A Multilevel Examination of the Influence of Emotional Skills on Communication Performance

Abstract

Recent research suggests it is useful to adopt a multilevel approach when examining the impact of individual emotional skills on team effectiveness. In this study a multilevel model was developed and tested to explore how individual team members' emotional skills influence their communication effectiveness and appropriateness. Data was collected from 127 student participants involved in 37 project teams, whose work culminated in a performance task after 8 weeks. Self-report emotional skill ratings were obtained in the first two weeks of semester. Four emotional skills were assessed: awareness of own and others' emotions, and management of own and others' emotions. Peer ratings of team members' communication effectiveness and communication appropriateness over the 8 weeks were collected directly after completion of the performance task. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses revealed that individual-level awareness of others' emotions influenced individual-level communication effectiveness. Team-level emotional skills were found to influence ratings of individual-level communication effectiveness (management of own emotions, awareness of others' emotions, management of others' emotions) and individual-level communication appropriateness (management of others' emotions). In addition, team-level management of others' emotions was related with both team-level communication appropriateness and effectiveness. Implications for theory and practice are discussed, and future research directions are identified.