Managing emotions is an important skill to maintain balance and harmony both personally and professionally because it helps achieve success and satisfaction in life.
Translating this emotional management specifically to work teams is a key competence for effective leadership.
How to Work with Emotions in Teams
Knowing how to manage the emotions of your team members, identifying and understanding the emotional intelligence of the people in your group, and helping to create a good working environment, thanks to this emotional management, is a fundamental strategy for the high performance of your team.
What Strategies Do We Use to Work with Emotions in Teams?
-
Promoting emotional intelligence (EI) among team members
Although EI is a term that began to be used in the early 20th century, it was Daniel Goleman, an American psychologist, who popularized it in the late last century.
Goleman, who had been writing for many years in a newspaper, transferred part of his research on the brain and emotions to his book, “Emotional Intelligence”, which he published in 1995.
Subsequently, in 1998, he wrote “Working With Emotional Intelligence”, a book in which he focuses his studies on EI in the business world.
Shortly thereafter, in line with the book, he wrote his article, “What Makes a Leader?”, where he delves into the effectiveness of EI in workplaces and effective leadership by placing people at the center of strategies and prioritizing their talent over processes or tools.
“By teaching people to tune into their emotions with intelligence
and expand their circles of attention,
we can transform organizations from the inside out
and make a positive difference in our world.”
Thanks to his contributions, we now have a better understanding of the influence that EI has on our thoughts, behavior, and actions, and how it affects the environment.
-
Promoting open communication
Making team members feel comfortable sharing their emotions and concerns.
For this, it is essential for the leader, by example, to engage in maintaining two-way, feedback-oriented, and assertive communication to build trust and promote this behavior.
-
Training and developing emotional communication skills
Getting to know the team members and understanding their needs is the first step in creating a tailored strategy to improve their emotional communication skills at work.
Workshops or training sessions focused on learning more about emotional intelligence in the workplace can be conducted.
-
Conflict resolution
Teaching teams to resolve conflicts wisely and harmoniously. Helping them manage criticisms and complaints with constructive conversations that provide the best solutions.
Ensuring that the team is united and acts together to find the best way to address conflict situations and promote self-control.
-
Developing a positive emotional climate
Leaders must set an example by maintaining a positive attitude.
Remembering gratitude and recognizing their own team is a way to maintain a good working environment.
-
Promoting empathy
Encouraging team members to be empathetic.
Putting themselves in their colleagues’ shoes to think as a team will allow them to better understand others’ emotions and perspectives, leading to a positive working environment and better results.
How to Train Teams in Emotional Intelligence?
Following the studies and contributions of Daniel Goleman and adding Richard Boyatzis, let’s provide some key insights into creating emotionally intelligent work teams.
First and foremost, it’s essential to have a leader who is aware of what emotional intelligence can bring to the organization to transmit it to their team.
The leader must start this transformation by taking the following actions:
- Evaluate the EI of each member
- Raise awareness of the importance of EI
- Practice role-playing in various interactions
- Reflect and receive feedback from team members on the development of EI in the group
- Lead the team by example
- Promote continuous learning and facilitate training
- Measure the progress and advancements of each employee and the team as a whole
The leader must understand the reality and emotions of the people in their group to guide them toward achieving results.
What Benefits Does Emotion Management Bring to Work?
For a long time, emotions were ignored in the workplace. Nowadays, they are a fundamental part of understanding employees’ attitudes, job satisfaction, and even their job performance.
Companies’ commitment to managing emotions among their employees has been increasing in recent years as they discover the advantages of having emotionally competent work teams for productivity.
Here are some of the benefits of managing emotions at work:
- Increased productivity, performance, effectiveness, and results
- Creating a positive and organized work environment
- Promoting employee retention in the company
- Greater adaptability to change
- Improving the management of complex or conflict situations with better self-control
- Enhancing communication, both internally and with customers or suppliers
- Leveraging strengths and mitigating weaknesses
- Enriching social life
- Improving overall quality of life
As a final note, people with higher emotional intelligence tend to have greater overall well-being.
Conclusions
Properly managing emotions at work helps you achieve professional success.
And professional success greatly influences personal life.
Being able to control your thoughts, manage your emotions, and adjust your behaviors will help you connect better with others for greater well-being, balance, and happiness.
And to achieve this, it must be worked on daily.
“At SpinYourTalent©, we help individuals and companies unleash their energy to achieve their goals.”
