Do You Have an Emotionally Intelligent Team?

The article focuses on the concept of Team Emotional Intelligence (Team EI) as essential for creating high-performing teams beyond simply assembling talented individuals. Team EI refers to a set of habitual norms that meet core social needs within teams, such as feeling accepted, understood, and influential, fostering trust, psychological safety, and belonging. The article outlines methods to assess a team's current emotional intelligence through a structured survey and provides examples from industries like oil and gas, healthcare, and technology on how adopting specific Team EI norms—understanding each other better, routinely assessing strengths and opportunities, and engaging stakeholders—can improve collaboration and performance. It emphasizes that intentionally cultivating these norms enables teams to thrive amid challenges by building a collective, emotionally intelligent culture.