Emotional Intelligence: Collaboration, Teams and Group IQ
Daniel Goleman found out that teams perform better when they are harmonious. Team performance greatly relies on the relationships and chemistry within the group. How members of a team interact with each other and the connection between them really determines its effectiveness (Goleman, 1998). Goleman has further gone to describe how social interactions, both positive and negative, change the brain and behavior of an individual for better or for worse (Goleman, 2006). It is the trust among the group members, and having a sense of group identity and sense of group self-efficacy that are most important in ensuring the success and effectiveness of a group or team (Druskat & Wolff, 2002). The absence of these aspects would make a team not to be as effective as they should be. Emotional intelligence correlates with team effectiveness. It has been found out those teams with individuals with high IQ but lacked teamwork, negotiation and cooperation herein referred to as emotional intelligence (EQ), performed poorly as compared to teams with emotional intelligence. This is so due to the fact that managing emotions in highly intelligent teams is difficult with individuals trying to outdo each other. The management of emotions is critical in a group as it affects the team performance.
Outstanding team performances raises the group IQ, which is the sum total of all the best talents of the individuals (Goleman, 1995). With the sum of the best talents being utilized, the outcomes tend to be additive or multiplicative in that the best talents of an individual would catalyze the best talents of another beyond what the individual could produce. It has been found out that teams that emerge as champions or groups that emerge successful usually have a high emotional intelligence. Goleman goes on further to state that the key to a high group IQ is social harmony. This is the key component towards the achievement of a successful and productive team. Emotional intelligence provides individuals with the skills of being able to know their emotions and how to regulate them. It also provides them with social skills which are responsible for building harmonious working environment and mechanisms for the resolution of conflicts. A group, as a matter of fact has to be aware of the emotions of its individual members, know its mood and the emotions of other group it comes it comes into contact with. Through this awareness, the group is able to put into use the best talents of its members (group IQ) to improve performance.
Teams interact at different levels and hence team emotional intelligence is more complicated than the individual emotional intelligence. Teams undergo growth right from the time the individuals start interacting with each other. It is believed that social bonding and past experience play an important role in this network connection between the members of the group. According to Druskat & Wolff (2002), emotional intelligence directly affects work and interpersonal relationships at work. Through self-awareness, self-regulation and the use empathy and other social skills, cooperation and the sharing of feelings, ideas and resources is enhanced thus promoting a strong bond between the members of the group. The cooperation between the members of the team may lead to the achievement of desired outcomes and improved performance. Communication is regarded as the most important component in team building as it not only involves the understanding of the sent message but also understanding the sender and receiver.
The network connection between the group members has been proved to be an important tool in influencing work as it leads to achievement of the set goals and improved group performance. Emotional intelligence allows members of a group to maintain positive internal state which greatly benefits work. An individual’s ability to regulate his/her emotions would play an important role in the interaction with others in the group. The collaboration and cooperation in the group would enable the balancing of focus to work with attention to others, sharing of ideas, information and resources and the promotion of a friendly and peaceful working environment. It is evidently clear that emotional intelligence is the most important social lubricant that provides a group with the capacity of brainstorming, resolution of conflicts and the promotion of a harmonious working environment.
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References
Druskat, V. U., & Wolff, S. B. (2001). Building the emotional intelligence of groups. Harvard Business Review, 79, 3, 80-90.
Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam Books.
Goleman, D. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam Books.
Goleman, D. (2006). Social intelligence: The new science of human relationships. New York: Bantam Books.
