing
rapport.

4) Empathy: This component of EI enables an individual to respond appropriately to other

people based on recognizing their emotions. It enables people to sense power dynamics that
play a part in all social relationships, but also most especially in workplace relations.
Empathy involves understanding power dynamics, and how these affect feelings and
behavior, as well as accurately perceiving situations where power dynamics come into force.
5) Motivation: Motivation, when considered as a component of EI, refers to intrinsic
motivation. Intrinsic motivation means that an individual is driven to meet personal needs and
goals, rather than being motivated by external rewards such as money, fame, and recognition.
People who are intrinsically motivated also experience a state of ‘flow’, by being immersed
in an activity. They are more likely to be action-oriented, and set goals. Such individuals
typically have a need for achievement and search for ways to improve. They are also more
likely to be committed and take initiative.

Q 3) Explain the key principles of the Emotional Intelligence Theory developed by

Caruso and Salovey (2004).

Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso (2004) developed the four-branch ability model of EI. They

suggest that the abilities and skills of EI can be divided into 4 areas that includes; the ability
to: Perceive emotion, use emotion to facilitate thought, understand emotions, and manage
emotion.
1) Perceive emotion: This branch involves the perception of emotion, including being able to
identify emotions in the facial and postural expressions of others. It reflects non-verbal
perception and emotional expression to communicate via the face and voice
2) Use emotion to facilitate thought: Branch two includes the ability to use emotions in
order to aid thinking.
3) Understand emotions: This branch represents the capacity to understand emotion,
including being able to analyze emotions and awareness of the likely trends in emotion over
time, as well as an appreciation of the outcomes from emotions. It also includes the capacity
to label and discriminate between feelings.
4) Manage emotion: This branch, emotional self-management, includes an individual’s
personality with goals, self-knowledge and social awareness shaping the way in which
emotions are managed.

Q 4) Explain three strategies that can be used to build emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence, or EQ, continues to be an increasingly popular skill to have in the

professional world. Many may be wondering why emotional intelligence continues to
increase in importance among peers in an evolving workplace. In a competitive
workplace, developing your EQ skills is vital to your professional success. Below are three
strategies to build emotional intelligence:

1. Utilize an assertive style of communicating: Assertive communication goes a long way

toward earning respect without coming across as too aggressive or too passive. Emotionally
intelligent people know how to communicate their opinions and needs in a direct way while
still respecting others.
2. Utilize active listening skills: In conversations, emotionally intelligent people listen for
clarity instead of just waiting for their turn to speak. They make sure they understand what is
being said before responding. They also pay attention to the nonverbal details of a
conversation. This prevents misunderstandings, allows the listener to respond properly and
shows respect for the person they are speaking to.
3. Empathize with others: Emotionally intelligent people know how to empathize. They
understand that empathy is a trait that shows emotional strength, not weakness. Empathy
helps them to relate to others on a basic human level. It opens the door for mutual respect and
understanding between people with differing opinions and situations.

Q 5) Explain how a manager with high emotional intelligence can assist in achieve
business objectives. Provide an example to illustrate your answer.

Emotional intelligence is not a trend yet major companies have compiled statistical proof
that employees with emotional intelligence undoubtedly affect the bottom line. In fact,
companies with employees that have high levels of emotional intelligence see major increases
in total sales and productivity. Here are some examples of what emotional intelligence in the
workplace looks like: People express themselves openly and respectfully without fear of
offending coworkers, resilience is evident when new initiatives are introduced, flexibility is
present.

Many mental health experts believe emotional intelligence is a valuable asset in

the workplace. In certain environments, employees with high levels of emotional
intelligence may be better able to cooperate with others, manage work-related  stress,
solve conflicts within workplace relationships, and learn from previous interpersonal
mistakes.
This may not mean high emotional intelligence is beneficial or necessary for all jobs.
Studies show that while jobs that require large amounts of interpersonal interaction for
example, sales or real estate jobs may benefit from workers who possess high emotional
intelligence, the opposite is true for occupations that are generally more individualistic,
such as a research scientist or an accountant.
In settings where people tend to work alone, people who possess high emotional
intelligence may actually perform at a lower level than the average worker because they
may be overly concerned about the emotions of other people.
Q 6) Explain the importance of recognizing cultural differences in emotional
intelligence. Provide two examples to illustrate your answer.

