Here's how you can gauge and evaluate emotional intelligence in the workplace.

EQ evaluator here! Sizing up emotional intelligence at work: Observe their radar: Notice how they read emotions. Do they pick up on subtle cues, or miss social signals entirely? Self-awareness spy: See how they manage themselves. Emotional meltdowns or calm under pressure? Empathy expedition: Gauge how they connect with others. Do they listen actively and validate feelings, or are they self-absorbed social glaciers? Social navigation ninja: See how they navigate relationships. Are they team players or do they create conflict? Performance peek: Look for results. Does their emotional intelligence translate to effective communication and positive outcomes? Now go forth and nurture emotional intelligence in your workplace.

Gauging and evaluating emotional intelligence in the workplace involves observing how employees manage their own emotions and interact with others. Key indicators include the ability to handle stress gracefully, demonstrate empathy, and effectively resolve conflicts. Pay attention to how individuals communicate, particularly their ability to listen actively and respond thoughtfully. Assess how well they build and maintain positive relationships, adapt to change, and provide constructive feedback. Incorporating emotional intelligence assessments and feedback from peers can also provide valuable insights into an employee's emotional competencies.

In my opinion, leaders should Watch how people interact reveals their emotional intelligence: observe conflict management, empathy, and composure under stress which will help leaders understand their team better.

What works best is to not take things at the face value. Many a time, different personalities, have different ways to express themselves. See each person as an individual and try to understand the reality behind the sheen. One must see each person as an individual.

People with low EQ often are unaware of many of their blind spots. Often we find individuals with low EQ to be unaware of the impact they are having on others and those around them. We don’t know what we don’t know. Luckily we can learn skills to increase our awareness and EQ.

The most self-aware people I know, and whom I aspire to be more like, welcome criticism. They'll also admit their weak points. The best of us hire colleagues who fill in our weaknesses. Being able to laugh at oneself and be self-depricating without turning into Eeyore not only show your humanity, it gives other people permission to do the same. I just call that leadership.

If you were in manufacturing, you wouldn't decide on a process that would break your machines. It shouldn't be any different with your staff. What is our capacity? If more needs to be accomplished, how do we expand capacity without straining our systems. Leaders must consider how their decisions affect their staffs ability to produce and their mental well being while they do it.

One of the tools I love that we teach leaders is the concept of psycap and psychological capital. Filling up other people’s buckets, rather than depleting their buckets. When you actively and consistently do this, your people will be able to perform in a pinch. We also find tremendous reduction in employee turnover, medical and sick leave as well follow successful implementations.

There's a saying in manufacturing. If you don't schedule maintenance for your equipment, your equipment will schedule it for you. It's exactly the same with people. If you don't take care of the people you'll see a lack of productivity, stress leave, and quitting. Leaders realize that their colleagues and direct reports are the ones who get the work done. Listening to them, acknowledging their accomplishments, and giving people opportunities to grow are the ways you maintain and sustain that work force.

People won’t listen to you if they feel you don’t care. You can’t fake this. If you don’t care, people will pick up on this. The ol’ adage fool me once… comes to mind. If you care about others, you can deliver feedback and information that is unpleasant. They may still not like the feedback and information, but if you care and are authentic, they will respect it (well, most will).

Pay close attention to your body language. When you stop and look someone in the eye, you tell them that they are your priority in the moment. It also grounds you so you unconsciously prepare yourself to truly hear what they have to say. Keep your body language open and facing the person. If necessary, crouch down to be at eye level. If there's a desk between you, come out to their side so there's more of a connection. Little steps like this make a big difference in how you are perceived and how people will share information with you in the future.