Emotional Intelligence Skills

Based on the book “Emotional Intelligence for Managing Results in a Diverse World” by Lee Gardenswartz, Jorge Cherbosque, and Anita Rowe 

To help enhance teamwork, improve group dynamics and ultimately increase performance in the workplace – teams as well as individuals should develop Emotional Intelligence (EQ) skills. This means that members of the group will focus on their ability and capacity to assess and manage the emotions of oneself and of others. Following these tips below could help you stimulate this development among your diverse teams. 

1. Help the team be more comfortable in its own skin 

- Teams become more synergistic and effective when trust among the members allows for risk taking and creativity. 

2. Help the team be aware of its own biases and hot buttons 

- The more diverse the teams are, the more susceptible the members are to biases and hot buttons. 

3. Help the team make ambiguity an ally 

- Sometimes groups are being prevented from using the ambiguity of the situation to allow for synergistic, creative solutions. You can help your team be more effective if you coach team members to tolerate ambiguity. 

4. Help the team become a change master 

- Encourage the team to be open to the changes that leaders need to implement. 

5. Help the team get in charge of its self-talk 

- Ask your group to develop more positive self-talk and challenge their pessimistic, unrealistic self-talk. 

6. Help the team understand the cultural whys behind behaviour 

- Team members can work more effectively with one another and with those they serve if they correctly decode and do not misinterpret behaviours. 

7. Help the team see the upsides and downsides of all cultural norms 

- Team performance is enhanced and relationships are strengthened when team members increase their sensitivity to the impact of their behaviour on others in the group. 

8. Help the team transcend its own perspective and show empathy 

- Teams are hindered when they take a judgemental and adversarial stance in dealing with other work groups. 

9. Help the team serve as a cultural interpreter 

- Interpersonal understanding is essential on a team. It engenders commitment, support, and loyalty. This understanding may not happen by itself but requires building bridges with others. 

10. Help the team communicate effectively and resolve conflicts in diverse settings 

- A primary criterion for an effective team is how it deals with the inevitable conflicts that arise.