applying emotional intelligence to testing
TRANSCRIPT
MJ AM Tutorial
10/13/2014 8:30:00 AM
"Applying Emotional Intelligence to
Testing"
Presented by:
Thomas McCoy
Australian Department of Social Services
Brought to you by:
340 Corporate Way, Suite 300, Orange Park, FL 32073
888-268-8770 ∙ 904-278-0524 ∙ [email protected] ∙ www.sqe.com
Thomas McCoy
Australian Department of Social Services Australian software testing professional, teacher, and journalist Thomas McCoy has worked in the IT industry for more than two decades. Much of this time was spent as a software developer and IT manager with Australian government agencies. Wanting to make a greater contribution to software quality, Thomas re-oriented his career into the emerging discipline of software testing and has been an enthusiastic promoter of the profession ever since. At conferences in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Asia, and the United States, Thomas is a popular keynote speaker, who has received several best presentation awards. You can reach Thomas at [email protected].
Speaker Presentations
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Apply Emotional Intelligence to Your Testing
Thomas McCoyBJourn, BSc, DipEd, MInfTech
Canberra, Australia
Privacy Agreement
Because some of the topics in this session may relate to sensitive thoughts and feelings, could I ask you to keep the discussions taking place today confidential? Thanks.
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Topics• Introduction• What is
Emotional Intelligence?
• How high isyour EI?
• Motivation• Conflict• Stress• Anger
Management
• Assertiveness • Nonverbal
Communication• Listening Skills• Empathy• Feedback • Introversion and
Extroversion• Inspiring Others • Summary and
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Introduction
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What is Emotional Intelligence?
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What are emotions?
• Impulses to act
• Root of word is “motere” (Latin verb “to move”) plus prefix “e-” to connote “move away”
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Emotional IntelligencePopularised in 1995 by New York Times science journalist andHarvard University psychologist,Dr Daniel Goleman through enormously successful book
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“EI is about how well we handle ourselves and our relationships.”• Self Awareness Knowing what we feel and why (can help good intuition
and decision making)
• Self Management Handling distressing emotions in an effective way Being in tune with negative emotions when we need to
but also generating positive emotions e.g. enthusiasm
• Empathy Knowing what other people are feeling
• Social Skills Being able to interact positively with other people
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What is EI?
The ability to use our
understanding of emotions,
in ourselves and others, to
deal effectively with people
and problems in a way that
reduces anger and hostility,
develops collaborative effort,
enhances life-balance and
produces creative energy.
Tester Developer
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Four key EI skills
•Self Awareness
•Self-Management
•Social Awareness
•Relationship Management
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Self-awareness
• Emotional self-awareness
• Accurate self-assessment
• Self confidence
Being aware of your own emotions and recognising their impact
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Self-management
• Emotional self-control
• Achievement orientation
• Transparency
• Optimism
• Adaptability
• Initiative
Keeping disruptive emotions and impulses under control Is that a
bug?
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Social awareness
• Empathy
• Organisational awareness
• Service orientation
Being able to tune into how others feel and to read situations
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Project Retrospective
Relationship management
• Developing others
• Inspirational leadership
• Influence
• Change catalyst
• Conflict management
• Teamwork and collaboration
Being able to guide the emotional tone of the group
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Amygdala
“Amygdala Hijack”
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EI: What it is and isn’t• It’s self awareness, not self obsession
• It’s managing feelings so they’re expressed appropriately; it’s not suppressing emotions or giving in to them
• It’s handling relationships and this doesn’t necessarily mean “being nice”. (For example, EI can mean confronting someone with an uncomfortable truth like “your program needs to be rewritten”)
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“IQ gets you hired, but EQ gets you promoted.”
Anonymous
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“The secret of success is sincerity.
Once you can fake that you’ve got it made.”
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Jean Giradoux
Successful French writer and diplomat
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How high is your EI?
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EI Self Assessment
• Read through each of the 10 questions and circle your chosen answer
• We’ll do the scoring afterwards
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How did you go?
Percentage Meaning
Above 80% Excellent
50% to 80%OK, most people score
around 65%
Under 50% Some things to think about
Please note that this test is just supposed
to give you a rough indication, and a
“flavour” for EI; it is not a serious
psychological instrument.
How can we use EI in testing?1. In test execution, we can trust our
intuition and gut feelings to revealsomething about the systemwe are testing:
anger confusion frustration surprise impatience amusement
2. In the broader testing context, it applies to the many, complex interactions that happen in an IT project
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Connecting emotionallywith end users
Is this the user’s reality?
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Motivation
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Why are you in testing?
Did you choose testing …
… or did testing choose you?
