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The Emotionally Intelligent Team by Kelley Folkerts | ||||||||||
Abstract Within the past decade, a new construct, emotional intelligence, has emerged bringing with it great promise for organizations. Emotional Intelligence is defined as the accurate appraisal and expression of emotion in the self and others, the adaptive regulation of emotion in the self and others, and the utilization of emotion to facilitate performance (Salovey & Mayer, 1989-90). There exists little empirical research in the literature concerning confirmation of the construct due to lack of objective measures. Regardless of the construct's slow evolution, numerous researchers do insist that emotional intelligence is real and should be a valuable and necessary component of every workforce. The present paper will discuss emotional intelligence's origins, its application to teams, and its training possibilities with the hope that organizations will begin to value its importance. The Emotionally Intelligent Team Emotional intelligence has recently emerged in both academic and popular literature as a concept with the potential to provide new insights into the effect of emotion on human interaction. One type of interaction frequently found in the organizational context is that of team members. Numerous organizations are in the process of converting over to a team based approach, and because of this, emotional intelligence is needed to aid the transition. Team members must be skilled in emotional intelligence in order to deal with interpersonal and intrapersonal conflicts, raise communication and commitment, and to accomplish their goals. Throughout the following sections, the origin of emotion and emotional intelligence will be discussed along with emotional intelligence's application to teams. Emotional intelligence's independence as a construct will also be addressed, and the discussion will conclude with suggestions on how to train team members to be more emotionally intelligent. Emotion Emotional intelligence's origin can be traced to the emotion literature. Emotion includes an expressive or motor component, an experiential element, a regulatory component, and a recognition or processing factor (Greenberg & Snell, 1997). The expressive/motor component houses the ability to express emotion through facial expressions, body posture, and vocal tone. The experiential element is where one experiences feeling. It is the result of awareness of cues from the central nervous system, feedback from one's facial expression and one's own interpretation of what is occurring around him/her. The regulatory component deals with reacting to the experienced emotion. Joy, for example, raises one's activity level while sadness lowers it. People react very differently to the same emotion because of differences in their regulatory component. Finally, the recognition and processing factor is the ability to recognize what emotion another person is feeling by processing their facial expression, body posture, vocal tone and speed. This ability develops very early in infancy and early childhood (Greenberg & Snell, 1997). Ones emotions do affect daily functioning along with delegating reactions to events taking place. Two traditions exist in the conceptualization of emotions: disorganized interruptions and an organizing response (Young, 1943). Young defined emotions as "acute disturbances of the individual as a whole". Leeper (1948) suggested that emotions are primarily motivating forces or "processes which arouse, sustain, and direct activity". Salovey and Mayer (1989-90) defined emotions as organized responses, crossing the boundaries of many psychological subsystems, including the physiological, cognitive, motivational, and experiential systems. They believe that emotions typically arise in response to an event, either internal or external, that has a positively or negatively valenced meaning for the individual. Emotions can be distinguished from the concept of mood in that emotions are shorter and generally more intense. They are important for the following: survival, decision making, boundary setting, communication, and unity. They are a valuable source of information in that they aid us in decision making. Our emotions alert us when we feel uncomfortable with the present situation. They also assist us in communicating (facial expressions, verbal and listening skills). Because of the importance of emotions in our everyday functioning, one would desire knowledge and ability to detect, regulate, and act on his emotions as accurately and efficiently as possible. This is the idea of being emotionally intelligent. Emotional Components of the Brain Limbic System The limbic system is composed of several substructures worthy of mention. The thalamus and hypothalamus form a "relay station" for incoming information. The thalamus receives sensory information from the environment whereas the hypothalamus takes in information from the body and regulates sexuality and appetite. These two subcomponents then send information to a structure considered to be the "second brain", the amygdala . The amygdala's primary function is the interpretation of incoming sensory information concerning survival and emotional needs. It determines if there is something to fear, be happy about, etc. The amygdala also assigns emotional meaning to memories. "When powerful emotion is experienced, under conditions of emotional stress, the amygdala imprints the memory with an added degree of strength" (Greenberg & Snell, 