Overcoming impediments to team flow

Building on Csikszentmihalyi’s research on flow, team flow is defined as a shared experience of flow during the execution of interdependent personal tasks that serve the interest of the team, originating from an optimized team dynamic and typifed by seven prerequisites and four characteristics at the team level Despite the noted potential for team flow to enhance team performance, subjective well-being, and a healthy team dynamic, there are potential pitfalls that can inhibit team flow that have not yet been researched. To remedy this, we collected interview and focus group data from both student teams and business teams, and we conclude that disorder, dissent, distrust, and delays, which are the inverses of the team flow prerequisites, are the primary impediments to team flow Based on this research, we offer guidelines for preventing and/or overcoming these obstacles.