Part II: Administering a Self-Report EQ-i 2.0

Planning the EQ-i 2.0 Assessment Process

Step 1: Investigating Underlying Needs

When embarking on a relationship that is likely to involve administering the EQ-i 2.0, it is crucial to define your client’s (or client organization’s) underlying needs. Underlying needs include any challenges that the client is currently experiencing that may be alleviated by introducing a measure of EI. For instance, you may find yourself dealing with a recently out of work manager who is contemplating a career change or a corporation who is looking to strengthen their leadership team’s ability to manage change.

A guiding principle espoused by Covey (2004) is that one begin with the end in mind while investigating the underlying needs of your client. Ask yourself and your client: What is the end goal for the relationship/ contract we are about to enter? What underlying needs does the client expect the EQ-i 2.0 will address? Top consultants answer these questions by researching within an organization, asking the right questions and testing hypotheses even when they believe they themselves are sure of the answer. Identifying upfront the expectations of engaging in an EI initiative provides you with a checkpoint against which you can constantly monitor your client’s progress. It also allows you to evaluate the success of the EQ-i 2.0 post-assessment, to ensure all expectations were met.

Identifying underlying needs can take many forms. With a single individual, you may simply meet with them before taking the EQ-i 2.0 to talk about what they are interested in finding out from completing the assessment. Discovering an entire team’s, department’s, or corporation’s underlying needs is usually a much bigger undertaking. Some techniques commonly used to investigate underlying group needs are:

• interviews
• focus groups/world cafes
• multiple meetings with various stakeholders
• observations (observing meetings, presentations, work performance/tasks)
• gathering hard data (e.g., financial performance, customer satisfaction metrics, turnover rates) 

Whether your client is one individual or an entire organization, Table 4.1 identifies some questions you might ask yourself while you are uncovering your client’s needs.

Table 4.1. Questions for Consultant Reflection

Question	Gather these details
1. Who am I to this client?	Do I have a personal rapport or history with this client? Am I being seen as a coach/consultant/trainer/psychologist? How does that impact the client’s expectations of me?
2. Why am I here and what am I doing?	What are the goals of this relationship? What information/research do I need to validate these goals? What needs does the client have that the EQ-i 2.0 may address?
3. Who do I work for?	Who will I contract with? Do I foresee any conflicts of interest or other ethical concerns?
4. What do I want/expect from the client?	How much time and effort will the client/client organization need to invest in this process? Is there an internal champion for this process? What level of participation do I expect?
5. How will I protect confidentiality?	Can I foresee any issues with regards to confidentiality? How I can I protect the privacy of participants from the onset of this relationship?
6. Who will have access to data?	Where/how will the EQ-i 2.0 results be used? How can I make it clear from the beginning that data will be protected?
7. What’s in it for the client?	What benefits will the client/client organization receive from entering into this relationship? What type of feedback process will I use and how will this information be used to improve themselves/the organization?
8. How much does the client know about EI?	Is the client well versed in EI? What models or assessments are they familiar with? How does this impact my approach to talking about the EQ-i 2.0?
9. Can I be trusted as an EI expert?	How can I establish myself as a trusted EI authority? What expertise/past experiences do I need to share to build trust in this relationship?

Note. Adapted from Organizational Development and Change, by Cummings and Worley, 2005, 8th Ed.

Having the answers to these questions informs your contracting phase and also allows you to create the best possible value proposition for how the EQ-i 2.0 can meet some of your client’s underlying needs.