When teams work well together they can exceed the sum of their parts. When they’re more dysfunctional, however, the opposite is often the case. Research from the Institute of Psychology of the German Sport University Cologne explores how teams can enter such a state of flow.

Flow in individuals is something that has been explored a lot in recent years after it has become apparent how beneficial it is to our performance. The research into group flow has received much less attention, however, with few systemic studies examining the conditions that best support it. It’s something the researchers strive to change.

Supporting flow

“Over the past few years, we have developed an integrative group flow theory that brings together positives of existing theoretical approaches and addresses weaknesses of previous work,” the researchers explain.

Their work is based on action theory principles, with group flow consisting of two parts that are continuously maintained by the group. The first part is the fit between group members, so that when a state of flow exists the behaviors, state of mind, and abilities of each member mesh with one another.

From this, the second fit emerges so that the behaviors, mental state, and abilities of the group fit well with the task/s given to the group to perform.

In group flow, primary and secondary fits are continuously maintained due to interpersonal coordination which is facilitated in particular by a positive relationship quality among the group members.