1997,p. 101). This could explain why people have stronger emotional memories for highly emotional personal experiences (Goleman,1995). It has been suggested that the amygdala can store emotional memories unconsciously which in turn impact behavior without ever coming into consciousness (Le Doux, 1995). Acting alongside the amygdala, the hippocampus aids in the storage of memory. The hippocampus provides memory with nonemotional details and the amygdala ads emotional value to the memory. In response, the hippocampus assigns memories to memory networks in different areas of the brain. Frontal Lobe Emotional Intelligence In the past, scientists separated emotion from the intelligences. Today, investigators believe emotions can provide valuable decision making information to individuals and place them on a continuum as to how skilled they are at processing this type of information (Salovey, Hsee, & Mayer, 1993). This skill or ability has been labeled emotional intelligence and is constructed of three components: accurate appraisal and expression of emotion in the self and others, the adaptive regulation of emotion in the self and others, and the utilization of emotion to facilitate performance. Daniel Goleman's (1995) publication of the book "Emotional Intelligence" which contained the above definition, popularized the idea of viewing the experience and expression of emotions as a domain of intelligence. It further stressed the supposition of multiple intelligences and ignited the present debate concerning the exact definition of EI and its most efficient and accurate method of measurement. Appraisal/Expression in Self and Others Paul Ekman, researcher at the Medical school UC San Francisco, has conducted research on expression of emotion in faces. Ekman found writings of Duchenne, a contemporary of Darwin and one of the first researchers of neurophysiology and relating it to psychology. He took people that lost control of their facial muscles and attached electrodes to the muscles in the face. Duchenne found that although you can manipulate smiles in your face, you can't make the sparkle happen in your eye unless you are really feeling happy. Ekman referred to the smile of true emotion as the Duchenne smile that later became the "D smile". People are pretty good at spotting fake emotions and fake smiles. The question is how do you deal with a person exhibiting fake or inappropriate emotions (e.g. team member)? Regulation of Emotion in Self/Others Using Emotion to Facilitate Performance Attention is directed to different problems when powerful emotions are experienced. People may be redirected to give attention to problems with immediate importance. Rather than interrupt ongoing cognitive activities, emotion can assist people in reprioritizing the internal and external demands on their attention, and allocating resources accordingly (Salovey & Mayer, 1989-90). Moods may be used to motivate persistence at challenging tasks. People may use good moods to boost their self-efficacy, thus increasing performance at difficult tasks (Salovey & Birnbaum, 1989). People with positive attitudes create interpersonal experiences that lead to positive outcomes for themselves and others around them (Epstein & Feist, 1988). Teams can use emotional intelligence to remain focuses on the task at hand while keeping a positive rapport with team members. Emotional Intelligence and Teams Management theorists have defined a "team" as a distinctive class of group, which is more task oriented than other groups, and which has a set of obvious rules and rewards for its members" (Adair, 1986). This view suggests that high performing teams substitute collective goals and task focus for individual agendas and interpersonal conflicts. Although the ideal situation for teams would be to eliminate all conflict, these task-oriented groups still experience anti-task behaviors. Nadler, Hackman, and Lawler (1979) state that the quality of interpersonal relationships among group members is often poor because people fall into patterns of competitiveness, conflict, and hostility. They comment that group members rarely support or help one another as difficult ideas and issues are resolved. As a result of the above situations, individuals can experience substantial internal tension as team members. This is why emotional intelligence in teams is so important and is gaining popularity as a desirable training module for employees. Team members must be able to understand and communicate their own emotions along with the emotions of their teammates in order to reduce stress within the team. Van Maanen and Kunda (1989,p.56) speak of work groups "evoking emotions for individuals in situations where feeling rules are more negotiable with a consequent increase in emotional labor". This emotional labor, as discussed earlier, can lead to high levels of stress and burnout. A person can only last for so long hiding his/her true emotions. Research indicates that in becoming team members, individuals often lose their problem-solving proficiency, become emotionally segregated, and blame others for their failure (Wells, 1980). This may be linked to team members' lack of ability to express and regulate emotion. For many years, emotion has been regarded as a "disruptive force" in the work team and its expression has been discouraged. This philosophy has led to many of the findings previously noted and must changed. Intrapersonal and interpersonal conflicts are unavoidable in work teams. For this reason, teams must be emotionally prepared to