EQ@WORKplaybook part 4 / 4humansatwork.io

RELATIONSHIPMANAGEMENT

Welcome

Why does this playbook exist?EQ > IQWe believe, and abundant research confirms, that building high performing and happy teams requires more than IQ.

Power is in the practiceWe found a lot of theory around EQ but little actionable content to help you put these ideas into practice - which is where the magic happens.

Powerful content meets great designThe exercises we could find were scrambled across the web, often hiding in unsexy 90's-resembling webpages.

Building on these observations, we've created the EQ@WORK playbook: an actionable guide to help you put theory into practice and become more emotionally intelligent at work.

What to expect:

● EQ broken down into juicy bite-sized learning summaries● Practical exercises you can implement today● Practices designed for individuals, teams and organisations

What not to expect:

● A conclusive study of all research on EQ and all its nuances

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2

3

An introduction

Relationship Management

Individual

Team

Organisation

Individual

ACTION AREAS

Click on the above diagram or scroll down to navigate

Welcome to the 4th and final part of our EQ@WORK playbook series.

Our journey has taken us from knowing and managing oneself,to knowing and managing the other. The social awarenesscultivated in part 3 will serve us well as we move into the artof relationship management. Ranging from conflict resolutionto inspirational leadership, how we understand and related tothe people around us defines our enjoyment and success at work.

In this playbook we will explore:

1. Deepen your understanding of how you, and others, work2. Cultivating your team’s strengths for inspirational leadership3. Navigating your organisation culture to bring the best out

of the individual and the collective

EQ matters!AT&T carried out an organisation wide EQ

study and found that across all levels of management, employees with high levels of

EQ were 20% more productive! Source: Talentsmart

Deepen your capacity to understand and work with others

Relationship management with yourself

“Teamwork begins by building trust, and the only way

to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability.”

- Patrick Lencioni

We spend more time with our colleagues than with our friends and

family. But do you really understand your co-workers? Does your

team understand you? Wait a second... Do you understand you?!

Or are you, like most of us, uncovering your colleagues’

personalities, preferences, and sensitivities through tedious

trial-and-error over months, even years?

What are the shortcuts to accelerating this learning curve, avoiding

misunderstandings and amping up our collaborative potential?

What if you would have a ‘user manual’ detailing how to get the

best of out each person in your team, and vice versa? Let’s give it a

go!

1. Get in the zone

Find a peaceful spot and 15 minutes of

uninterrupted time. With concentration

maximum tunes playing and pen and

paper in hand, answer the reflection

prompts on the next page. Do not let

perfect get in the way of good. This is an

iterative process and your manual will

evolve over time.

📕 Framework

Building your User Manual

2. Test with a close few

Once in a happy place, complete our

User Manual template (or create your

own simple doc) and get feedback from a

few close colleagues who know you best.

What would they change/add to your

manual?

For this to be effective you must share your thoughts and ideas openly, honestly, and without fearof judgment with your team. This has been repeatedly proven to be the key to innovative and happy teams.

3. Bring your team on the journey

Sit with your team, explain you want to

build trust and understanding, and share

your manual. Encourage them to create

their own, and caveat that this is done

knowing that not all our preferences can

be met, but that there is value in building

mutual understanding.

📕 Framework

Your User Manual template

Chapter 1: Getting personal

What do I really value in life:

The qualities and traits you strive

for and admire in other people.

What brings out my best:

Think back to when a time when you

were at your best .. what enabled you?

What frustrates me:

Go nuts on the things that drive you

nuts. Don’t hold back.

Chapter 2: My toolbox

My strengths - let’s use them:

Time to blow that trumpet.. share the

areas you rock at and what the team

can come to you for

My blind-spots - please help me:

We all have them.. share the areas

you’re working on improving

Misunderstandings about me:

Provide clarity around the things that

people might misunderstand about your

weird & wonderful self

Chapter 3: Working together

How I like to work:

Under which working conditions, do you

create your best work? Early bird or

night owl?

How to communicate with me:

What’s the best way to convince you?

What’s the best way to give you

feedback?

