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Starweaver Instructor Team, Paul Siegel, and Eric Zackrison

Course Description:

What sets exceptional leaders apart in today’s workplace? It’s not just technical expertise—it’s the ability to understand, connect, and inspire. Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the secret ingredient to creating cohesive, high-performing teams, and this course will show you how to master it.

Imagine a team where every member feels understood, valued, and empowered to contribute their best. What if you could turn conflicts into opportunities, foster trust that inspires collaboration, and create an environment where resilience and innovation thrive? This is the power of Emotional Intelligence.

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Course Description:

What sets exceptional leaders apart in today’s workplace? It’s not just technical expertise—it’s the ability to understand, connect, and inspire. Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the secret ingredient to creating cohesive, high-performing teams, and this course will show you how to master it.

Imagine a team where every member feels understood, valued, and empowered to contribute their best. What if you could turn conflicts into opportunities, foster trust that inspires collaboration, and create an environment where resilience and innovation thrive? This is the power of Emotional Intelligence.

In “Emotional Intelligence in Teams and Collaboration,” you’ll explore how EI transforms the way teams communicate, connect, and overcome challenges. By developing key EI skills like self-awareness, empathy, and emotional regulation, you’ll gain the tools to build cohesive, high-performing teams that adapt gracefully to change.

This course combines research-backed insights with practical strategies to help you foster trust, resolve conflicts, and lead with authenticity. Whether you’re a team leader, manager, or aspiring leader, you’ll leave equipped to create a team culture where everyone thrives.

Course Overview

The course is divided into four sections, each building on the last to help learners understand and apply emotional intelligence in team settings:

Section 1: Introduces the foundational concepts of EI and its importance in the workplace.

Section 2: Focuses on developing self-awareness and self-regulation skills.

Section 3: Explores social awareness and relationship management techniques.

Section 4: Culminates in applying these concepts to real-world scenarios, equipping learners with the tools to create resilient, collaborative, and inclusive teams.

What Sets This Course Apart?

Unlike traditional team-building programs that rely on one-size-fits-all activities or superficial communication tips, this course delves into the deeper, human-centered competencies that drive meaningful collaboration.

We integrate research-backed frameworks with practical tools. This ensures you’ll gain both an intellectual understanding of EI concepts and the tactical skills needed to implement them effectively in your own work environment.

Beyond learning how EI influences collaboration, you’ll discover how to:

  • Foster psychological safety.

  • Encourage open feedback loops.

  • Resolve tension productively.

Whether you’re a team leader, project manager, or aspiring leader, this course equips you to create adaptive teams with strong emotional foundations—teams that not only deliver results but also support individual well-being and sustainable organizational growth.

Who Will Benefit from This Course?

This course is ideal for anyone who leads, collaborates, or contributes within a team setting—regardless of industry or organizational size.

Team leaders, project managers, HR professionals, consultants, and aspiring leaders seeking to strengthen their ability to guide others through complex interpersonal dynamics will find immediate value. Additionally, team members wishing to enhance their influence, communication, and conflict-resolution skills will benefit as much as those in formal leadership roles.

Whether you’re part of a well-established team looking to improve trust and synergy, or guiding a newly formed group through growing pains, this course will help you create an environment where every individual can thrive.

What Will You Learn?

By the end of this course, you will:

  1. Develop a Strong EI Foundation: Gain deeper self-awareness, learn to recognize your emotional states, and understand how they influence your leadership and teamwork styles.

  1. Strengthen Interpersonal Understanding: Enhance your capacity for empathy, enabling you to better read team members’ emotions, motivations, and concerns.

  1. Improve Communication & Feedback Loops: Acquire communication strategies that increase clarity, reduce misunderstandings, and encourage open, honest dialogue within your team.

  1. Navigate Conflict Productively: Learn to approach disagreements with curiosity and compassion, transforming potential friction into opportunities for growth and innovation.

  1. Foster a Culture of Trust & Psychological Safety: Discover how to create an environment where team members feel comfortable sharing ideas, taking risks, and learning from mistakes without fear of judgment.

  1. Lead and Influence with Emotional Intelligence: Translate emotional insights into tangible leadership actions, guiding your team toward higher performance, resilience, and collective well-being.