handle emotional issues. Developing skills to raise one's emotional intelligence thereby raising the team's emotional intelligence is the best way to ensure emotional success. Once emotional intelligence skills are taught, the individuals can incorporate these skills into their teams. Emotional intelligence components can be included in the beginning stages of team development. During the initial formation of teams, members begin to develop rules, expectations, and goals for the group. This is similar to what is termed a social contract in society. Social contracts are "social arrangements in which an individual forms a contract with society for their twin betterment" (Maccoby & Martin, 1983). One subsection of the social contract is the emotional contract that deals with emotion and leads to emotional socialization. In teams, members are socialized to treat others in the group with respect, to handle disagreements in a certain manner, etc. Openness to emotion can be incorporated into the contract allowing emotional information to be recognized and addressed which in turn will promote happiness within the team. Sometimes the emotional contract is insufficient to bring about positive outcomes. For example, team members are supposed to respect each other but what if one member is doing something illegal? Team members are all required by the social contract to contribute but what happens when one member disagrees or sees little value in another's contributions? In the above situations the social contract is not clear on the way in which to respond. It is in these types of situations that emotional intelligence is extremely necessary. The individuals must be able to understand and reason with emotion, and flexibility is needed to forego happiness in the short term for larger goals. Emotional intelligence is required to perceive emotion, recognize and utilize emotion, understand emotional meanings, and manage emotion in order to cope with the situation and deal with other team members appropriately. There are several roles that team members assume in which emotional intelligence is needed. Group members must assume the role of friend when serving on a team. This entails making connections with others, establishing common ground, balancing interests, and providing help and support. The second role of team members is that of negotiator. This requires the individual to resolve conflicts by generating alternative solutions to problems, monitoring other's responses, and adjusting their actions accordingly. Finally, leadership is often exhibited by members in the team. Team members organize groups via the initiation of activities. Also, the role of leader inspires and motivates other group members and keeps the group focused on the task at hand (Salovey & Sluyter, 1997). Emotional intelligence is a skill needed in all of these roles in order to understand other team members enough to bond with them and ensure team cohesion. Team Performance and Emotional Intelligence Studies have linked co-worker relationships to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, absenteeism , and burnout (Leiter, 1988;Leiter & Maslach, 1988). The quality of interaction also affects communication effectiveness, perceptions of equity, and competitive behavior (Vecchio & Logan, 1989; Turban & Jones, 1988). By developing emotional intelligence skills, team members will be able to communicate more effectively due to their ability to recognize and regulate their own and other's emotions. Lastly, emotional intelligence could potentially reduce aggression in the workplace. Satisfaction with coworkers has been found to be negatively related to absenteeism and destructive behavior on the job. Moretti (1986) found that low satisfaction with coworkers along with attitudes toward violence and dishonesty predicted job-related damage and waste. People who become overly aroused are prone to behaving inappropriately in social conflict situations. Eisenberg and Fabes (1992) proposed that two variables determine whether people become overaroused in social situations: their dispositional level of reactivity or intensity of emotional responding (part of temperament) and (2)their ability to regulate emotional reactions/behavior and cope with arousing situations- a main ingredient of emotional intelligence. Emotional and social issues are the root of many of the above problems, and should be addressed in the beginning of team formation as well as throughout the team's lifespan in order to lessen the conflict and interpersonal issues. Existence of Emotional Intelligence Construct The question has been raised as to what exactly EI is, and if it is related to other constructs already in existence. One such construct is general intelligence. Some psychologists insist that emotional and general intelligence are interconnected while others disagree. Knowing what a person feels is a mental ability and may stem from general intelligence or be independent of it. The findings in the literature have been mixed with low to moderate correlations between the two (Schutte, 1998). Although many researchers have suggested that emotional intelligence is indeed a type of intelligence, contemporary research and theory offer no conceptual model wherein emotional intelligence would undoubtedly belong (Davies,Stankov,& Roberts, 1998). The theory of crystallized and fluid intelligence, developed by Cattell (1987) and associates offers a potential placement for emotional intelligence. One could speculate that emotional intelligence is a component of