Emotional Intelligence (EI) Development for Information Professionals: Towards a Holistic EI Training Program

Abstract

This research aims to demonstrate a connection between emotional competencies and successfulinformation and knowledge-related work; and to adopt research findings from management science, psychology, and organizational behaviour to the development of practical emotional intelligence training programs for information professionals. The paper details acomparison of a variety of theoretical and practical EI training approaches. The results show that many programs share characteristics in terms of their: 1) theoretical foundations (i.e., EI framework); 2) duration of training; 3) grounding in self-awareness competencies; 4) combining theory and practice; 5) combining individual and team learning; and 6) valuing frequent assessment and feedback.