The role of emotional intelligence in Agile is important to understand. It is a skill that is very difficult to master for many people.
What is Emotional Intelligence?
HelpGuide.org defines “emotional intelligence as follows:
“Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the ability to identify, use, understand, and manage emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges, and defuse conflict. Emotional intelligence impacts many different aspects of your daily life, such as the way you behave and the way you interact with others.”
Why Is It Important?
Emotional intelligence is one of the most important skills of an effective leader. The reason that emotional intelligence is so important to leadership is that if you can’t control your own emotions; it will be difficult, if not impossible to be an effective leader.
Here’s a quote that sums up the value of emotional intelligence very well:
“We probably also know people who are masters at managing their emotions. They don’t get angry in stressful situations. Instead, they have the ability to look at a problem and calmly find a solution. They’re excellent decision makers, and they know when to trust their intuition.“
“Regardless of their strengths, however, they’re usually willing to look at themselves honestly. They take criticism well, and they know when to use it to improve their performance.”
Why is that especially important in an Agile environment? It’s especially important because:
- Agile relies so heavily on teamwork and open, honest, and
- Transparent communication both within the team and with other stakeholders outside of the team
Key Attributes Associated with Emotional Intelligence
HelpGuide.org goes on to define four key attributes associated with “emotional intelligence”:
| Characteristic | Description |
|---|---|
| Self-Awareness | You recognize your own emotions and how they affect your thoughts and behavior, know your strengths and weaknesses, and have self-confidence |
| Self-Management | You’re able to control impulsive feelings and behaviors, manage your emotions in healthy ways, take initiative, follow through on commitments, and adapt to changing circumstances |
| Social Awareness | You can understand the emotions, needs, and concerns of other people, pick up on emotional cues, feel comfortable socially, and recognize the power dynamics in a group or organization |
| Relationship Management | You know how to develop and maintain good relationships, communicate clearly, inspire and influence others, work well in a team, and manage conflict |
Source: www.helpguide.org/mental/eq5_raising_emotional_intelligence.htm
The easiest way to see how this impacts the performance of Agile teams is to observe the behavior of someone who has a low level of emotional intelligence. Here is an example:
- On an Agile team I’ve worked with, there was one particular individual who was very bright and intelligent but
- He had a very strong and dominating personality and what I would consider a low level of emotional intelligence.
Here are some characteristics I saw – He:
- Liked to be in control of everything. He wanted to be seen as the “hero” who is leading the entire effort. There was a saying on the team that if it’s not XX’s idea, it sucks
- Was opinionated and confrontational, didn’t value other people’s perspective, and attacked other people openly in emails
- Had a strong vested interest in his own ideas and proving himself “right”. He lost objectivity and wasn’t able to see different sides of a decision
Impact on an Agile Team
How does that impact the effectiveness of an Agile team?
- It can stifle the contribution of others on the team. It’s well known that more minds can work better than one and the performance of a team is maximized when everyone on the team is fully engaged and actively contributing to decisions and the work of the team.
- It can lead to poor decisions. Decisions may be biased in favor of one person’s point of view and may not objectively consider all aspects of the problem
Developing and Improving Emotional Intelligence
For more detail on developing and improving emotional intelligence, check out this article:
Overall Summary
Emotional Intelligence is important in an Agile environment.
- It is essential for creating an environment of trust where people feel comfortable with being open and honest with others in a small group
- Once people have become comfortable with doing that in a small group, they can then take more risks and practice the same behavior outside of that small protected group environment
- Self-awareness is a very important skill for achieving emotional intelligence. You must be able to see yourself openly and honestly in order to improve
Check out my previous article on Agile Leadership and I think you will understand why effective leadership is extremely difficult and so important in an Agile environment with high performance teams. Agile is based heavily on transparency and openness and if you can’t be open and transparent about who you are as a person, you will have a difficult time being effective in an Agile environment.
Related Articles
Check out the following related articles on “Agile Leadership”:
- What Is Servant Leadership and How Does It Relate to Agile?
- How Do You Develop and Improve Emotional Intelligence?
- What’s Different About Agile Leadership?
- Fear of Failure Can Cripple a Project
- Managing Team Conflict in Agile Teams – Is Conflict Normal?
- Was Steve Jobs an Agile Leader?
- Emotional Intelligence in Agile – Why Is Emotional Intelligence Important?
- Using an Adaptive Leadership Style in Agile
Check out the following related articles on “Agile Teams”:
- What Is Distributed Project Management? Why Does it Make Sense?
- Improving Agile Team Performance – How Do You Improve Team Performance in an Agile Environment?
- How Do You Develop and Improve Emotional Intelligence?
- Managing Team Conflict in Agile Teams – Is Conflict Normal?
- Emotional Intelligence in Agile – Why Is Emotional Intelligence Important?
- What Are Self-Organizing Teams?
- Agile Cross-Functional Teams – Lessons Learned from Sports
Additional Resources
Resources for Agile Project Management Online Training.
Emotional intelligence (EQ) is crucial in Agile environments, as it fosters teamwork, open communication, and trust. Agile relies on collaboration, and leaders with high EQ can manage emotions effectively, promote transparency, and create a safe space for team members to contribute freely. A lack of emotional intelligence can stifle creativity and hinder decision-making. Building self-awareness and social skills is key to improving team dynamics and overall Agile success.
For more insights, check out the full post: https://nidhikapoor.com/develop-your-emotional-intelligence/