crystallized ability in that the appraisal, expression, regulation, and use of emotion develop through social interaction and experience as do other components of crystallized intelligence. Those individuals who do not agree that emotional intelligence is an intelligence component believe it to be more of a personality trait. The problem with identification of the construct lies in the available measures of emotional intelligence. The current measures in existence are mostly self-report and are not sufficient to demonstrate existence of the construct. Although the above calls for more objective measures to be developed before scientists are convinced of emotional intelligence's existence, industry is already contributing success to the construct. Emotional intelligence is believed to have contributed to the success of engineers' ability to network effectively at Bell Laboratories (Kelley & Caplan, 1993). Training Teams to be Emotionally Intelligent Once the team members are trained on emotional intelligent skill building, they may succeed at making team members feel better and communicating in interesting ways, designing projects and combining products with feelings (Salovey & Sluyter, 1997). Most emotion skills can be improved through education and the understanding that all individuals operate from different emotional starting places or "emotional knowledge bases" (Mayer & Salovey, 1997). Training can be executed at the forming stage of team creation as well as throughout the team's time together. A measure such as the one located in the appendix can be used the team's current level of emotional intelligence. In teaching members emotional skills, it is important to use such techniques as role-plays, modeling, and encouragement. Martinez-Pons (1998-1999) found that in teaching emotion skills to children, modeling, encouragement, facilitation, and rewarding behavior by others were key determinants of emotional intelligent behaviors being learned and later practiced. It is also critical that team members' emotional styles are acknowledged by the entire team and that the team members also define team values which will then define expected emotional responses. It is also imperative to point out to the training group that individuals from different subcultures approach emotions differently. Certain cultures produce more stoic individuals while others promote extreme openness. This type of diversity must be acknowledged and appreciated in order for the team to be successful. It is important to keep in mind that emotional intelligence training cannot be accomplished in a one day or one week training session. Training in emotion skills takes many months and must be revisited periodically to ensure the learning has been retained and put into practice on the job. Just because emotional skills are taught, one cannot guarantee the development of an emotionally intelligent person or team. Conclusion In conclusion, emotional intelligence is a valuable construct for any organization contemplating or currently practicing the teams approach. Because teams are constructed of individuals who experience and exhibit emotions, emotional intelligence is needed so team members can interact in an appropriate and efficient manner. If team members are trained in emotional intelligence, perhaps they will enhance their communication with one another, increase chances of accomplishing their goals smoothly, increase cohesion and commitment, and decrease interpersonal and intrapersonal conflict. Although scientists have not reached an agreement on the categorization of the construct, it seems to be a valuable concept within the organizational arena. With proper training objectives and measurement, organizations cannot lose in the implementation of the training. Hopefully, in the future emotional intelligence will be respected and revered as a highly critical aspect of team success. References Adair, J. (1986). Effective team building. London: Pan. Buck, R. (1984). The communication of emotion. New York: Guilford Press. Cattell, R.B. (1987). Intelligence: Its structure, growth, and action. Amsterdam: North Holland. Davies, M., Stankov,L.,& Roberts,R.D. (1998). Emotional intelligence:In search of an elusive construct. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75,989-1015. Dawson, G.,Panagiotides, H, Klinger, L.G. & Hill, D. (1992). The role of frontal lobe functioning in the development of infant self-regulatory behavior. Brain and Cognition, 20,152-175. Dionne, S.D. (1998). Team training and development in organizations: A multiple levels of analysis field experiment. Dissertation Abstracts International, 59, 4A. Eisenberg, N., & Fabes, R.A. (1992). Emotional responsivity to others: Behavioral correlates and socialization antecedents. New Directions for Child Development, 55,57-73. Epstein, S., & Feist, G.J. (1988). Relation between self and other acceptance and its moderation by identification. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 309-315. Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam Books. Greenberg, M.T. & Snell, J.L. (1997). Brain development and emotional development. In P. Salovey & D.J. Sluyter (Eds.), Emotional development and emotional intelligence (pp. 93-126). New York:Basic Books. Hochschild, A. R. (1983). The managed heart: Commercialization of human feeling. Berkely: University of California Press. Isen, A. M., & Daubman, K. A. (1984). The influence of affect on categorization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47,1206-1217. Katz, L., & Epstein, S. (1991). Constructive thinking and coping with laboratory induced stress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61,789-800. Kelley, R., &Caplan, J. (1993). How Bell Labs creates star performers. Harvard Business Review, 71,128-139. LeDoux, J.E. (1995). Emotion: Clues from the brain. Annual Review of Psychology, 46,209-235. Leeper, R.W. (1948). A motivational theory of emotions to replace "emotions as disorganized response". Psychological Review, 55, 5-21. Leiter, M. P. (1988). Burnout as a function of communication patterns. Group and Organization Studies, 13, 111-128. Leiter, M.P., & Maslach, C. (1988). The impact of interpersonal environment on burnout and organizational commitment. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 9, 297-308. Lewis, M.,Sullivan, M.W., & Vasen, A. (1987). Making faces:Age and emotion differences in the posing of emotional expressions. Developmental Psychology, 23, 690-697. Maccoby, E.E., & Martin, J.A. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family:Parent child interaction. In P.H. Mussen (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology (Vol. 4, 4th ed., pp. 1-101). New York: Wiley. Martinez-Pons, M. (1997-1998). The relation of emotional intelligence with selected areas of personal functioning. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 17,3-13. Mayer, J.D., & Salovey, P. (1997). What is Emotional Intelligence? In P. Salovey & D. Sluyter (Eds.), Emotional development and emotional intelligence: education implications. New York: Basic Books. Nadler, D., Hackman, J., & Lawler, E. (1979). Managing organizational behavior. Boston: Little Brown. Palfai, T. P., & Salovey P. (1992). The influence of depressed and elated moods on inductive and deductive reasoning. Manuscript submitted for publication. Profyt,L., & Whissell, C. (1991. Childrens understanding of facial expression of emotion: I. Voluntary creation of emotion-faces. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 73, 199-202. Salovey, P. & Birnbaum (1989). Influence of mood on health-relevant cognitions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57. Salovey, P., Hsee,C., & Mayer, J.D. (1993). Emotional intelligence and the self regulation of affect. In D.M. Wegner and J.W. Pennebaker (Eds.), Handbook of mental control (pp.258-277). Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice Hall. Salovey, P. & Mayer, J.D. (1989-90). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 9, 185-211. Salovey, P., & Sluyter, D.J. (1997). Emotional development and emotional intelligence. New York: Basic Books. Schutte, N.S., Malouff, J.M., Hall, L.E., Haggerty, D.J., Cooper, J.T., Golden, C.J., & Dornheim, L. (1998). Development and validation of a measure of emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 25, 167-177. Turban, D.B., & Jones, A.P. (1988). Supervisor-subordinate similarity:Types, effects, and mechanisms. Journal of Applied Psychology, 73, 228-234. Van Maanen, J., & Kunda, G. (1989). Real feelings:emotional expression and organizational culture. In L.L. Cummings & B. Staw (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol.11, pp.43-103). Greenwich Connecticut: JAI Press. Wells, L. (1980). The group as a whole: A systematic socio-analytic prspective on interpersonal and group relations. In C.P. Alderfer & C.L. Cooper (Eds.). Advances in experiential social processes (Vol 2, pp. 165-199). New York:Wiley. Young, P.T. (1943). Emotion in man and animal: Its nature and relation to attitude and motive. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Measure of Team Emotional Intelligence Please indicate your agreement with each statement below using the following scale.
_____ 1. We know when to speak about our personal problems to others. _____ 2. We expect that we will not do well on most things we try. ( R ) _____ 3. Other people find it easy to confide in us. _____ 4. We find it hard to understand the non-verbal messages of each other. ( R ) _____ 5. We are aware of our emotions as we experience them. _____ 6. We expect good things to happen. _____ 7. We like to share our emotions with each other. _____ 8. When we experience a positive emotion, we know how to sustain it. _____ 9. We are not aware of the non-verbal messages we send to others. ( R ) _____ 10. We present ourselves in a way that makes a good impression on others. _____ 11. When we are in a positive mood, solving problems is easy for us. _____ 12. By looking at their facial expressions, we recognize the emotions others are experiencing. _____ 13. We do not know why our emotions change. ( R ) _____ 14. We have control over our emotions. _____ 15. We do not easily recognize our emotions as we experience them. ( R ) _____ 16. We compliment each other when we have done something well. _____ 17. We are not aware of the non-verbal messages other people send. ( R ) _____ 18. When we are faced with a challenge, we give up because we believe we will fail. ( R ) _____ 19. We know what other people are feeling by looking at them. _____ 20. We help other people feel better when they are down. _____ 21. We can tell how people are feeling by listening to the tone of their voice. _____ 22. It is difficult for us to understand why people feel the way they do. ( R ) ( R ) The item is reversed. All reversed items scores can be calculated by 6-item response number. For example, if the answer for item 3 is 2, then the score for item 3 is (6-2=4) 4. High total scores indicate a high emotional intelligence.
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