Interpersonal Communication and Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence 💭

The interpersonal communication process

The exchange of simultaneous and mutual messages to share and negotiate meaning between those involved.

  • Meaning

  • Encoding

  • Decoding

Sender — encode and send — message in medium — receive and decode — Receiver

Understanding the interpersonal communication process

One goal of interpersonal communication is to arrive at shared meaning.

  • The people involved

Potential Obstacles to Shared Meaning

Noise is any obstacle to the process of effective communication

  • Physical noise

    • Real, literal noise

  • Physiological noise

    • Being blind

    • Being deaf

  • Semantic noise

    • Poor word choices

    • Misinterpretation due to the meaning of words

    • Cultural differences

    • Language barriers

  • Psychological noise / hijacking

    • Being in a bad mood

  • Filter of lifetime experience

    • One’s way to do things differ from others’

Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

Domains of Emotional Intelligence

  • Self-awareness (internal)

    • Understanding oneself and our obstacles

  • Self-management (internal)

    • Managing emotions in order to communicate effectively

  • Empathy (external)

    • Being aware of other people’s emotional states or emotions

  • Relationship management (external)

Emotional Intelligence Skills 🤹

Active Listening

Components of active listening:

  • Paying attention

    • Get rid of all the noise

  • Holding judgement

    • Do not rush to judgements or interject before the other person has finished communicating

  • Reflecting

    • Mirror what you hear to make sure the other person knows that you heard what they said

  • Clarifying

    • Address any misunderstanding

  • Summarizing

    • In your own words, tell the other person what they said back to them

  • Sharing

    • Now it’s your turn!

    • Don’t make it all about yourself!

Recognizing Barriers to Effective Listening

Barriers:

  • Lack of time

  • Lack of patience and attention span

  • Image of leadership

  • Communication technology

  • Fear of bad news or uncomfortable information

  • Defending

  • “Me too” statements

  • Giving advice