How Will This Course Help You Professionally?

As today’s workplace grows increasingly diverse, distributed, and fast-paced, professionals who excel at navigating human dynamics stand out. This course empowers you to become a more empathetic, adaptable, and strategically engaged leader or team member. By honing your emotional intelligence, you’ll be better positioned to:

  • Enhance Leadership Credibility: Strengthen trust with colleagues, stakeholders, and clients by demonstrating genuine understanding and care in all your interactions.

  • Boost Team Performance: Use emotional intelligence to create an environment where healthy debate leads to innovation, and where team members are motivated to go the extra mile.Improve Adaptability in Complex Situations: Quickly assess interpersonal challenges, regulate your emotional responses, and employ EI-driven tactics to resolve issues effectively.

  • Increase Influence and Career Growth: Leaders with high EI often find themselves tapped for more responsibility and visibility, as their emotional insights translate into tangible organizational successes.

Real-World Applications and Case Studies

To bridge theory and practice, you’ll dive into realistic business scenarios that highlight the impact of EI on team effectiveness.

From product development groups working under tight deadlines to cross-functional teams navigating organizational change, you’ll analyze how emotional intelligence principles guide better decision-making, communication, and conflict resolution. Through exploring both success stories and lessons from teams that struggled, you’ll gain the perspective needed to proactively apply these concepts in your own professional environment.

You’ll emerge from the course with a toolkit you can immediately deploy—be it during a team kickoff meeting, a challenging client negotiation, or a performance review session.

Interactive and Hands-On Learning

We believe that the best way to internalize new skills is to practice them. Throughout the course, you’ll engage in:

  • Reflective Exercises: Engaging with journaling prompts and self-assessments will help you identify your emotional strengths, blind spots, and growth areas.

  • Role-Plays and Scenario Simulations: Participating in interactive exercises will put you in the driver’s seat, requiring you to navigate difficult team conversations, manage emotionally charged situations, and test out new communication strategies.

  • Peer Feedback Sessions: Exchanging feedback with fellow learners will deepen your understanding of how others perceive your communication style and emotional awareness.

  • Capstone Project: Applying EI frameworks to a real or hypothetical team challenge, you’ll leave with a tangible action plan tailored to your workplace, ensuring that your learning extends far beyond this course.

What Problem Does This Course Solve?

Many teams struggle with hidden tensions, miscommunications, and ineffective collaboration that stifle innovation and hinder performance. Traditional training often emphasizes technical skills or process optimizations but overlooks the human factors that drive engagement and synergy. This course addresses that gap by placing emotional intelligence at the center of team development. It offers a roadmap to identify and dismantle interpersonal barriers, ensuring that team dynamics become a source of strength rather than a point of friction. Ultimately, it helps you cultivate a work environment that is more cohesive, communicative, and resilient—one where team members feel understood, supported, and empowered to reach their collective potential.

A Focus on Ethical Leadership

Emotional intelligence is inherently linked to ethical leadership. By learning to empathize with team members, appreciate diverse perspectives, and respond thoughtfully to challenges, you naturally create a more inclusive and respectful workplace culture. This course will highlight practices that not only improve performance but also uphold principles of fairness, integrity, and inclusivity. Participants will learn how to ensure that everyone’s voice is heard, reduce biases that may emerge in team interactions, and build psychological safety. This ethical lens ensures that as you improve your EI competencies, you also elevate your team’s moral and cultural standards.

Continuous Learning and Future-Proofing Your Career

As organizations evolve—adopting new technologies, business models, and global strategies—the ability to adapt emotionally and socially becomes a key competitive advantage. Emotional intelligence isn’t a static skill; it’s a mindset you can continually refine to meet the demands of an ever-changing workplace. By internalizing the EI principles and practices from this course, you equip yourself to lead through uncertainty, guide teams through transition, and remain a vital asset to any organization. In essence, nurturing your EI is an investment in your professional resilience, ensuring that you remain relevant, impactful, and prepared for the future of work.

Join us in Emotional Intelligence in Teams and Collaboration and become the kind of leader who fosters trust-driven teams, cultivates meaningful connections, and adapts gracefully in a rapidly evolving workplace.

