The direct positive correlation between high team emotional intelligence and high task performance has been firmly established now for at least 5 years. Have you thought about why that might be true?
I just read an article that opened a new way of thinking about it.
Team Emotional Intelligence
Team emotional intelligence, reflecting the capabilities and resources that individual team members bring to the team, has been identified as one of the top predictors of team performance. Check out the research listed in the article and my blog post from 2022 about cultures in high performing companies.
There are several reasons that most people focus on for Team EI and these feel obvious once you hear them. Teams with high EI communicate more effectively. They help each other manage stress more effectively. Through self-regulation, they use their time more effectively. They solve problems more creatively. They are more open to innovation and perspective-shifting … the list is long.
Intra-team trust
But what this article was showing out of a research project was that in high average EI teams, individuals developed far greater levels of intra-team trust. This meant that they could use their social and emotional resources to getting things done together rather than managing their relationships.
Seems so obvious when you read it. But just consider this … if we think about our work day not in units of time but in units of cognitive and emotional resources, what would it mean to you to get back 30% of your resources because you weren’t managing other peoples emotions, mindsets, or attitudes? Or if we stick with time – what would it mean to get back two hours in a day?
Spend Energy Wisely
When I started my training to be a HIIT cycle instructor with a fantastic Dailey Method studio in Michigan, I was constantly struck by how people were riding. I had always paid attention to my own technique as much as I could, over in the back corner. But from the instructor’s perspective and with the purpose in mind of helping others … wow. People riding with their knees out = energy wasted. People not setting up their bikes properly = energy wasted. People not riding with good spine and thoracic alignment = energy wasted. How much of your day is spent managing the emotions, attitudes and mindsets of your team? How much time do you spend managing your own emotions because your team is in crisis?
The thing is… it doesn’t HAVE TO BE THAT WAY. Seriously, how would your day change if you could not waste your energy on social and emotional crises, if you had deep levels of trust within your team? I have never met someone who thought their day would get worse.
Emotional Intelligence training has some of the highest RoI of any kind of training. Spend your resources wisely.