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The Testing Mindset
• Like to break things
• Like to criticise
• Cynical
• Inquisitive
• Pedantic
• Attention to detail
• Meticulous
• Persistent
• Pessimistic
• Sceptical
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What motivates you about testing?
Money
Finding bugs
Criticising the developers
Being part of the team
Contributing to quality
Helping the company
Intellectual challenge
Protecting the end user
Give me a hug,
I found a bug!
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What motivates other roles in the IT project?
• Senior Manager: everything under control
• Project Manager:cost and schedule
• Business Analyst: required features are implemented
• Developer: code runs correctly
• Marketing: popular features are included, product ships on time
Implement NOW!
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Conflict
Conflict
• Our profession, with its high risks, is a breeding ground for conflict
• We constantly face unrealistic deadlines, stress, anger and frustration
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Conflict resolution1. View person as a potential ally2. Clarify perceptions: yours and theirs3. Focus on shared goals4. If past issues are stopping you from
moving forward they may need to be discussed
5. Try to be empathic and good humoured6. Follow up on any agreements in writing
to avoid disagreements later
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If all that fails …• Maybe you’re dealing with an office
psychopath• Sometimes it’s not you, it’s them
Book was written by a Sydney forensic psychologist, who gave a lecture on criminal psychopaths, and afterwards an audience member came up and said “that’s just like someone I work with”. This inspired him to write the book.
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Stress
Stress
The experience of a threat to our well-being which gives rise to a physiological reaction to prepare us for fight or flight.
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Stress prevention• Exercise and nutrition
• Clarity of purpose clear vision and values so you can focus your
energies e.g. we exist to help the end user
• Support network
• Life balance
• Self esteem
• Challenge self defeating beliefs e.g. can overwork if you believe you must be
perfect and never let a bug get past you
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Stress management• Be assertive (sometimes
we need to say “no”)• Relaxation• Letting go of things that aren’t worth
fighting for
• Appreciation of what’s going well in life
• Calming self talk
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Anger Management
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AngerAnger is part of a defence system to deal with threat and usually results from frustration. People often either:Keep a lid on it
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Dealing with anger
Emotionally
Intelligent
Emotionally
Unintelligent
ActiveAssert
YourselfLet Loose!
Passive Calm Yourself Give In
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Self-talk while you’re stewing
• I can find a way of saying what I want without being angry
• My anger will upset me and everyone else
• It’s not about right and wrong, it’s about different needs
• I can keep calm and relax
• It doesn’t help to get upset
• If I lose control, I could lose out
• I’m not going to do anything crazyor insult anyone
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Stopping the amygdala hijack1. Say “STOP” in your head
2. Take a deep breath
3. Breathe out slowly. Relax the muscles in your face, mouth and jaws
4. Take another deep breath
5. Breathe out slowly. Relax the muscles of your shoulders, arms and hands
6. Face the other person. Start again in a calmer state of mind
7. Breathe slowly
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Assertiveness
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Assertiveness
I Win I Lose
You Win Assertive Passive
You Lose Aggressive ????
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Assertiveness is being self-assured and confident without being aggressive
Assertive behaviours
• Refusing requests
• Standing up for your rights
• Expressing personal opinions, including disagreement
• Expressing justified displeasure and anger
• Initiating and maintaining conversation
• Giving and receiving compliments
• Making requests (e.g. asking for favours or help)
• Expressing appreciation
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Assertive verbal skills1. Saying “no”
2. Broken record
3. Forced choice
4. Dismissing andrefocusing
5. Embeddingstatement in question
6. Fogging
7. Asking for details
8. Compromising
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No!
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Nonverbal Communication
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Communication Element
Words7 %
Body language55 %
Voice tone38 %
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Nonverbals• Touch
• Voice
• Space
• Gestures
• Eye contact
• Facial expressions
• Body movements and posture
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Mirroring
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Nonverbal communication• Eye contact Duration of contact and
expression in eyes
• Facial expression Is it happy, angry, sad,
masklike, etc?
• Tone of voice Is it warm, bright and
confident or fearful and constricted?
• Posture and gestures Relaxed and open?
• Intensity Reflects the amount of
energy and will vary with situation and audience
• Timing and pace Are responses coming too
quickly or slowly?
• Sounds that convey awareness and understanding Such as “hmmm”
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Using your voice
• Paralinguistics: “it’s not what you say but how you say it”.
• Voice tone is 38% and comprises: Emphasis Volume Pitch Inflection Articulation Pace
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“Did you finish the test plan?”• Did you finish the test plan?
(has it been done?)
• Did you finish the test plan?(was it you who finished it?)
• Did you finish the test plan?(is it finished?)
