Assessment 1 – Written or Oral Questions

1. Explain how you, as a manager, are able to use your emotional intelligence to minimize
the impact of your own emotions on others in the workplace. You must document the following:
• Your own emotional strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
Being able to choose how I am going to respond instead of reacting is my top emotional
strength. I’m patient enough to stay calm in times of stress and work pressure. I also do not shift
my negative emotions on my employees, on the contrary, I manage my emotions well so that they
realize that mastering our emotions helps us to have an excellent working environment.
Weaknesses
My top 3 weaknesses are: 1) I tend to be strict and inflexible with the responsibilities I
assign to my employees. 2) I am a perfectionist and 3) I focus a lot on the small details. This
sometimes makes me very demanding and alters my emotional intelligence when I fail to achieve
the proposed ideals.

• Your personal stressors and emotional states related to the workplace

Some common stressors in the workplace are:
1. Deficiency of time management skills or not enough work schedules to complete tasks.
2. Over commitment to too many projects or scheduling projects without given time for
delays or issues that may arise.
3. Lack of clarity or excessive work responsibilities.

• Your emotional triggers in relation to these personal stressors

1. As a manager, I try to resolve conflicts in a constructive and healthy way reinforcing
the levels of trust and confidence between team workers, and following organizational dispute
resolution processes.
2. Humour when used properly is an effective stress reliever. A good joke or spirited
laughter can open up communication lines, increase creativity and stimulate association and trust
making the workplace more fun.

• Your workplace behaviours that demonstrate the management of your emotions

 1. Identify my own personal stressors, and my particular responses to stress to have the
ability to calm myself down.
2. Use positive body language. Facial expressions, eye contact, tone of voice, gestures and
posture all send a message that suggests the level of concern for connection or empathy with
interactions given.

• How you have developed your emotional intelligence.

I have developed my emotional intelligence putting into practice the following strategies:
1. I observe how I react to people and ask myself these questions: Do I rush to judgment
before I know all of the facts? Do I stereotype? Then I look honestly at how I think and interact
with other people. I try to put myself in their place , and be more open and accepting of their
perspectives and needs.
2. I do a self-evaluation. I try out my emotional intelligence quiz . Then I am willing to
accept that I am not perfect and that I could work on some areas to make myself a better person. I
have the courage to look at myself honestly – it can change my life.

2. Describe a situation in which you have used your emotional intelligence to

do the following:
• Responded to an emotional state of a co-worker by assessing emotional cues.
Sarah is a coworker who was feeling emotionally unwell because she felt that the other
co-workers didn’t value her contributions as she expected. I shared this situation with them and
convinced them to help and motivate Sarah to strengthen her power and they did. I think that job
isn’t only built within the four walls of our business. When my coworkers and I enjoy spending
time together can help make work that much more enjoyable and lead to our hearts being more
into the day-to-day work we are doing for the company.

• Responded to an emotional state of a co-worker by recognising varying cultural

emotional cues.
Marlon was a coworker who came to our organization to have a business exchange for six
months. As he was from the Caribbean, he had an excessively jovial attitude and spoke with a
high tone of voice that was often misunderstood by my other coworkers. I used emotional
intelligence to identify, understand and respond to the cultural differences in his emotional
behaviour within our team. While he continued expressing his emotions freely and openly, I
helped my other coworkers so that they would be empathetic and sympathetic to him.

• Demonstrated flexibility and adaptability in dealing with a co-worker.

Carmel is my co-worker. I used to be very strict with her every time we had to do a
project together because I knew she had a great potential and I wanted her to realize it and exploit
it to the fullest. On certain occasion, we were working on a project and she told me that she was
facing a difficult situation, however, she was going to do her best effort to complete it. I remained
calm and ready to make a quick decision when we faced this unexpected challenge. I also
changed my interpersonal communication style to meet the needs of my co-worker and we
adopted flexible working arrangements and initiatives to deal with it.

• Taken into account the emotions of others when making a decision.

Every time my coworkers talk to me about some decisions that they are considering
making regarding some business plan to carry out in the organization, I listen carefully to what
they are trying to tell me. I use my ears, eyes and "gut instincts" to understand the entire message
that they're communicating. I start with listening out for the key words and phrases that they use,
particularly if they use them repeatedly. Then think about how as well as what they're saying.
What's their tone or body language telling me? Are they angry, ashamed or scared, for example? I
take this a stage further by listening empathically. I avoid asking direct questions, arguing with
what is being said, or disputing facts at this stage. I am flexible and try to be prepared for the
conversation to change direction as the other coworkers’ thoughts and feelings also change.

3. Explain how you have promoted the development of emotional intelligence

in others in the workplace including how you have:
• Provided opportunities for others to express their thoughts and feelings
I have fostered a team culture of open communication and active listening. Active
listening is the fastest way to gain important information from my workplace environment. After
listening to the thoughts, feelings or emotions of a team member, I seek to send back the most
accurate interpretation of what I think I heard them say, giving the feedback in their own words,
to check that I have received the information correctly. The team member is likely to then correct
me or reiterate what I have said, while simultaneously underlining the essence of their message. I
also demonstrate active listening skills by using positive reinforcement, smiling, making eye
contact and using a forward-facing posture.

• Assisted others to understand the effect their behaviour and emotions have on others in
the workplace
I helped Erica understand that she needed to develop and implement a process of open
communication within the organization so that different viewpoints can be heard without
judgment, to improve the work environment. By reflecting on her feelings with her supervisor,
Erica developed a much clearer understanding of the boundaries of her role and then she had the
confidence to communicate this to the senior management team.

• Encouraged the self-management of emotions in others

Here are a few coaching tips that I have been able to share with others in order to help
enhance their emotional or behavioral self-control.
I always tell them to pay attention to how they feel—in the moment—is the first step to
more effective self-management of their behavior. I also tell them to create a list of situations or
events that “trigger” negative emotions, such as anger or frustration. Then they write out a
strategy to deal with these situations in a positive and effective manner. They review these
strategies often so they are prepared to put them into practice. I also ask them to remember that
they have a choice. They have the ability to choose their response to any situation. They can
choose to “fly off the handle” in stressful situations, or they can choose to remain calm.

• Encouraged others to build productive relationships to maximize workplace outcomes.

I think that team members should definitely hang out outside of work. It makes working
together more enjoyable and helps co-workers stay motivated during crunch time. These types of
relationships fuel open communication, a good work ethic, flexibility and a better understanding
of each person’s roles and expectations. If we are the right professionals, workplace drama will
be minimal.
 4. Why is it important to strive for a positive emotional climate in the workplace and what
have you done to encourage it?
I encourage each member of the company and tell them that they are part of the company
and they aren’t simple workers, I will give them incentives because is really important to strive
for a positive emotional climate because doing one thing goes to the other one like giving benefits
to the worker and make them important in the company, this good environment goes to an
identification with the company, the workers come happy to work and enjoy what they are doing.
By doing this, the internal strength and stability of the company increase. When the workers are
happy, their strengths help increasing the productivity of the organization and its outcome, and
joining all these together helps make a positive emotional climate in the workplace.
5. Which of the workplace outcomes have been achieved by developing the emotional
intelligence of your workforce?
The best workplace outcome is when we get the capacity to generate a positive and
satisfying work environment for others. Also, the capacity to deal effectively with situations that
cause strong emotions, this is the best ability in the workplace because it will help the
productivity of the company and the good environment of itself.