Building High-Performance Teams Through Emotional Intelligence
In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, the pressure to build high-performing teams has never been greater. Yet most leaders approach team building fundamentally wrong. According to research by organizational behavior expert Vanessa Urch Druskat, the secret to exceptional team performance is developing emotionally intelligent norms that bring out the best in every team member.
The Star Employee Myth
Traditional thinking suggests that assembling a team of top performers guarantees success. However, Druskat's research reveals that "intelligence, abilities, and personalities are poor predictors of how people behave in teams and what they can contribute to a team's success". Instead, the most reliable predictor of team motivation and behavior is the specific norms that define how members interact and work together.
This finding challenges conventional hiring wisdom and suggests that organizations focusing solely on individual talent are missing the bigger picture. As one Fortune 100 team leader perfectly summarized to Druskat: "No one on my team has A+ skills, but we collaborate in ways that produce A+ work".
The Power of Emotionally Intelligent Norms
What sets high-performing teams apart is their adoption of emotionally intelligent norms that address the innate needs of all team members. These norms create a productive social and emotional environment that supports active participation, effort, and even heated debates that lead to successful outcomes.
Neuroscience research supports this approach, showing that our brains are highly sensitive to signals of disrespect and social rejection, which foster distrust and self-protective behaviors. Conversely, "teamwork thrives when norms foster and maintain a sense of belonging within a community". The most successful teams deliberately create these conditions rather than hoping they'll emerge naturally.
Four Strategies for Building Emotionally Intelligent Teams
1. Deepen Team Member Understanding
High-performing teams invest time in learning about each other's roles, responsibilities, and unique backgrounds. As Druskat notes, "No sports team or musical group would assume they could play well together unless they knew something about their teammates' unique backgrounds and talents, as well as what that person needed from others to play at their best". At 18 Coffees, one tool we regularly use when onboarding new staff members is our Team Member on a Page. This critical step in our onboarding process ensures that we’re clear about communicating each team member’s strengths and work styles from the onset.
2. Implement Regular Team Assessments
Successful teams develop norms that engage them in both optimistic and critical discussions. Monthly structured meetings where teams discuss what's working well and what isn't, followed by collaborative action planning, can dramatically improve overall performance and leader confidence.
3. Engage External Stakeholders
The highest-performing teams recognize they don't have all the information and resources needed for success within their team alone. By developing stakeholder maps and assigning team ambassadors, they can gain strategic insights and access to resources that help them succeed.
4. Focus on Continuous Learning and Adaptation
Emotionally intelligent norms build continuous assessment, learning, and adaptation into a team's everyday culture. 18 Coffees has worked with clients to build agile planning processes that allow client teams to refine approaches in real-time to drive innovation and work more efficiently.
The Bottom Line for Leaders
Building exceptional teams requires persistence and team involvement to transform how team members work together. Leaders who shift their focus from “perfect hires” and individual performance to collective emotional intelligence can create environments where innovation thrives and complex problems get solved more quickly.
Is your organization ready to transform team performance through emotional intelligence? Our consulting experts specialize in developing customized team norms and assessment processes. We help leadership teams move beyond individual performance metrics to create cultures of trust and innovation. Contact us today for a free consultation.
