Examining the role of Emotional Intelligence, Conflict Resolution and Problem-Solving in Team Management

Objectives: The study intends to: measure the correlation between emotional intelligence and team performance; assess the impact of specific conflict resolution strategies on individual and team problem solving performance and determine if there is a link between emotional intelligence and different conflict resolution strategies.Materials & Methods: Sample size of university students (N=105) has been selected by convenient sampling method; students are enrolled in management courses, working in 35 teams i.e. each team is composed of 3 members. Survey was conducted using a 44 item questionnaire adopted from Wong & Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS, 2002), Senior's (1996) and Rahim's (1938) Scales for Styles of Handling Interpersonal Conflicts. Multiple Regression Analysis was used to assess the variance of each of the independent explained using SPSS v.17.Results: The five predictor model accounted for 61% of the variance in Team Performance F (5, 99) = 34.864, p<.000, R-2 = .619. Team performance has a positive correlation with compromising and accommodating styles of conflict resolution, whereas a weak inverse correlation is found between dominating style of conflict resolution.Conclusion: High emotional intelligence work teams performed at a higher level than low emotional intelligence teams. Accommodating and collaborating are most commonly used styles for conflict resolution within high emotional intelligent teams.