Why Leveraging Emotional Intelligence Can Surface Better Ideas From Your Team

I attended a typical “cringe” moment meeting last month and the experience sent me down a reminder path of the importance of Emotional Intelligence in the workplace.

See if this scenario sounds familiar to you:

A group of 10 co-workers were gathering online and wrestling with some customer dissatisfaction issues. The group specifically was trying to figure out how to get the unhappy customer back in good graces after a recent bad experience. At the same time, the group wanted to be careful about simply handing over a significant refund that would be at odds with financial practices.

The most senior member of the team had been looking for creative solutions, but the conversation was spinning and ideas generated weren’t hitting the mark. That same leader finally said “Ideas are nice, but we just need to be realistic. I think that our original thought (her thought) of providing the client with a moderate credit is the simplest answer. Is everyone good with that?”

At that point the group conversation stopped. There was a general muttering of “sounds good” and the meeting ended. All in all, it was a meeting that started with some angst and trepidation and ended with the same (if not worse) feeling.

So how could a leader with more Emotional Intelligence have better handled this particular situation?

IDEA ONE: Recognizing the Angst In the Room

There are many reasons that employees may enter a meeting not at their best. Leaders with high Emotional Intelligence take a minute to check in with everyone and get a sense of moods. Beyond a simple scan of the non-verbal cues and body language, strong leaders understand that if a meeting topic is volatile in nature, it is best to note that before the meeting even starts.

What to Do: Simple framing is needed. Something like, “Everyone knows that we’ve had a recent hiccup with a customer and unfortunately, we need to figure out how to best get back in their good graces. Your insights are very important to our company. Let’s use our unique perspectives and try to find a creative solution beyond just issuing a large refund that would put us in financial constraint.”

Why It Works: That introduction/framing helps all participants not only understand why they are invited to the meeting, but lets them know that the company is in an uneasy position, and their knowledge is important. That can change the mood of a meeting from dread to opportunity.

IDEA TWO: Listening to Others Respectfully

Nothing stops the flow of ideas faster than a leader shooting them down in a group setting. Even worse, in this situation, the leader allowed almost 30 minutes of brainstorming time before shutting down all ideas together. That’s a double whammy of wasting people’s time and giving an impression that none of the input was valuable.

What to Do: A better way to approach the solicitation of ideas is to ask everyone to take 1-2 minutes to think about what their possible solution would look like (and why). Then ask each participant to one-by-one share their thoughts. As a leader, take the time to either ask a follow up question for the idea, or begin to categorize the ideas by how they might help after you gather a few ideas.

Why It Works: By really (I mean fully) listening to ideas and garnering more conversation around them, it not only will bring out opportunities for the group to add value to the initial idea, but also make sure everyone participating is reminded that their voice is important and heard.

[IDEA THREE: Being Flexible on Coming to Consensus

It’s 100% fine that not all ideas will be implemented. All participants should understand that the most feasible idea or combination of ideas will be the one solution presented back to the client. As a leader, your perspective is just as important as all participants. It just cannot be the ‘only good idea’ that is featured.

What to Do: After hearing all input and ideas, take a few minutes to address the whole group again with your initial thoughts on the best idea components. (It might be a combination of small little ideas that you’ve heard.) When you comment on the ideas, try to focus on tying the reason for the choice directly back to how it benefits the best outcome (in this case improving customer satisfaction without breaking the bank).

Once you’ve offered your thoughts and input, ask the team to comment on those specific idea components that you highlighted, including:

• Rate the idea on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being “Not a fan” and 5 being “This could work well” – and include the why.
• Are there any ideas they think could be combined and/or modified to better meet the end goal?
• What might implementation look like?
• Any gotcha considerations that should be raised if the company does decide to implement?

Why It Works: Using a ranking system and asking the team to think through implementation, gotchas, and ways to create a hybrid solution all boost engagement. When the team works together, often more effective ideas are surfaced that could lead to the perfect solution. At a minimum, everyone will feel like their voice is heard, even if their idea is not implemented.

IDEA FOUR: Following Up With Clear Action

The epilogue to the original team story that I mentioned is that there was no communication or involvement with the original group after the meeting. In fact, a couple of weeks later, I heard someone comment before another online meeting was about to start with a similar audience “Whatever was decided to make [ that customer] happier?” No one knew that answer.

That’s a common, but big miss.

What to Do: It only takes a few minutes to write out an email to the participants a few days or a week after the meeting and give the group a quick bulleted update. The update should thank them for their contributions (a motivator for participating again in similar discussions) and give a sense for the final solution and when it will be implemented.

Why It Works: Providing an update is one more way to show team members that their time was valuable, their ideas helpful, and thanks to their contributions, the issue is resolved. The update may also serve as a good solution for a similar issue where the same logic or process could be applied.

Try to keep these four simple ideas in mind the next time you gather a group for input, and remember that a little Emotional Intelligence goes a long way!!