When shit hits the fan:

How do you react to stress? How can

the team support in crisis?

written on _______________“_____________________________________________________________________________________”

🚀 Practice

________’s User ManualChapter 1: Getting personal

What do I really value in life:

What brings out my best:

What frustrates me:

Chapter 2: My toolbox

My strengths - let’s use them:

My blind-spots - please help me:

Misunderstandings about me:

Chapter 3: Working together

How I like to work:

How to communicate with me:

When shit hits the fan:

written on _______________“_____________________________________________________________________________________”

🚀 Example

Bob’s User ManualChapter 1: Getting personal

What do I really value in life:

I highly value people keeping to their

word (their say-to-do ratio). I admire

others who embody a growth mindset,

and invest time into development

What brings out my best:

Clear ownership and accountability is a

must, and I come alive when I am

connecting deeply with people and

creating new opportunities.

What frustrates me:

Meetings without a clear agenda, mobiles

that beep and distract, people not getting

back or acknowledging a message!

written on March 2019“How we spend our days is, ofcourse, how we spend our lives”

Chapter 2: My toolbox

My strengths - let’s use them:

Thinking strategically to break down

problems. I also have a massive eye for

the detail, and have an ability to get

focused quickly without any coffee!

My blind-spots - please help me:

My mind is very structured - I am trying

to become more flexible, and give others

more time to solve problems vs me jump

in. I also wear my emotions on my sleeve.

Misunderstandings about me:

I have high expectations and can be

critical - know this comes from the high

expectations I set for myself and the

potential I see in others.

Chapter 3: Working together

How I like to work:

A clean and tidy office. A morning person

for creative thinking. Prefer scheduled

meetings and having calls after lunch. No

technology past 8 PM for me!

How to communicate with me:

I like to think out loud using both

numbers and feelings. I give a lot of

feedback and want as much feedback as

possible! Let’s create a structure for this.

When shit hits the fan:

I go red and am visibly distressed. Let’s

take a break, collect our thoughts and

come back to it with a fresh mind.

Relationship management with your team

Cultivating strengths for inspirational leadership

“The task of leadership is to create an

alignment of strengths in ways that make

weaknesses irrelevant.”- Peter Drucker

As team leaders and managers, you have an enormous opportunity (and responsibility) to develop your team into becoming inspiring leaders in their own right.

A study by Bain & Company analysed over 3,000 leaders and found that there’s a HUGE correlation between consistently demonstrating one’s strengths and being recognised as an inspirational leader by those we work with.

As a leader, how can you help your team become more aware of their individual strengths? And how can you enable them to use their strengths everyday?

Fundamentally, we want you to convert your team’s strengths into superpowers!

📕 Framework + Practice

Uncovering strengths that inspire

1 Co-create a strength-based

development plan with each of your

team members

Spend ~30 minutes with each

individual in your team to create a

strength-based development plan.

Our guide on the right outlines the

key questions you can use during the

discussion with your team members.

Focus on the top 3 strengths for

each individual, and double down to

make sure actions are very specific.

STRENGTHS VISION GAMEPLAN

What action can you take this

week? What responsibilities can

you take on this month that play to

your strengths? What opportunities

can you explore this year to turn

your strengths into superpowers?

Flexibility will help me adapt tomy changing environment androle and embrace uncertainty.

- Block a weekly 2 hour window in my

calendar to reflect and adapt

- Run a training session with the

team to build their adaptability

Listening will enable me to build massive trust and empathy with my colleagues and clients.

- Finish the humans@work

‘Listening Loudly’ challenge

- Take on a new client that others

have struggled to engage with

Why is this strength important?

How will it enable you to achieve

your goals? What might be

possible if you developed it more?

Do this for each strength

When have you been at your

best in the last 6 months?

What strengths emerged?

Uncover your top 3

strengths.

Took massive ownership of

the last project, listening to

the needs of the client

Showed flexibility when

plans changed last-minute

EXAMPLES

📕 Framework

Cultivating superpowersMaximise your team performance

After a few quarters of consistent strength-based

development, you will start seeing positive effects on team

performance, targets and more. But you can always take it one

step further in unlocking the potential of your team.

Restructure your team and responsibilities if needed so

that each individual has the opportunity to play to their

strengths.

When expanding your team or filling any vacancies,

keep in mind how the individual will fit into your

strengths-based team. Think about strengths that are

lacking within the team or that will compliment those

of existing team members.

