Regarding Emotional Intelligence

Complete the table below until all of the lectures and experiences of the workshop have been completed.

1. The two fields in which I am most strong are emotional awareness and resolution of conflict. Emotional intelligence is the ability to use an individual's and others' understanding of emotions to deal effectively with a situation which reduces wrath to generate creative energy. The fact that you enjoy socializing suggests that you have the ability to read, be receptive and influence others, and emotions. As a core competence, you have the ability to manage emotional state by shifting to more desirable emotions. This is justified by the fact on yourself reflection paper that you are outgoing and happy person. The other competencies of emotional intelligence that you exhibit are self motivation and effective relationships. Self motivation involves activities done to reward one for making spectacular achievements. Such activities include touring and travelling during job vacations. Effective relationship relates to groups and is indicated by the fact that you like socializing. An example of positive use of emotions is seen in the self reflection paper where it's shown that you enjoy losing, but will take it as constructive criticism.

The other area that you look strong in is conflict resolution. This is an art and process of solving and ending continuous disagreements among the individuals. Conflict resolution goes hand in hand with emotional intelligence. The aspect of socialization portrays the ability to manipulate other individuals during the conflict resolution process. A happy and an outgoing person have a total control of feelings, thus, a good characteristic of conflict resolution. Socialization easily finds an application in conflict resolution and can successfully be applied in collaboration as a conflict resolution strategy. In this case, mutual cooperation of the involved parties makes a remarkable contribution to the resolution. There are a few skills involved in conflict resolution. The first step is deciding a strategy that will be used. A root source of the conflict should be identified before deciding a way through which it will be addressed. Type of conflict should also be identified before it's tackled. Conflict can therefore be categorised as. It is important to emphasize that dealing with conflicts early is usually better. It's not advisable to take sides while solving disagreements. The best way of addressing conflict in its early stages is through negotiation between the participants. Later on, the conflict is likely to need mediation, arbitration or court judgement. The five strategies of dealing with conflict include; competition or fight where strength of one party wins the situation. The second is collaboration and this is a win/win situation as it require the inputs of those who are involved. The third is negotiation, avoidance and smoothing of the problem.

2. The one or two areas in which I need more improvement are: Negotiation and effective communication skills. Negotiation is the dialogue between two or more people/parties intended to reach an agreement where issues cause conflicts. It is a method of settling differences while avoiding arguments and disputes. I any conflict, parties understandably aim to achieve the best possible outcome for their positions. However, it is important to understand the principles of fairness while seeking mutual benefit and maintaining relationship is a requirement to successful outcome. The negotiation procedure follows a structured approach. Stage by stage approach includes; preparation, where decision is taken into account where the meeting will be discussed. Discussion is the second stage, where individuals put forward the case as they see it. The skills required in this stage are questioning, listening and clarifying information. Each party is warded equal opportunity to present their case. The third stage is clarifying goals; this is the point where goals, interests and viewpoints of all the parties are considered. It is an essential part of the negotiation process and without it; misunderstandings are likely to occur causing barriers and problems to reaching a beneficial outcome. The fourth stage is negotiating towards win-win. This is the stage where both parties feel that they have gained something positive in the negotiation process. It is always the best result and ultimate goal of the stage. Suggestion of alternative strategies needs to be considered. Agreement is the last stage of negotiation process, usually achieved if understanding of both parties' interests and viewpoints are considered.

The other area that needs much improvement is effective communication skills. Communication is the process of sending and receiving messages between two or more persons. It's a key interpersonal communication skill and so learning how to improve our communication has so many benefits. The following skills will help an individual to improve communication skills; Learn to listen; listening is totally different from hearing. A person should learn to listen to spoken and no verbal words. Therefore, one should use techniques like clarification and reflection to confirm what the other has said. People should not try thinking what they will say while listening, instead an individual should clear mind and focus on the message being delivered.

Another important skill to effective communication is being aware of other people's emotions. This can be done by being sympathetic towards other peoples fortunes and congratulate their positive achievements. It forces an individual to be aware of other people's lives. In such a case, we use and maintain eye contact. During the communication, do not be afraid to ask other for their opinions as this makes them feel valued.

Before commencing communication, one should consider the emotional effect of what is to be said. It is advisable to communicate within the norms and behavior acceptable to the other person.

