Swinburne University Emotional
Intelligence Development Programs
The Swinburne Stress Management Program
Swinburne Stress Management Program
• Aim
– Develop new method to reduce occupational stress in
Australian organisations
• Preliminary study
– How are EI and stress related?
How are EI and stress related?
Study involving 321 teachers around Victoria (primary, high and
tertiary) found:
•
Higher levels of EI were related to lower levels of stress
•
Higher levels of EI were related to better health (psychological
and physical)
•
Higher levels of EI were related to higher job satisfaction and
organisational commitment
Program Development
• These results guided program development
– The EI dimensions of emotional recognition and
expression, emotional management and emotional control
- particularly important in the occupational stress process.
Program Development
• Psycho-educational program
– Teach employees to manage
occupational stress through the
development of EI
– Incorporates:
• traditional stress management techniques (Identify
stressors, relaxation techniques)
• Learning how to deal with emotions effectively
– Combination of skills training and
practice of learnt skills
– Based around the Swinburne model of
EI
Evaluation
• Gardner (2006) piloted this EI
training program in teachers from
different educational sectors
(primary; secondary; tertiary).
Evaluation
• Seventy nine teachers (59 females)
participated in the 5-week (2 hours per week)
psycho-educational EI training program.
• Teachers were recruited from the primary (N =
24), secondary (N = 27) and tertiary (N = 28)
education sectors.
• Questionnaires were completed pre-program,
post-program and at a 5-week follow up time
interval.
Results
• The EI training program was successful in
improving measures of EI and employee
strain, and decreasing measures of
occupational stress and the outcomes of
stress.
EI improved
Emotiona l Intelligence
200
195
190
185
180
175
170
165
Pre-Program 1
Pre-Program 2
Post-Program
Data Collection Interval
Follow-Up
Stress decreased
Occupa tiona l Stress
36
33
30
27
24
21
18
15
Pre-Program 1
Pre-Program 2
Post-Program
Follow-Up
Data Collection Interval
Role Overload
Role Insufficiency
Role Ambiguity
Health improved
Employee Hea lth
30
25
20
15
10
5
Pre-Program 1
Pre-Program 2
Post-Program
Follow-Up
Data Collection Interval
Psychological Health
Physical Health
Development and evaluation
• Suggests that behaviours related to the
dimensions of EI can be learned.
• Also suggests that training programs focused
on the emotional experiences of employees
can be effective in reducing occupational
stress and increasing feelings of well-being.
Who is the program for?
Any employee but targeted at:
• Employees working in “high risk”
industries
• Employees who feel an element of stress
on a daily basis
• Employees who are interested in learning
more about EI
• NEW Employees-build resilience
• Tailored for specific organisations e.g., IAG
What is required from attendees?
• Attendance (flexible design)
• Participation in discussions
– Openness, honesty, confidentiality
• Questionnaires – including follow up
– EI (SUEIT)
– Occupational stress (ORQ)
– Psychological health (GHQ)
– Physical health symptoms
The aims of the program
• An understanding of what EI is and why it
is a useful skill in the workplace
• An understanding of the causes and
consequences of stress at work
• Ways to develop EI and to use these skills
to assist in managing stress in self and
others at work
Program materials
• The employee manual
– Session by session information
– Additional Exercises
• Questionnaires
• Additional reading
Program Structure
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•
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•
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Overview of occupational stress
Overview of EI and interpreting self-reports
Developing ERE and UE
Developing ER, EM and EC
Summary and plan to move forward
Introduction to the program
•Aim of the program
•Program material
•What the program is about
•Program structure
•Who the program is for
•What will be required of you
The program aims
• An understanding of what EI is and why it is a useful skill in the workplace
• An understanding of the causes and consequences of stress at work
• Ways to develop your own EI and to use these skills to assist you in
managing yourself and others at work
Program materials
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•
•
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Manual
Powerpoint slides
Worksheets
Questionnaires and Feedback reports
What the program is about
•
•
•
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Our work so far
Where we are now
What the program aims to examine
Psycho-educational
•
Program
Structure
Session 1
– Overview of EI and interpreting self-reports
• Session 2
– Overview of occupational stress and linking stress to the EI facets
• Session 3
– Developing Emotional Recognition and Expression, Understanding
Others’ Emotions and Emotional Reasoning
• Session 4
– Developing Emotional Management and Emotional Control
• Session 5
– Summary and plan to move forward
Who the program is for
Any employee
• Employees working in “high risk” industries
• Employees who feel and element of stress daily
• Employees who are interested in learning more about EI
What will be required from you?
•
•
•
•
•
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Attendance – 5 weeks
Participation in discussions
Openness
Honesty
Questionnaires – including follow up
Homework!!