Cultural differences in emotional arousal level are important because people are motivated to

behave in certain ways so that they feel the emotions they want to experience. Therefore,
people in certain culture tend to experience the emotional state that is considered to be ideal
in their culture. Cultural differences exist in some aspects of emotions, one such important
aspect of emotion being emotional arousal level. There are also culturally specific ways that
individuals express particular emotions. Emotion accents are differences in
emotional expressions that vary across cultures.  In cultures that value honour, there are more
frequent displays of anger. In cultures that value group membership, shame is more intensely
displayed. In the United States, where self-gratification is valued, people are more likely to
display excitement and joy in response to personal success. In many Asian countries, where
group harmony is of paramount importance, people often suppress expressions of pleasure
with respect to their personal achievements. For example, Chinese greet honoured guests with
a smile while American Indian tribes greet honoured guests with a cry.

Q 7) Explain two ways of communicating effectively with a diverse workforce with

varying cultural expressions of emotions.

We often take for granted the way we communicate with one another. Similar to everything else
we learn, the way we make interpretations, create assumptions and form decisions is based on our
cultural upbringing. In a multicultural organization, how employees communicate can set the
tone and foundation for a learning culture. As discussed in my previous blog about the various
types of communication challenges that arise, it is critical to promote a work environment that
supports business and customer needs, while instilling unity and high employee morale.

A productive workforce means creating an environment that supports diversity, while balancing
the pressures of management, time and cost. There are many resources that provide
communication tactics in a culturally diverse organization. However, I believe getting down to
the basics is the best way to understand and implement techniques. I came across by reading the
article that simplified the best way to promote effective communication. Below are four simple
tips to keep in mind when interacting and communicating with others in your organization.

 Keep an open mind

 Have at least some knowledge of people’s cultural backgrounds
 Practice active listening
 Watch your nonverbal communication
 Maintain a personal touch
It is important to understand the way people comprehend, communicate and make decisions
across different types of cross-cultural backgrounds. Although it may be difficult to interpret
certain statements and behaviors, there must be a significant emphasis placed on the concept of
acceptance and open mindedness.
Q 8) Explain two ways of using emotional intelligence to build effective workplace
relationships

While creating successful teams isn’t as simple as mimicking the processes of emotionally
intelligent groups of people, what you can do is create the necessary conditions in which
team members can develop their emotional intelligence. Those three conditions are: trust
among members, a sense of group identity and a sense of group efficacy.
Here are the seven things you can do to foster these three conditions that constitute
emotionally intelligent teams:

1. Have a ring leader

Before you can start improving your team’s EI, you have to work on yourself by cultivating:
 Self-awareness - leaders aren’t only self-aware; they also know how to recognize
their emotions.
 Emotional management - leaders are able to maintain their cool.
 Effective communication - leaders are able to clearly express their thoughts.
 Social awareness - leaders can realize what’s going on and give valuable feedback.
 Conflict resolution - leaders can effectively handle conflicts and offer a resolution.
Remember, if you want your team to become more emotionally intelligent, then you must
first work on building your own personal EI and becoming a leader that your team can
respect and someone they can rally behind.

2. Identify team members’ strengths and weaknesses

Your team members are more than just employees or a job title. They’re unique
individuals who have great stories to tell. Your employees also have diverse skills,
talents, and knowledge that could be beneficial to your overall goals.
If you want to make the most of every team member, then start by getting to know them
better. Preferably, you should learn to know more about them outside of a project so that
you can see what they can bring to the table outside of their traditional job role or title.
Hewlett-Packard, according to Druskat and Wolff, likes to have each of their employees
work at cross-training. This means team members see, “if each member could pinch-hit
on everyone else’s job.”
Additionally, you want to look beyond first impressions, encourage innovation, let your
team members do the teaching, and offer rewards and recognition.
When a team member does make a mistake, offer useful feedback so that the leader
shows the person that they are more important than the process of merely being
reprimanded.