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What's inside

Learning objectives

  • Examine the core components of emotional intelligence and their relevance in personal and team dynamics for effective collaboration.
  • Develop self-awareness and emotional regulation strategies by identifying triggers and practicing mindfulness to enhance personal effectiveness.
  • Demonstrate empathy and social awareness skills, such as active listening and managing interpersonal dynamics, to strengthen team relationships.
  • Apply emotional intelligence principles to foster trust, resolve conflicts, and build a collaborative and psychologically safe team environment.

Syllabus

This section sets the stage for the course by introducing the instructor, outlining the course goals, and providing an overview of the key topics and structure.
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Introduction to the course goals and key topics.

Introduction to the instructor.

A breakdown of what learners will achieve and how to approach each section.

This section introduces the core concepts of emotional intelligence (EI) and their importance in the workplace.

This video introduces the concept of emotional intelligence (EI), explaining what it is and why it’s critical in the workplace. You’ll get an overview of the four EI domains—self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, and relationship management—and learn how they influence team success and collaboration.

This video explores how emotional intelligence impacts team dynamics. You’ll discover how EI enhances communication, fosters collaboration, and resolves conflict, using real-world examples to illustrate the difference between high-EI and low-EI teams.

This video provides a closer look at the four domains of emotional intelligence. You’ll learn about self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, and relationship management, with specific examples of how each domain contributes to effective teamwork and leadership.

This video highlights the tangible benefits of emotional intelligence for organizations, teams, and individuals. You’ll see how EI drives trust, innovation, and resilience, supported by research and case studies showcasing its real-world impact.

This video addresses common myths about emotional intelligence, such as the belief that EI is only about being agreeable. You’ll learn how EI balances emotional and rational thinking and why it’s a powerful tool for navigating workplace challenges.

This article explores the significance of emotional intelligence (EI) in modern leadership and organizational change. It delves into how EI contributes to effective change management and innovation, emphasizing its relevance in contemporary work environments.

In this activity, learners will complete a brief Emotional Intelligence (EI) self-assessment to evaluate their current strengths and areas for growth across the four domains of EI: self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, and relationship management. After completing the assessment, learners will reflect on their results through guided prompts, considering how their EI impacts their workplace interactions and team dynamics.

Foundations of Emotional Intelligence in Teamwork
This section focuses on self-awareness and self-regulation, teaching you to recognize your emotions, identify triggers, and understand their impact on behavior and decision-making.

Self-awareness is the foundation of emotional intelligence, but how do you know if you’re self-aware? This video explores ways to identify and measure your self-awareness by reflecting on how you perceive yourself and how others perceive you. We’ll discuss the role of emotional labeling, understanding patterns in emotional responses, and using feedback to gauge alignment between your intentions and your actions. By the end of this video, you’ll have a clearer sense of how to assess your self-awareness and why it’s crucial for personal and team success.

Emotional triggers are events, people, or situations that elicit strong emotional reactions, often without conscious thought. In this video, we’ll explore how to identify your emotional triggers by reflecting on patterns in past experiences, examining physical and emotional cues, and observing automatic reactions to certain situations. You’ll learn why understanding your triggers is essential for improving emotional regulation and how they can impact your interactions in team settings. Recognizing triggers is the first step toward interrupting unhelpful patterns and responding with intention.

Self-regulation is the ability to manage your emotions and behaviors in alignment with your goals, even in challenging situations. This video focuses on the science behind self-regulation, including how emotions like frustration, anger, or anxiety can disrupt focus and decision-making. You’ll learn about the importance of pause and response in emotional regulation and explore examples of how effective self-regulation can transform difficult interactions into constructive outcomes. By mastering self-regulation, you can build trust, maintain professionalism, and improve team collaboration.

Resilience is the ability to adapt to stress, setbacks, and challenges while maintaining your focus and emotional control. This video explores how anchoring techniques—such as grounding exercises, visualization, and identifying your "why"—help you stay present and centered in high-pressure situations. We’ll discuss the role of mental clarity and focus on fostering resilience, as well as strategies to recover quickly from emotional setbacks. Resilience isn’t just about bouncing back; it’s about using challenges as opportunities for growth and maintaining emotional balance during uncertainty.

This study examines the relationship between self-awareness and effective leadership. It highlights how self-awareness influences leaders' behaviors and decision-making processes, providing insights into the role of self-regulation in leadership effectiveness.

In this activity, learners will create a personalized map of their emotional triggers—specific situations, events, or interactions that elicit strong emotional reactions. They will then identify practical tools and strategies they can use to maintain self-regulation when faced with these triggers and recover their emotional balance after a reaction. This activity combines reflection and planning to equip learners with a customized approach to managing their emotional responses effectively.

Self-Awareness and Self-Regulation
Building on personal EI skills, this section focuses on understanding and navigating the emotions of others.

Social awareness is the ability to understand the emotions and dynamics of those around you. This video explores how to recognize social cues, interpret body language, and understand group dynamics. You’ll learn how to identify unspoken needs, appreciate diverse perspectives, and build a deeper connection with your team by tuning into the emotional undercurrents of the workplace.

Empathy is a cornerstone of emotional intelligence and an essential skill for building trust and rapport. This video focuses on actionable ways to demonstrate empathy, such as validating others’ feelings, showing genuine curiosity, and reframing situations from others’ perspectives. You’ll see examples of how empathy fosters collaboration and defuses potential conflicts in team settings.

Active listening is a skill that goes beyond hearing words; it’s about fully engaging with what others are saying. This video explains the key components of active listening, including maintaining focus, paraphrasing for clarity, and observing nonverbal cues. By practicing active listening, you’ll strengthen relationships, improve communication, and make others feel valued in every interaction.

Trust is the foundation of any strong team, and psychological safety ensures that team members feel secure in expressing themselves. This video explores how to cultivate trust by being transparent, consistent, and respectful. You’ll also learn strategies to create a psychologically safe environment where individuals feel comfortable sharing ideas, taking risks, and learning from mistakes without fear of judgment.

Feedback is a vital tool for growth, but it can be challenging to give and receive effectively. This video focuses on how to provide constructive feedback that focuses on behavior rather than personality, and how to create a safe space for receiving feedback with an open mind. Examples of effective feedback conversations illustrate how this skill strengthens relationships and drives team improvement.

This article explores the interplay between transformational leadership and emotional intelligence in fostering organizational commitment. It discusses how social awareness and relationship management are pivotal in developing strong leader-follower relationships.

In this activity, Learners will observe a real or hypothetical team interaction (e.g., a meeting or video example) and analyze the social dynamics at play. They will document non-verbal cues, tone, and emotional shifts, and identify moments where social awareness could improve communication or collaboration.

Social Awareness and Relationship Management
The final section integrates everything you’ve learned, focusing on applying emotional intelligence to real-world team challenges.

This video explores how emotional intelligence enhances team communication. You’ll learn strategies for fostering open dialogue, ensuring clarity in messaging, and navigating cultural or interpersonal differences. Examples of emotionally intelligent communication in action demonstrate how these skills improve collaboration and minimize misunderstandings in team environments.

Conflict is inevitable in teams, but emotional intelligence allows you to approach it as an opportunity for growth. This video introduces strategies for identifying the root causes of conflict, managing emotions during tense situations, and finding collaborative solutions. Case studies illustrate how to balance empathy and assertiveness to resolve disagreements effectively.

Collaboration thrives when teams share a sense of purpose and work toward common goals. This video focuses on leveraging emotional intelligence to build consensus, respect diverse perspectives, and encourage shared decision-making. You’ll see how emotionally intelligent leaders foster buy-in and inspire collective ownership of team objectives.

A team’s success depends on its culture. This video explains how to use emotional intelligence to create an environment where team members feel valued, respected, and safe to express themselves. You’ll explore strategies for promoting inclusivity, celebrating contributions, and encouraging risk-taking and creativity in a psychologically safe space.

This video focuses on applying emotional intelligence to lead teams through challenges and change. You’ll learn how to model resilience, maintain team morale during setbacks, and adapt to shifting circumstances. Real-world examples show how resilient teams thrive under emotionally intelligent leadership.

