We don’t often think of emotional intelligence (EQ) and business together. We see business as professional, transactional, maybe even cold, but when your team are experiencing their own emotions and navigating those of their colleagues, surely they hold some power over the workplace? Let’s look at how managing emotions can impact the workplace:

Your team’s mood can have an effect on their productivity, and so can yours. Being level-headed and responsive – as opposed to confrontational or defensive – are traits of a great manager. Your ability to monitor your feelings and keep them in check when they stray too far in any direction can drastically improve your team dynamics.  

By increasing your emotional awareness and building positive relationships with a steady temperament at work, you take fundamental steps towards building a collaborative team with trust at its core.

How Do Emotions Affect Attitudes And Behaviours At Work?

As humans, we’re more emotionally driven than we think – even the most stoic characters have a breaking point – which is why managing emotions is so important. When you are part of a team, regardless of its size, the feelings of each individual have the capacity to impact others. When everyone is in a good mood, there’s a palpable buzz in the air. Equally, extreme negative feelings can seep into the day and ripple throughout the team, dulling down the overall mood and suffocating creativity.  

A habit of hostility is created when people are consistently met with resistance. As a leader, if you repeatedly let your negative mood spill over into your immediate environment at work, your team can become contentious. In turn this will undoubtedly cause you further frustration, beginning a painful self-perpetuating cycle, reducing your effectiveness as a manager.  

EQ is intrinsically linked to relationship management and there can be insidious consequences from being unable to manage your own emotions and recognise them in other people.

Why Is Emotional Regulation In The Workplace Important?

Emotional regulation in a professional environment is significantly important to the ecosystem. Work should be a safe space for everyone and employees should never have to walk on eggshells around their leadership team. To create a culture of psychological safety, it’s vital that everyone is able to regulate themselves while still feeling safe to express their feelings.  

The relationship between self awareness and leadership is critical. Self regulation requires a lot of reflection, self-awareness and maturity. It’s a skill that needs to be practiced, just like your communication skills. However, the benefits of everyone being able to have functional conversations, even when highly charged, vastly outweigh the effort it takes to achieve.  

A manager’s ability to perceive feelings and regulate their own leaves space for their employees to get comfortable in expressing themselves. It’s healthy to have feelings and be passionate, but it’s important not to let them rule the atmosphere of your workplace.

What Are The Consequences Of Not Managing Emotions At Work?

A volatile environment with low emotional intelligence leaves people feeling unsafe to express themselves. When employees aren’t able to voice their opinions, offer suggestions or think creatively it stifles their productivity.  

Furthermore, it breaks down trust and communication. Extreme fluctuation in feelings of any kind, even the positive, can leave others feeling uncomfortable. Essentially, if people feel like an eruption is imminent, they will avoid the volcano at all costs. If a person cannot accurately gauge the reaction they are likely to get, it can make them more apprehensive to engage in conversation or share information. These small fractures can grow to chasms which inevitably results in failure. Being unpredictable upsets the equilibrium, so it’s essential that leaders develop their emotional intelligence skills.

Responsive vs. Reactive

There will always be challenging situations at work, and low EQ can make them worse. These can come in the form of performance issues, clashing personalities or personal circumstances. The most important thing is how you manage them.  

Processing your feelings is healthy, outbursts in the office are not. When you’re met with a scenario that feels challenging, you should respond and not react. The difference can be as simple as taking a few deep breaths! Time and space can facilitate considered, healthy responses in heightened situations. Taking action towards controlling emotions can be the necessary step in a more harmonious work environment. 

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Emotional regulation is of utmost importance to protect your working ecosystem. Being a volcano can lead to issues in your team; Explosive behaviour increases friction, causing a breakdown in communication which is detrimental to performance. Extreme emotional ranges can also create uncertainty and a sense of unease. By ensuring your employees have a psychologically safe space to express themselves, and focusing on being responsive rather than reactive, you can push towards a healthy culture that values open and honest communication.

Develop the EQ of your people with a leadership development programme. Speak to an Alchemist to start the conversation today: