Working on an interdisciplinary team can be one of the greatest opportunities and hardest challenges of working in today’s health care environment. On the one hand, the opportunity for deep collaboration and synergy is high, yet at the same time, the potential for misunderstanding, conflict, and miscommunication can be equally high. Developing one’s own emotional intelligence skills can be key in skillfully navigating team interactions - especially in situations where strong emotions are present.

In his book EQ Applied: The Real World Guide to Emotional Intelligence, Justin Bariso outlines five questions to ask yourself before entering into a challenging conversation with a colleague at work.

Does this need to be said?
Does this need to be said by me?
Does this need to be said by me, now?
Can I disagree and commit?
Can I empathize without agreeing?

For reflection alone or together

Bring to mind a recent emotionally charged interaction you had with a team member at work.

Assuming you have not yet debriefed this encounter with your teammate, mentally run through the first three questions above to determine if this is or is not an issue that needs to be discussed.

If you decide that it does need to be discussed with your teammate, imagine a scenario where your colleague disagrees with you about the nature of the interaction and/or remedy. Ask yourself the last two questions: Can you commit to a shared solution with your colleague even if you don’t mutually agree on the nature of the problem? Can you step into your colleagues shoes and appreciate their point of view on the situation, even if it is very different from yours?

5 Emotionally Intelligent Questions for Teams

For reflection alone or together