Catalog
concept#Product#Governance#Delivery

Emotional Intelligence

A cross-cutting concept for perceiving, interpreting, and managing emotions in oneself and others that enhances collaboration, leadership, and conflict resolution in organizational contexts.

Emotional intelligence describes the ability to perceive, understand, and manage one's own and others' emotions constructively.
Established
Medium

Classification

  • Medium
  • Organizational
  • Organizational
  • Intermediate

Technical context

HR learning management systems for training documentationPerformance review processes to measure progressOnboarding processes for early integration

Principles & goals

Self-awareness before regulation: understand before reacting.Empathy as observation: actively take perspectives, not judge.Contextuality: interpret emotions within the organizational context.
Discovery
Team, Domain, Enterprise

Use cases & scenarios

Compromises

  • Risk of misuse for manipulating social dynamics.
  • Overemphasis on individual responsibility instead of structural causes.
  • Lack of sustainability with one-off training measures.
  • Integrate with existing leadership development and KPIs.
  • Establish learning spaces for regular reflection.
  • Promote leaders as role models in emotional transparency.

I/O & resources

  • Assessment results (e.g., 360° feedback)
  • Time resources for training and coaching
  • Commitment from leadership
  • Improved communication patterns
  • Concrete development plans for employees
  • Lower turnover and higher satisfaction

Description

Emotional intelligence describes the ability to perceive, understand, and manage one's own and others' emotions constructively. It improves communication, conflict resolution, and team dynamics within organizations. In leadership and collaboration contexts it underpins more resilient decision-making and supports sustainable employee engagement.

✔

  • Improved interpersonal communication and fewer misunderstandings.
  • More effective conflict resolution and faster restoration of cooperation.
  • Higher employee retention through empathetic leadership.

✖

  • Success depends on long-term practice and leadership context.
  • Measurability is indirect and often subjective.
  • Alone it cannot offset toxic organizational cultures.

  • 360° feedback score

    Aggregate value from peer, subordinate and manager feedback on social competencies.

  • Employee retention rate

    Proportion of employees who remain with the organization over defined periods.

  • Conflict frequency per team

    Number of escalated conflicts or formal interventions per team and period.

Leadership program at a tech company

A multi-month program combining assessment, coaching and peer coaching led to measurable improvements in team metrics.

Onboarding with emotional support

A new team introduced buddy and reflection sessions to foster social integration and reduce turnover.

Conflict intervention in product team

A facilitated intervention after an escalating dispute stabilized collaboration and enabled faster release cycles.

1

Conduct needs analysis and stakeholder alignment.

2

Select assessment tools and measure baseline.

3

Introduce targeted training and coaching measures.

4

Continuous monitoring and adjustment of measures.

⚠️ Technical debt & bottlenecks

  • No documented development plans after assessments.
  • Missing integration into HR systems for tracking.
  • Outdated training materials without evidence basis.
Lack of coaching capacityTime constraints for reflectionLow psychological safety
  • Using it to manipulate employees during change processes.
  • Rewarding emotional conformity instead of structural improvements.
  • Reducing it to an assessment label without a development path.
  • Expecting immediate cultural change in short term.
  • Neglecting structural causes of stress and conflict.
  • Unclear metrics lead to false conclusions.
Active listening and feedback techniquesFacilitation and coaching skillsReflection ability and self-regulation
Organizational culture and valuesLeadership style and management practicesCommunication channels and feedback processes
  • • Limited resources for sustained training programs
  • • Conflicts with existing performance metrics
  • • Cultural differences in emotional expression and perception