This systematic review investigates how self-leadership and mindfulness training enhance leadership development. It provides practical insights into applying emotional intelligence within teams to improve collaboration and performance.

Conflict is inevitable in team environments, but how you handle it can make or break team dynamics. In this activity, learners will engage in a simulated conflict resolution scenario where they’ll apply emotional intelligence (EI) principles to identify underlying issues, manage their emotions, and work toward a collaborative solution. Through guided steps, learners will practice empathy, active listening, and assertive communication to navigate the conflict effectively.

Emotional Intelligence in Action: Applying EI in Your Teams
Wrap-Up and Capstone

Recap of course and final thoughts.

The capstone project integrates all the concepts and skills learned throughout the course, challenging learners to develop a comprehensive Emotional Intelligence (EI) Action Plan for a real or hypothetical team. Participants will analyze the team’s current dynamics, identify areas where emotional intelligence can enhance collaboration and performance, and propose actionable strategies for improvement. The final deliverable will be a structured plan outlining how to apply EI principles to foster trust, communication, conflict resolution, and resilience within the team.

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Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Emotional Intelligence in Teams and Collaboration with these activities:
Review Core EI Concepts
Reinforce your understanding of the fundamental principles of emotional intelligence to prepare for more advanced topics.
Browse courses on Emotional Intelligence
Show steps
  • Review the definitions of the four EI domains.
  • Summarize the benefits of EI in teamwork.
  • Identify examples of EI in real-world scenarios.
Review 'Emotional Intelligence 2.0'
Gain practical insights and strategies for improving your emotional intelligence by reading a widely recognized guide.
View Melania on Amazon
Show steps
  • Read the book 'Emotional Intelligence 2.0'.
  • Identify three key takeaways from each chapter.
  • Reflect on how you can apply these takeaways to your team interactions.
Practice Active Listening
Sharpen your active listening skills through focused exercises to improve communication and understanding within your team.
Show steps
  • Find a partner and take turns speaking and listening.
  • Practice paraphrasing what your partner says to ensure understanding.
  • Focus on non-verbal cues and emotional undertones.
  • Provide constructive feedback to each other.
Four other activities
Expand to see all activities and additional details
Show all seven activities
Mentor a Colleague on EI
Deepen your understanding of emotional intelligence by mentoring a colleague and helping them develop their EI skills.
Show steps
  • Identify a colleague who is interested in improving their EI.
  • Meet regularly to discuss EI concepts and strategies.
  • Provide guidance and support as they implement these strategies.
  • Offer constructive feedback and encouragement.
Create a Presentation on EI
Solidify your understanding of emotional intelligence by creating a presentation that you can share with your team or colleagues.
Show steps
  • Research and gather information on EI principles.
  • Develop an outline for your presentation.
  • Create visually appealing slides with key points.
  • Practice your presentation and solicit feedback.
Review 'Primal Leadership'
Explore the connection between emotional intelligence and leadership by reading a book by Daniel Goleman.
Show steps
  • Read the book 'Primal Leadership'.
  • Identify the six leadership styles discussed in the book.
  • Reflect on which leadership styles you use most often and why.
Implement an EI Action Plan
Apply your knowledge of emotional intelligence by developing and implementing an action plan to improve team dynamics.
Show steps
  • Assess your team's current EI strengths and weaknesses.
  • Develop specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals.
  • Implement strategies to improve EI within your team.
  • Monitor progress and make adjustments as needed.

Career center

Learners who complete Emotional Intelligence in Teams and Collaboration will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:

Reading list

We've selected two books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in Emotional Intelligence in Teams and Collaboration.
Provides a practical guide to understanding and increasing your EQ with the help of a test and lots of strategies. It great resource for anyone looking to improve their emotional intelligence, especially in a professional setting. The book offers actionable steps and techniques that align well with the course's focus on developing self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, and relationship management.
Explores the crucial role of emotional intelligence in effective leadership. It argues that leaders' emotions are contagious and directly impact team performance. It is particularly relevant to the course's emphasis on leading with emotional intelligence and fostering a positive team environment. This book provides a deeper understanding of how EI influences leadership credibility and team dynamics.

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