Running Head: GROUP EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE: 1
Group Emotional Intelligence
HCIN-544-02-SU17 - Advanced Health Care Information Management
Amrit Virdee
University of San Diego
August 2nd 2017
GROUP EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE: 2
Emotional intelligence is rooted within the confines of social intelligence and can
be defined as the ability to express emotions. (Barr, Dowding, 2016). Emotionally
intelligent leaders have the ability to persuade others to follow a common goal and also
have the ability to make them feel good about following that goal. Emotional
intelligence is also linked to compassion. For groups to be effective, three conditions
are required, creating trust among each other, creating a sense of group identity and
group efficacy which is defined as a group’s perceived capability to perform. Meeting
these three conditions increases openness in participation which then results in be tter
decisions being made, more creative solutions being discussed and increasing
productivity and performance.
The primary goal of getting groups to be more successful is to eliminate members
of the group from holding back due to conflicting personalities and various group
dynamics so that they can collaborate and participate fully. Having emotional
intelligence within a group allows the group to understand and relate to each other,
where every group member’s voice is heard and every idea in the group is tabled. Group
emotional intelligence is not about the lack of tension within a group or the fact that all
members need to like each other, it is about acknowledging when there is tension and
addressing it head-on, it is about understanding that difference s can lead to greater
outcomes. A team can have everything going for it—the brightest and most qualified people,
access to resources, a clear mission—but still fail because it lacks group emotional intelligence
(Urch Druskat, Wolff, 2001). Team building events outside their workplace are a good way of
GROUP EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE: 3
getting teams to be more emotionally intelligent where they can get to know each other on a
higher emotional level which in turn increases trust and builds on group identity.
References
Wolff, S., Urch Druskat, V., (2001). Building the Emotional Intelligence of Groups. Retrieved
Retrieved August 01, 2017, from [Link]
intelligence-of-groups
Gibson, C. B., Randel, A. E., & Earley, P. C. (2000, March 01). Understanding Group Efficacy.
Efficacy. Retrieved August 02, 2017, from
[Link]
Barr, J., & Dowding, L. (2016). Leadership in health care. London: Sage publications.