Emotional Intelligence and Change Management

When you are executing a process of change management it is completely normal to feel that you are in-fact; trying to change the unchangeable! Human resistance is a natural and very real factor that needs to be taken into consideration and this is where emotional intelligence comes in.

What is Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional intelligence is the ability to firstly identify and then manage your own emotions in a positive way to then communicate effectively with others in order to relieve stress, defuse conflict and overcome challenges during the change management process.

How Does This Relate to Change?

An organizational change management expert knows that people are naturally resistant to change, and employees work best when they feel secure. Facing worries about job security and fearing reorganization means that a whole host of negative emotions can boil over within the company. It is important for those at the top therefore, to use emotional intelligence in order to help staff build the emotional skills necessary to help deal with the approaching challenges. In this way the transition between the old environment and the new can take place as smoothly and uneventfully as possible.

The Three Stages

In conjunction with the Bar-On model of Emotional Intelligence these stages consist of flexibility, stresstolerance and optimism; with each stage congruent on the former; something which facilitation skills training recognizes.

Flexibility

This refers to how staff adapts to emotions, thoughts and their resultant behaviors to situations that are unpredictable or unfamiliar. Each member of staff will be measurable on a scale with those who have high flexibility adapting to a change management process with relative ease and those with low flexibility finding it extremely challenging; experiencing a whole host of negative emotions that could spill over to prevent very real obstacles to the whole change process.

Stress Tolerance

This refers to how well staff cope with difficult situations especially those involving uncertainty. The more positive control a person feels they have, the more they can “tolerate”. Those with high stress tolerance will appear calm and collected under stress – a positive trait when emotions can be catching within the workplace!

Optimism

Remaining cheerful is indicative of a person’s positive attitude and the ability to remain hopeful no matter the circumstances around them, even in the face of setbacks. Those with high optimism need to be encouraged as any emotion (positive or negative) can be infectious and it is infectious optimism that needs to be capitalized on when a company is focused on achieving something that has never achieved before.

Using Emotional Intelligence to Build Success

Encouraging staff to build on the three stages of emotional intelligence in a positive and proactive manner can be the “glue” that means they feel part of the change rather than the victim of change. Coaching and assessing employees throughout the change management process helps to provide a road map of emotional skills that will help to move everyone in the right direction toward company success.