This Friday I bring to you Four Essential Skills of High-Performing Teams from the book Team Emotional Intelligence 2.0 written by Dr. Jean Greaves and Evan Watkins. I believe this book will help every organization. Who does not have emotions, feelings, moods, and behaviors? When you mix all of these together in working teams, the reciepe may be success and it may be a disaster. This book helps to develop an action plan to a pathway for high performing teams working together as they understand all of the ingredients the team has to offer each other.
The four essential skills covered in the plan are: Emotion Awareness, Emotional Management, Internal Relationship and External Relationship strategies. Each area is covered to help break down how to approach, understand, discover and apply all that is learned.
Emotion Awareness strategies are based on simply getting to know the group’s mood, emotional habits, feelings, and behaviors. Taking the time to identify these in each individual and as a team will help as the group builds together the compass to guide their efforts. It is the teams values that will be the compass to guide the group together through every obstacle on their journey. It is the beliefs which will provide the guidance in decision making and behavior. The book provides 11 strategies to achieve Emotion Awareness with your team. A great guide to building awareness!
Emotion Management strategies help respond to emotional situations, both good and bad. It is how to appropriately step in or step out of problems that can lead to escalation or de-escalation. There are 14 strategies discussed in the book to provide the team with a plan to improve in this area to support group norms and healthier ways to engage in team disagreements. The strategies are excellent in helping teams build a framework in utilizing their time together with purpose.
Internal Relationship strategies is bringing fun back into the work we do each day. Yes! We need to bring the joy back into work and building internal relationships is the first step. Building relationships should not be forced and should not seem like work. The book provides 14 strategies to support building internal relationships. It includes having fun and laughing! Relationships are critical in everything we do and this is an important piece of all the work we do.
External Relationship strategies is as important to your team as the relationships they have built as a team. The team is part of one big organization of work. The abilities to work together as a team is important, but reaching out to the rest of the organization in the common goals is critical to spotlight the work of the team, the needs and resources to continue to achieve. Showcasing each other in an organization helps to bring positives to everyone. Afterall, everyone is on the same team. There are 14 strategies to strengthen this area and to help avoid some mistakes that can occur.
We have faced many issues in the past few years, and they seem to be increasing, not decreasing. The trauma in our schools and society has left us in places where we need emotional support from each other. I encourage all leaders to embrace this approach as we continue to move forward in a world that requires us to work together to find solutions. Strengthen your teams with the support they need by providing all the resources, strategies, and tools required—# Bethesolutiondaily in a world that needs each one of you.
Learn about #TeamEQBook from TalentSmartEQ. Check out their new book, Team Emotional Intelligence 2.0: The Four Essential Skills of High Performing Teams, on Amazon–or from your favorite bookseller–today!