Actively support their development

The plan you’ve co-created will become the core of your

team members’ development. Now it’s time to execute on

their plans and grow. Here’s a few tips to help you ensure

the goals and actions outlined are achieved.

Regular check-ins

Set up time once a quarter to check-in with each

individual on their development. This is also a great

opportunity to review and build on the existing plan.

Build accountability structures within your team

Create smaller groups within your team (ideally 2 or

3 members each) to encourage and support each

other towards achieving their development goals.

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Relationship management with your organization

“The achievements of an organisation are

the results of the combined effort of

each individual.”

To be (our whole self) or not to be...That is the question!We have one goal: to build a thriving organisation with high-performing, happy and inclusive teams. What culture should we create to achieve this goal?

Do you encourage people to bring their “whole self” to work OR do you drive shared values across teams? Do you focus on unlocking the individual OR the maximising potential across the organisation?

Or is this is a trick question and, perhaps, this is not a either/or problem to solve but a tension to manage. How do we focus on the individual AND organisation? Let’s get this party started.

FOCUS ON THE ORGANISATION&FOCUS ON THE INDIVIDUAL

Posi

tive

res

ult

sN

egat

ive

resu

lts

The best of the individual

+ Individual creativity encouraged+ Personal goals supported

+ Colleagues feel valued and heard+ Fun, play and strong personal

bonds supported

- Organization's goals ignored in favour of personal goals

- Lack of alignment across teams- “Us” and “them” sub-groups form

- Lack of professionalism impacts relationships

The worst of the individual

- Group think, stifled creativity due to pressure to think like others

- Individuals not felt empowered or supported

- Personal values and goals neglected

The worst of the organisation

The best of the organisation

+ Shared purpose and values leads to high moral

+ Organisation goals supported+ Strong collective results and

collaboration across teams

📕 Framework

Mapping out the Pros and ConsTo understand where your culture is today, we invite you to map out the positives and negatives your organisation experiences today. We have shared an example to help you on your way, but recommend you ask the following questions with your co-workers:

What positives and negatives do we see today from focusing on the individual? What positives and negatives do we see today from focusing on the organisation?

Ultimate aim: A thriving organisation with high-performing, happy and inclusive teams.

Focus more on the individual by: Focus more on the organisation by:

Actions and behaviors

to start

- Colleagues to host lunch & learn meetings on specific interest areas

- Monthly team rotations to build empathy with other functions

- Build organisation values and exemplar behaviours into onboarding

- Co-create a clear purpose statement for each team

Actions and behaviors

to continue

- Quarterly manager training on how to coach and mentor

- Clear criteria for outstanding leader of the quarter award

- Monthly org’ wide calls to share latest organisation goals and learnings

- Budget for cross-team social activities

Actions and behaviorsto stop

- Strong individual salary incentives (replace with team-level incentives)

- Start each meeting by acknowledging dangers of groupthink

🚀 Practice

Navigating your cultureUnderstanding where we are today can help us shape our vision for tomorrow. The final step is to identify, with your team, a collective vision for tomorrow and we have some suggestions on how you are going to get there:

In a world where the pace of change has never been this fast (yet it will never be this slow again),

how might we build resilient and healthy organisations that thrive and embrace this change?

The answers may well lie in EQ.

Which elements of emotional intelligencedo you and your team seek to practice?

The most important skill to improve workplace communication

#listen #60minutes

Understand what really motivates your team

#survey #15minutes

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Recommended

If you’re hungry for more

“If more information was the answer, we'd all be billionaires with perfect abs”

GO FORTH AND ACT!

Cracking the code: How leaders inspire

#read #10 minutes

The ultimate framework for coaching

#exercise #10minutes

Last but not least… This is water#watch and watch again #20 minutes

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Until next time

Behind the scenesThank you for reading! If you like what you see, please share this playbook on your socials or with someone you think could benefit from these exercises.

There’s more where this came from - stay tuned:

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organisations and redefine how we work.

We are evolving and invite you to get involved& join us in shaping the future of work!

Hi there! We’re Anshul, Nadia & Ben - the humans behind this playbook. We’d love to hear from you!

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