• Did you finish the test plan?(as opposed to some other plan)
• Did you finish the test plan?(as opposed to the test strategy)
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Listening Skills
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Time spent on different communication activities
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Writing9% Reading
16%
Speaking30%
Listening45%
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Why does listening matter to us?• Obtain richer information than from writing
because we have words and nonverbals
• Can ask questions
• Encourages others to share with us
• Means they will listen to us too
• Helps team members resolvetheir own issues
• Increases our perceived IQ
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Whole body listening• facing speaker
• leaning forward
• nodding, smiling
• eye contact
• friendly noises “ah ha”
• mirroring
• not playing on mobile devices
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Need to watch and listen to ensure
words are consistent with
nonverbals
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Effective listening• Clear your head
• Listen (don’t be thinking of the next question or your response)
• Allow silence (don’t interrupt)
• Don’t daydream
• Use acknowledging responses but don’t just parrot (people are wise to this)
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Effective listening
• Don’t finish sentences
• Don’t change subject
• Avoid distractions
• Avoid mind reading
• Avoid a premature solution
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Active listening
• encouragement
• clarify meaning
• check accuracy
• check feelings
• summarise content
• acknowledge what was said
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Empathy
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Empathy• Sits between Apathy and Sympathy
• Means understanding somebody from their point of view by sensingand experiencing theirfeelings and perspective
• We should seek to understandbefore being understood
• A key skill for testing professionals
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Empathic questions
• Short general open questions Who, what, where, when, how
• Encouragement Tell me more, go on
• Seek clarification In what way did you resolve the issue?
• Focus on what matters to the person How is that important to you?
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Why do we need empathy?
• Persuasion
Means we better understand other person which leads to appreciation of their position
• Conflict management
Conflict is often based on misunderstanding
• Networking
Empathy helps us develop influence
• Client needs
If we don’t empathise we can’t serve them
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Feedback
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Testing Definition (old)
“To tell somebody that he or she is wrong is called criticism.
To do so officially is
called testing.”
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• This role has been fading away
• It eventually became “trusted advisor” (EI sanitised term)
• And now we are even more touchy-feely, as members of self-directed teams
The “Quality Cops?
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Emotionally laden critical terms• Bug
• Defect
• Deviation
• Error
• Fail
• Fault
• Problem
These words are from the ISTQB Glossary and carry emotional baggage. “Incident” is a more neutral term, as is “test query”.
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Vehicles for public “criticism”
• Metrics
• E-mails
• Incident reports
• Newsletter items
• Public conversations
• Testing summary reports
• Team meetings or discussions
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Of course, we are also at the receiving end
How do we feel when:
• Our incidents are rejected?
• Our expertise is questioned?
• We are blamed for faults appearing in Production?
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Giving emotionally intelligent criticism
1. Not in public (if possible)
2. Use the kiss-kick-kiss sandwich
3. Don’t personalise (talk in the abstract)
4. Never, ever, say “don’t be defensive”
5. Praise good things at all times
6. Ensure they’re OK
7. Admitting our own mistakes
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Feedback vs. criticism
• Feedback is a broader term than criticism (sometimes called “negative feedback”)
• While it often features criticism and unpleasant observations, it can also include praise and support
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Effective feedback needs to be:
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• fair
• accurate
• specific
• structured
• outcome oriented
• focused on behaviour, not person
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Giving Feedback• Do it in private
• Make it a positive experience
• Be sensitive to person’s reactions
• Prepare your comments in advance
• Be specific and give examples
• Use “I” statements e.g. “I feel it might have worked better if …”
• Ask for the person’s response e.g. “what is your reaction?”
• Talk about positives (especially in summing up)
• Provide specific suggestions
Don’t do this
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Opening words Describe
1. When you… problem behaviour
2. It causes… objective consequences
3. And we feel… feeling
4. Could you… change that is needed
5. This would mean… effect of change
6. We would feel… how people would feel
7. What do you think? give control back to person
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A feedback sequence
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The internal critic• Aspiring to high
standards can make us critical of ourselves
• “Professional pessimism” can spill from the workplace into our lives
• Can lead to negative self talk
Crikey, how could you
have missed that?
Even Wally would have
found it! You’ve really
messed up big time!
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Silencing the internal critic1. Stop the thoughts by yelling “stop” (to yourself)
2. Take some deep breaths
3. Replace the negative self talk “Everybody sometimes misses a bug; I’ll review my
methods to see why”
“There’s no telling what Wally would have done and it’s not relevant”
“I’ve proven my value to the project in the past, I’ll keep doing that in the future, and can learn from this experience”
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Learned optimism
Optimist Pessimist
Permanence Just a
temporary
setback
Will go on
forever
Pervasiveness Specific to this
situation
Will affect my
whole life
Personalisation Was caused by
many factors
It’s all my
fault
Different ways of thinking about “bad events” that can also help silence the Internal Critic
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Introversion and Extroversion
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How they are different
• Introverts get their energy from within and tend to be quiet, thoughtful, and like being alone
• Extroverts get their energy from outside and tend to be talkative, outspoken and love the company of other people
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Book by Susan Cain
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Adjusting our style
• Programmer: introvert?
