Team Emotional Intelligence: Linking Team Social and Emotional Environment to Team Effectiveness

Work teams are labelled “emotional incubators” because of the ubiquitous emotion generated as team members work together. Although this emotion affects team processes and effectiveness, little theory or research has provided practical information about how teams can manage emotion so that it supports, rather than hinders, team effectiveness. To solve this problem, we draw on social psychological theory suggesting that emotion in teams primarily comes from whether team members’ social and emotional needs (i.e., belonging, shared understanding and control) are satisfied by the team. We then present a study conducted with teams in six U.S. based (four global) companies, testing the relationship between six emotionally intelligent team norms aimed at satisfying team member needs. We hypothesize that incorporating these six norms will lead to high levels of team effectiveness through their influence on the emergence of a productive social and emotional environment (i.e., team psychological safety and team efficacy). Hypotheses are primarily supported. Our study contributes to current knowledge about human social and emotional needs and the influence of emotion and its management on team effectiveness.