3. If I only did one thing to improve in this area, it would be: Improving negotiation and persuasive style. There are several techniques available for improving negotiation ability. There are available pieces of articles that contain what individuals should do thus leading negotiation such as doing background research. The spell what to do in the middle f negotiation such as maintaining good posture. These are pieces of advice that can also help in the context of negotiation. Like any other problem, the solution lies with the practice. Practical exercises are needed for individuals who want to position themselves better than the negotiator. The following exercises are likely to improve a person's negotiation skills.

a. It's always good to listen to other people. Listening is the biggest and most important part of effective communication. Listening allows one to understand what is going on in another individual's head. Moreover, listening more and talking a little puts one in a position power while negotiating. It means other parties giving more information than they are given. Like all other skills, listening takes practice to perfect. A person can start with friends and family, speaking less and listening more until it becomes a natural element of communication rhythm. From there, it will be easily integrated in the negotiation situations.

b. It is important to conduct research. Before entering into any negotiation, one needs to have done thorough research. You should identify the best way to go about your research. Occasional research is not recommended for negotiation cases. You need to undertake practice in researching by learning the best approaches for search, gathering resources and learning the questions that should be addressed by the research. Researching is an important skill which if refined, can greatly improve negotiation because they provide detailed pockets of information.

c. Learning body language cues. The percentage of non verbal communication varies depending on who is asked, but there is no doubt that body language is a core variable in interpersonal communication. Subtle cues such as uncomfortable posture on the chair or excessive blinking of the eyes can give an insight in what is taking place in another person's mind. You need to be used to such kinds of body language. The only way of achieving this is through continuous study and practice, observation of body language of people that you know. Similarly, this should be done even to strangers when one gets the chance.

d. Practice saying no. Saying no looks tougher than it sounds. For example, when a friend asks help in moving or when the boss asks you to take the assignment beyond your capability, you tend to comply out of sense of responsibility. This leads to procrastination in your case that leads to late finishing. This shows compliance to peoples demands out of fear of how to give appropriate rejection. In negotiation, while leveraging your position, you should be ready to reject offers presented on the table. Accordingly, you should practice saying no so that you can be comfortable with the process. This doesn't mean that you reject everything by saying no but its compatibility with lower stakes situations.

4. Making this change would probably result in: there is no doubt that negotiation is important aspect of business. In today's market, the ability to negotiate effectively is highly valued than before. Evidently, negotiation skills are more important in business. The following are benefits of effective negotiation and communication skills.

a. Problem solution. Negotiation is more of solving problems. Every day, we face different challenges ranging form minor disagreements to interpersonal and professional conflicts. Each situation is unique in its own way. Learning and practicing negotiation and communication skills can be easily applied in the vast challenges that we face. Since negotiation includes problem solving, an individual can easily assort effective strategy to be adapted for problem encounter.

b. Communication. Learning to communicate possibly makes it possible for negotiation to be successful. Negotiations skills demand that individuals should learn about exchange and sharing information. We learn not to see things by our eyes clearly, but rather, we use other people's eyes. By perfectly understanding the situation, you can easily engage clients with greater levels of ability and confidence. Similarly, listening skills enables you to fully appreciate interests with more productive understanding.

c. Persuasion. This is one of the positive results that is acquired from learning negotiation and communication skills. Being persuasive only happens when you learn to understand the nature of the problem and our ability to connect through effective communication. Persuasion is considered one of the strongest negotiation skills. Negotiation encompasses all the motivational rewards for learning different skills that businesses demand. Company staffs can only benefit through learning the negotiation skills.

d. Conflict resolution. This is one of the most vital areas where negotiation provides considerable advantage. Negotiation resolves conflicts effectively since it revolves around individual's ability to pro-actively listen and communicate. Once our negotiation skills are developed, we learn to understand positions and uncover the reasons behind them.

5. If I did not change or improve in this area, it would probably affect my personal and professional in the following ways:

Increased workplace conflict

Conflict resolution is a necessary component of workplace and requires particular leadership skills. People in the leadership positions must be skilled to employ conflict resolution strategies. When these conflicts are unattended, they can negatively impact on the business. Workplace conflicts require problem solving and decision making skills. Negotiation failures have contributed to increased workplace conflicts as sited by several organisations.

Poor problem solving skills

Problem solving skills is essential in workplace. Every employee benefits from having good problem solving skills. It would be wonderful to solve all the problems in a workplace without difficulty; unfortunately it all depends on good negotiation and communication skills. Some of these problems are always complex and contain the element of unknown. Although problem solving depends on planning and structuring, good judgement and an element of good luck is required for its success.

Impaired career success

By failing to learn negotiation skills, you fail develop and evolve to a better employee. Employees normally become effective in the employment field they are engaged in.

Poor personal relationships

Interpersonal relationships and businesses fail due to poor problem solving skills. A poor relationship is contributed by the fact that problems are not recognised and are not being dealt with appropriately.