Many researchers have, in the past, sought to determine the extent to which some team characteristics impact the creativity of teams and their overall productivity. However, there still lacks enough research on the usefulness of group emotional intelligence in achieving both team trust and establishing a collaborative culture. Without emotional intelligence, the other three cannot possibly be met, and this could have devastating implications for an organization’s performance.
There is no doubt that team creativity is a critical requirement for organizational performance. Be it in a business organization or academics; creativity is highly essential. This is mostly in the increasingly competitive and fast-paced world. The need to come up with solutions and products that appeal to many people and increase the profitability of organizations has prompted the need for teamwork in business organizations. In the modern organization, project teams are becoming unprecedentedly diverse, featuring members from numerous backgrounds and skill-sets. Ensuring that teams function as single units are the ultimate goal of most managers. Emotional intelligence is among the significant determinants of cohesiveness and harmony in project teams.
Dealing with people, especially in new organizations where tasks are incredibly interconnected, requires a great deal of emotional intelligence and trust. For teams to function effectively, members have to forge ways of working as a single unit. Team members often have different goals, perspectives, and expectations. It is through emotional intelligence and the trust that emerges that these differences are blurred or converted to advantage so that the team is capable of operating towards achieving a common goal. Without emotional trust, the workplace would be too chaotic, and this is a setback to the organization in terms of creativity and productivity.
Social Media and Creativity
The 21st Century has seen numerous technological innovations that have made the world more interconnected than ever before. Social media sites have emerged as among the most significant innovations of the time and whose usefulness transcends the social lives of people. In fact, they have made it possible for people to gain more information and knowledge while at the same time interacting on considerably informal platforms. In the competitive business environment where outstanding ideas determine who claims the prominent market shares, social media platforms have been at the center of knowledge management and the enhancement of creativity.
To many people, social media sites have completely changed the rules of interactivity, even within settings that are incredibly formal. Whether during the official working hours or past working hours, employees communicate and share ideas more freely through social media platforms. Since the social media sites are considered to be informal platforms, the creativity of some employees, who to some extent are restrained by the formality of the conventional interaction mediums, is considerably increased.
Integrating social media into the organizational culture as a way of enhancing public communication between the employees is essential. This way, more outstanding creative ideas that can transform the organization come out even from the least expected people. It is a fact that people tend to interact more freely with social media than in other formal discussions. This increases the chances for a more generous employee- employee interaction and the formulation of novel ideas. It also establishes the need to find new ways, including social media, to improve collaboration between employees so as to improve their creativity and productivity.