Do the math

          If

email is one of our primary communications tools

          and,

EQ affects the quality of our communications

          and,

email inadequacies can reduce a company’s profits

          and,

EQ can be improved,

          then

our communications skills can be improved

          thus

improving the quality of our communications which includes email,

                                             and

eliminating hidden costs of ineffective emails.

Companies lose money due to email failures every day. Here are few examples:

·        Misinformation in emails cause work to be repeated when the information is later corrected.

·        Lack of information (including lack of responses to emails) causes project delays.

·        Workers spend hours on email threads when a meeting would cut that time significantly.

·        Rumors and gossip erode morale and productivity; email emphasizes the problem through its speed and reach.

·        Lack of clarity regarding who should take a particular action causes delays because no one takes action or causes duplication of effort because multiple people take action that was intended for only one.

·        Legal implications of what gets documented in email often result in monetary penalties and losses.

·        Emotional responses from emails can cause uncomfortable working relationships that result in work inefficiencies and in extreme cases, lost talent.

These are but a few of the many ways in which email failures can erode a company’s profits. If the math doesn't convince you that there is value in emotional intelligence training, perhaps you will be convinced by the many degree programs that now incorporate EQ training in their curriculums. NYU's Stern business school uses EQ scores to evaluate applicants and markets their MBA program by highlighting their focus on EQ. Developing new curricula is an expensive endeavor for any educational institution and this investment indicates their belief in EQ as a critical success factor and their belief that it can be improved.

Evidence that corporations share those beliefs abounds. Similar to degree program screening measures, two-thirds of corporations have adopted EQ assessments to their candidate screening process. Companies are investing millions in EQ programs to develop leaders and help individual contributors attain higher levels of success. Review this list of companies TalentSmart identifies as clients of their EQ programs or this list of clients RocheMartin® provides. Although many of these training providers don't publish pricing for on-site courses, with a price tag of $2300 for  the American Management Association's emotional intelligence seminars for just one student, the investment is surely significant for entire teams, departments, or leadership groups. Companies would not invest in these assessment tools and training programs if they did not anticipate a return on that investment.

More evidence exists in the software development industry. Spell check software continues to evolve and newer desktop applications now catch word choice errors such as homophones. Companies are working to develop tools that provide other cues to potential faux pas in our electronic content. Lymbix (located in in New Brunswick, Canada) is the first to present what the press has dubbed “anger checking” and Limbix calls sentiment checking. They offer an API that applications can leverage to enable sentiment checking in their content editing, word processing, text messaging, or other software. Limbix also offers ToneCheck™, “a simple tool that enables the individual to become more conscious of the overall ‘tone’ in their email. Flagging phrases that may cause misinterpretation.” That fact that software development companies are investing in development of tools like this is further evidence that there is a potential market expressing a need for this type of help.