“EQ for an Agile IT” is a research supported, Emotional Intelligence (EQ) training program designed specifically for managers and their Agile teams who want to deliver better software faster. If your technically trained, highly skilled developers aren’t performing to their potential, then improving their people skills may be the answer. We train people on the “how” of working better together with a program that integrates seamlessly into any Agile environment. In a nutshell, we help businesses be more profitable by helping their IT people “be more human at work”.
Emotional Intelligence can be defined as the skills that help “people connect and communicate effectively, make decisions, and manage stress, pressure and conflict” (Lopes et al., 2006). Research by Daniel Goleman shows that over 65% of all competencies deemed essential for high performance were related to EQ and that EQ mattered twice as much as IQ and technical knowledge for high performance (1998). These and other studies when put alongside Scrum and the Agile Manifesto led us to conclude that training to improve your team’s EQ competencies, aka their non-technical or people skills, should be just as high a priority as training to improve your team’s technical competencies.
This guided self-discovery program maps closely to the 22 best practices for delivering EQ training (Goleman et al., 1998) and can easily integrate into any organization’s current Agile practice. Held at your site, the training consists of an Introduction and Assessment phase followed by a Sprint phase. There are 4 weekly “EQ Sprints”, each with their own daily stand up meetings, weekly planning sessions, retrospectives and end of Sprint demos. With only about 20 hours of total commitment over the 28 days, it has only a slight effect on your team’s velocity. And the minimal “training overhead” means that not only will your people be developing themselves as a team, but the no travel and less time “away from work” means they also have the ability to develop software and meet your customer’s needs at the same time. The expectation is that your team will integrate the training into their day to day activities while at the same time continue to work on the backlog.
We would like to help you and your business get to the the next level of Agility. Please take a minute to contact us so that we can talk more specifically about how this unique opportunity can help your team grow. Thanks.