• Tester: introvert/extrovert?
• Sales: extrovert?
• Project manager: extrovert?
• Client: introvert/extrovert?
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Inspiring Others
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Words
• Love
• Faith
• Hope
• Belief
• Honour
• Promise
• Connectedness
• A brighter day
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Body Language• Intense eye contact
• Sincere expression
• Upright but relaxed posture
• Good hand gestures with lots of pointing
• Shifts around slightly while he speaks, conveys energy
• Uses open gestures and touches heart
• Serious and intense expression, sometimes a half smile
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Voice
• Clear and calm delivery
• Good use of pitch, pace, pause, and projection
• Speaks more quickly and loudly as he gets towards the end
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Emotions• Heartfelt and sincere
• Positive and enthusiastic
• Connectedness and community: repeats USA often
• Humility: "my presence here is unlikely", “I owe a debt”
• Empathy: story about child who can’t read and senior citizen who can’t get medicine “that matters to me”STAR West 2014 Version 1.0
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Techniques• Uses repetition
• Uses famous cliches “I am my brother's keeper”, “Out of many, one”
• Uses stories with vivid verbal imagery: “slaves sitting around fire singing”, “naval officer patrolling”
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Testing Manifesto
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1. Our primary aim is to protect the organisation, developers and users from defective software.
2. We respect the talents and capabilities of our developer colleagues and appreciate the complexities involved in the software development process.
3. Similarly, we are grateful that our developer colleagues understand and value our testing activities.
4. We are mindful of the fact that our colleagues are often working under substantial time and budget pressures, as we are too.
5. We acknowledge that we also make mistakes.
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6. We seek to employ the most efficient and effective testing practices available to uncover issues.
7. While we have no desire to harm, criticise, or adversely affect our developer colleagues, we are nonetheless compelled to serve our primary aim.
8. We will report all issues dispassionately and factually, avoiding emotive expressions, and aiming to avoid apportioning blame on individuals or groups (where possible).
9. If we have raised an issue in error, we will happily cancel it provided an evidence-based explanation is given.
10. We are proud to be working alongside our developer colleagues, and the many other talented project team members, to achieve positive outcomes for all.
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Key Points
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Key Points 1• Emotional Intelligence (EI) provides guidance on how to work
effectively with people.
• This is especially relevant to the testing profession, with its pressures and tight timeframes.
• EI breaks skills down into those relating to self and those relating to others.
• Unlike IQ, which declines into old age, EI can be improved.
• Your EI assessment result provides some guidance in relation to improvements you could make.
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Key Points 2
• The amygdala is an area of the brain that can cause a "meltdown" if we are not in control of our emotions.
• Motivation is important in understanding what drives us and others.
• Conflict is something we must deal with to be effective. (Contrary to popular belief, the absence of conflict does not necessarily mean things are going well.)
• Stress and anger management are important in our profession, which often involves long hours and weekend work.
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Key Points 3• Assertiveness is a skill we must develop so we are not
constantly dumped on by work.
• Nonverbal communication is important for us to communicate effectively but also for us to understand the subtexts of the communication of others.
• The effective use of one's voice can be extremely powerful.
• These days, with hectic schedules and short attention spans we tend not to listen enough, and this is a skill worth developing.
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Key Points 4• Empathy is a skill that allows us to understand others more
deeply.
• Feedback must be given sensitively, especially with criticism being a core part of our role.
• We may have to silence our own “internal critic” at times.
• Many of us are introverts, which can present challenges when wanting to participate more fully in team discussions.
• Inspiring others is an important skill and we can draw on a range of EI techniques to achieve this.
• It may be time for us to construct an EI-inspired Testing Manifesto.
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Recommended Reading
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Bradberry & Greaves 2009, Emotional Intelligence 2.0
Cain, Susan 2012, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
Clarke, John 2007, The Pocket Psycho
Ellis, Albert 2002, Anger: How to Live With and Without It
Goleman, Daniel 1995, Emotional Intelligence
Goleman, Daniel 2006, Social Intelligence
Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee 2013, Primal Leadership
Jeffers, Susan 2006, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway
Seligman, Martin 2006, Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life
Smith, Manuel 1985, When I Say No, I Feel Guilty
Stein, Steven 2009, Emotional Intelligence for Dummies
Wilding, Christine 2008, Teach yourself Emotional IntelligenceSTAR West 2014 Version 1.0
Thank You!
For any enquiries contact:
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