In the business field, relational intelligence plays a fundamental role in guaranteeing both the success of your company and that of your collaborators, since it gives your staff sufficient capacity to handle themselves properly within the relationships in their work environment.
Currently, companies are forced to prioritize soft skills, over hard or technical skills, or professional experience, obviously without downplaying either of these two aspects. However, the relational and emotional aspects play a fundamental role in companies.
In this post, we teach you what relational intelligence is, its characteristics, as well as the benefits of relational intelligence at work. And, of course, the best way to develop this ability.
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What is relational intelligence?
According to the Medium portal, intrapersonal intelligence at work “ is the ability to connect with others in the workplace and establish mutual trust. It’s the ability to connect with people to help set boundaries, understand a person’s work habits, and learn how to deal with disagreements .”
In other words, relational intelligence (RI) allows you to enhance and reinforce social relationships in a professional manner, as well as promotes the development of skills such as empathy, which allow a better understanding with team leaders and co-workers.
Relational intelligence, also known as interpersonal intelligence, is often confused with emotional intelligence, although the main aspect of the latter is the ability to manage and manage, as its name implies, emotions, mainly on a personal level.
On the other hand, interpersonal intelligence, which is part of what emotional intelligence is, focuses on the ability to be connected, and in sync, with leaders and co-workers at all times. This intelligence acts as a bridge between the vision of two or more people for the resolution of a certain situation.
Characteristics of Relational Intelligence
Now that we know the meaning of relational intelligence, it is time to learn about the characteristics of relational intelligence and how people who have developed this type of intelligence activities.
Some of the points that characterize relational intelligence are the following:
1. Reflexive relationships
One of the main characteristics of people with relational intelligence is the ability to reflect and understand the purpose of the different work relationships, to be able to determine the importance of each of these and which of these relationships is generating a positive impact on the professional aspect.
2. Troubleshooting
People who have a high development of relational intelligence are characterized by the ability to adapt to complex and problematic situations, seeking a quick and prompt solution to said situation or problem.
It does not mean that they always resolve conflicts, but they will know how to react appropriately to any difficulty.
3. Proactivity
Proactivity reigns in intrapersonal intelligence, that is, a collaborator with a high degree of IR is a collaborator who organizes his time and is constantly on the move, relying on his colleagues to improve productivity.
This ensures the company good results, being one reason why this type of quality is valued.
Benefits of Relational Intelligence in the Business Field
We already know the definition of relational intelligence and its characteristics, but there are still aspects to know about this type of intelligence. And although the definition gave us an idea about the benefits of relational intelligence, we need to delve into them.
“92% of recruiters tell us that candidates who have well-developed soft skills are the ones that are being more required when hiring .”
And relational intelligence is part of these skills that can make a difference.
Learn about the benefits of this type of intelligence:
1. Increase Job Performance
Relational intelligence allows, through the strengthening of labor relations, to improve rapport between teammates, leaders, and company bosses, achieving a balance between departments and increasing work effectiveness and productivity.
One of the main reasons why job performance is affected is due to a bad work environment. To help you with this, we have designed this template to carry out a survey of the work environment and thus be able to identify any possible inconvenience.
2. Contributes to Creating a Good Work Environment
One of the main benefits of interpersonal intelligence is the improvement in work relationships, optimizing communication and understanding between your staff.
If there is good communication between your collaborators, rest assured that business objectives will have a greater chance of being fully met.
3. Improves the Company-Client Relationship
Relational intelligence not only helps improve relationships at internal levels within the company but also allows you to improve your relationship with the customer.
What implications does this have? Mainly, engagement and collaboration are increased and business objectives are met.
How to Develop Relational Intelligence?
According to the medium portal Forbes “ the psychological, physical and economic effects generated by the health crisis generate a variety of different emotions, making emotional intelligence more relevant now than ever ”.
Just as a company requires staff with a high index of emotional intelligence, it also depends on individuals with relational intelligence. In order to develop emotional intelligence, you have to work on each of the following aspects:
1. Self-Knowledge
Identifying our strengths and blind spots is the first step in developing a high degree of interpersonal intelligence, since knowing our strengths and weaknesses allows us to channel and stay calm in times of stress.
2. Know When to Shut up
To develop relational intelligence, it is important to know when to remain silent, avoiding generating tense situations that generate dislike among other collaborators and teammates.
3. Be Open and Empathic
You must understand that not everyone thinks the same way as you and that your vision is not the only one, since no one has the absolute truth. For this reason, being open to listening to other points of view and being empathic is, without a doubt, one of the essential aspects to work on when developing interpersonal intelligence.
4. Do Not Judge
Relational intelligence is not based on agreeing with your teammates. It is based on the construction of harmonious relationships in the workplace.
One of the fundamental bases to strengthen labor relations is to develop an attitude without prejudice, establishing bonds of trust, honesty, and respect.
Building a good working environment, a highly productive team, and effective labor relations is not an easy task, but without a doubt, relational intelligence and emotional management are the first steps to achieving it.
And although it seems that emotions and feelings have no place in the business world, organizations understand the importance of knowing how to take advantage of these types of resources. And we can say that relational intelligence is essential for success, not only on a personal level within a company but also on a collective level, improving in all essential aspects of the company.