Week 1
•Brief history of EI
•Development of the Swinburne model of EI
•EI characteristics and behaviours
•EI in the workplace
•Interpreting self-report profiles
Interpreting self-report profiles
Emotional recognition and expression
34
Emotional Aw areness of Others
45
Emotional Reasoning
12
Emotional Management
83
Emotional Self-Control
92
0
20
40
60
80
100
Personal Development Plan
• In terms of my personal EI development, the
areas I would like to focus on are …
• In focusing on these areas my goals are to …
• Some of the specific activities I am going to try
and enact, or do differently, in the immediate
future so as to attain these goals are …
• The support (both people and systems and
processes) I may need to enlist in order to
realise these goals are …
Things to do this week
Personal Action Plan
Section 9, page 62
Identify from your own EI profile which dimensions in particular
are your strengths and weaknesses – don’t necessarily pick the
ones that are the highest and lowest.
Which ones would you like to focus on?
Week two
•What is occupational stress?
•What are some causes of stress?
•What are the consequences of stress?
•High vs Low stress
•How can we deal with occupational stress?
•How is occupational stress measured?
What is occupational stress?
Perceived workplace demands
imbalance
Perceived ability to cope with these demands
What is occupational stress?
Understanding stress involves assessing each facet of the
stress process:
Event Occurs
Interpretation of event
Emotional and physiological arousal
Long Term Consequences
What is occupational stress?
FOR EXAMPLE:
You can’t find a students’ final exam paper
Interpretation of event
Emotional and physiological arousal
Long Term Consequences
What is occupational stress?
FOR EXAMPLE:
You can’t find a students’ final exam paper
I won’t be able to generate a final result for the
students’ report
Emotional and physiological arousal
Long Term Consequences
What is occupational stress?
FOR EXAMPLE:
You can’t find a students’ final exam paper
I won’t be able to generate a final result for the students’
report
Worry. Frustration. Increased heart rate.
Long Term Consequences
What is occupational stress?
FOR EXAMPLE:
You can’t find a students’ final exam paper
I won’t be able to generate a final result for the
students’ report
Worry. Frustration. Increased heart rate.
Poor psychological health
What is Occupational Stress?
• Stress is a personal experience
• No two people will have the same reaction to
the same workplace environment
How do we deal with occupational stress?
A–B–C
Modify your environment
Master other skills
Modify your perceptions
How do we deal with occupational stress?
A–B–C
Modify your environment
Traffic stresses you out? Leave home earlier.
Deadlines stress you out? Finish the project early.
But what if you can’t change the situation?
How do we deal with occupational stress?
A–B–C
Modify your perceptions
Traffic stresses you out?
Forget about being frustrated. Listen to your favourite music or
talk show. Will getting somewhere five minutes quicker really
make that much of a difference?
How do we deal with occupational stress?
A–B–C
Master other skills
Can’t change the situation? Can’t change
the way you perceive the situation?
Try to master other skills. Learn relaxation and
calming techniques. Learn to ‘switch off’ your mind.
Find your stress balance
Step 1 – Rate your stress level
Rate the amount of stress you are feeling about
a particular situation”
10
9
I was extremely distressed
8
7
6
I was moderately distressed
5
4
3
I was a little distressed
2
1
0
I wasn’t distressed at all
Worksheet 4
Incident
Lift broken, you have to take the stairs
Salesperson serves someone else even though
you were first
You get cut off in traffic
You lose your house keys
It takes forever to be served in a restaurant
Importance level
Stress level
Regaining balance
Some suggestions:
Let go of the tension -
1 minute body scan
Breathe effectively
Tense to relax
Quiet your mind
Stress reducing organisational skills
Facets of occupational stress
Role overload
Role insufficiency
Role ambiguity
Role boundary
Responsibility
Physical environment
Linking EI and stress
• How are each of the EI facets related to
resilience and stress management?
Managing Occupational Stress through
developing Emotional Intelligence.
WEEK 3
In this session
• The five dimensions - review
• What skills can you develop?
• Your own action plan
• Developing Emotional Recognition and Expression
• Developing Understanding Others’ Emotions
• Developing Emotional Reasoning
Your own plan
• Have you identified from your own profile which
area/s you would like to focus on particular?
• What made you choose those?
The Five Dimensions - Review
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Emotional Recognition and Expression (ERE): the ability to identify one’s own feelings and
emotional states, and the ability to express those inner feelings to others.
•
Understanding other’s Emotions (UE): The ability to identify and understand the emotions of
others.
•
Emotions Direct Cognition (EDC): The extent to which emotions and emotional knowledge are
incorporated in decisions and problem solving.
•
Emotional Management (EM): The ability to manage positive and negative emotions within oneself
and others.
•
Emotional Control (EC): The ability to effectively control strong emotional states experienced at
work.
Managing Occupational Stress through
developing Emotional Intelligence.
WEEK 4
In this session:
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Emotional Management Vs Emotional Control
Emotional Management
The ABC model of emotion
Improving your Emotional Management
Emotional Control
Improving your Emotional Control
In this session:
• Summary of the program
• Discussion about the program
• Where to now?