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About this lesson
In this lesson, we talk about how you can improve your professional relationships and how the four components of EI all come together.
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1.05 relationship-management - Exercise.docx61.9 KB
Quick reference
Relationship Management Skills
In this lesson, you'll learn about relationship management, a key component of emotional intelligence. The lesson covers effective communication strategies, building and maintaining professional relationships, and managing conflicts through EI. By the end of this lesson, you will understand how to improve your professional relationships and successfully manage interactions at work.
Notes
Effective Communication Strategies
- Be Clear and Concise: When sharing information or feedback, be direct and straightforward to avoid misunderstandings.
- Practice Active Listening: Show genuine interest in what others are saying by nodding, maintaining eye contact, and asking clarifying questions. This helps you understand the other person better and makes them feel valued and heard.
- Adapt Your Communication Style: Adjust your communication style to suit the listener’s preferences and the situation. For example, some colleagues might respond well to data-based evidence, while others may appreciate a clear list of steps to follow.
Building and Maintaining Professional Relationships
- Be Reliable: Be someone your colleagues and clients can rely on. Deliver on your promises and maintain professionalism in all interactions to build trust over time.
- Show Appreciation: Acknowledge the efforts and contributions of others consistently. A simple 'thank you' can mean a lot and help build positive relationships.
- Keep Engaging: Don’t limit interactions to email or formal meetings. Engage in casual conversations and social events to strengthen bonds and create a more relaxed work environment. For remote settings, create opportunities to engage, such as virtual huddles or informal social activities.
Managing Conflicts Through EI
- Stay Calm and Objective: Use self-management skills to keep emotions in check during conflicts. Respond calmly and objectively to prevent conflicts from escalating.
- Prioritize Understanding: Focus on understanding the other person’s perspective before trying to get your point across. This approach can help find common ground and solve the problem together.
- Address Conflicts Early: Don’t let disagreements fester. Addressing conflicts early can prevent them from growing into larger problems.
Reflection Questions
- Have you ever found yourself in a situation where bad communication made a situation worse and perhaps caused a relationship to fail? What happened, and what might you have done differently?
- Think about some of your current professional relationships. Is there a relationship that could use more attention, and if so, what action could you take to strengthen it?
- 00:04 Welcome back, in this lesson, we're focusing on relationship management.
- 00:09 In our previous lessons, we covered the other core components of emotional
- 00:13 intelligence, including self-awareness, self-management, and social awareness.
- 00:18 Relationship management builds on those other skills and
- 00:22 it revolves around your ability to successfully manage interactions at work.
- 00:27 So let's talk about how you can improve your professional relationships and
- 00:31 how these four components of EI all come together.
- 00:35 Effective communication is the cornerstone of good relationship management.
- 00:40 Involves clearly conveying your ideas and also listening actively to others.
- 00:46 Here's how you can improve your communication.
- 00:49 First, be clear and concise when sharing information or feedback,
- 00:54 be direct and straightforward to avoid misunderstandings.
- 00:59 Practice active listening, show genuine interest in what others are saying
- 01:04 by nodding, maintaining eye contact, and asking clarifying questions.
- 01:09 This helps you understand the other person better, and
- 01:13 it also makes them feel valued and heard.
- 01:16 And adapt your communication style,
- 01:18 some of your colleagues might respond well to data-based evidence,
- 01:23 while others may appreciate a clear list of steps to follow.
- 01:27 The idea here is to adjust your communication style to
- 01:31 suit the listener's preferences and the situation.
- 01:34 If you understand your audience, you'll know how to deliver the information so
- 01:40 it's understood and the right actions are taken.
- 01:44 Strong professional relationships are built on trust, respect, and
- 01:49 mutual understanding.
- 01:51 So when it comes to strengthening your connections, consider the following.
- 01:55 First, be reliable, be someone that your colleagues and clients can rely on.
- 02:01 Deliver on your promises and maintain professionalism in all interactions,
- 02:06 this will build trust over time.
- 02:09 And show appreciation, acknowledge the efforts and
- 02:12 contributions of others and do this consistently.
- 02:16 For example, a simple thank you can really mean a lot to some people,
- 02:19 showing appreciation can go a long way in building positive relationships.
- 02:24 And keep engaging, don't limit interactions to email or formal meetings.
- 02:30 Casual conversations and social events can also help strengthen bonds and
- 02:35 create a more relaxed and friendly work environment.
- 02:38 And if you're in a remote setting, create opportunities to engage.
- 02:44 If that means popping into a virtual huddle to catch up or
- 02:48 scheduling some informal social activities online,
- 02:51 engagement shows that you care about creating a positive, supportive culture.
- 02:58 Now conflict is a natural part of any professional environment,
- 03:02 but managing it effectively is essential.
- 03:06 Emotional intelligence plays a key role in conflict resolution.
- 03:10 It's important to stay calm and objective.
- 03:13 Use your self-management skills to keep emotions in check during conflicts,
- 03:18 respond calmly and objectively, to prevent conflicts from escalating.
- 03:23 And prioritize understanding, focus on understanding the other
- 03:28 person's perspective before trying to get your point across.
- 03:33 This approach can help find common ground and
- 03:36 make it easier to solve the problem together.
- 03:40 And address conflicts early, don't let disagreements fester behind the scenes.
- 03:46 Addressing conflicts early can prevent them from growing into larger problems.
- 03:52 So, mastering relationship management skills involves effective communication,
- 03:57 maintaining relationships, and managing conflicts, with emotional intelligence.
- 04:02 So with this in mind, here's a couple of questions to consider.
- 04:06 Have you ever found yourself in a situation where bad communication made
- 04:11 a situation worse and perhaps caused a relationship to fail?
- 04:15 What happened and what might you have done differently?
- 04:20 And think about some of your current professional relationships.
- 04:24 Is there a relationship that could use more attention?
- 04:27 And if so, what action could you take to strengthen it?
- 04:31 Is it a boss or a colleague, or maybe a customer?
- 04:35 Our relationships are constantly evolving, and
- 04:38 some require more attention than others.
- 04:40 These strategies we've covered in the lesson should go a long way to help you
- 04:45 strengthen them and create new ones.
- 04:48 Next time we'll explore how emotional intelligence influences leadership.
- 04:53 See you then.
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