A Playful Way to Promote Team Flow: Evaluation of a Positive Psychological Board Game for Team Building

Abstract

AbstractModern work in team structures makes team building interventions increasingly important. A phenomenon known to have a positive effect on efficient teamwork, i.e. team performance and team satisfaction, is the experience of flow – on both individual level and team level. Approaches in positive psychology can contribute to efficient teamwork by fostering the existing potentials and resources of team members and thereby increasing individual flow and team flow at work. The present study introduces a newly developed intervention in the form of a board game based on a variety of positive psychological constructs demonstrably associated with individual flow and team flow. The aim of the game is to enhance the players’ flow and team flow experiences at work. Twelve teams from different companies with a total of 65 participants played the game. The frequency of flow and team flow at work were assessed at three time points: before playing, two weeks after playing, and four weeks after playing, with 34 participants having completed the questionnaires at all three assessment points. We found a positive effect of the board game on team flow experience at work two weeks after playing. We assume that the game enhanced the team’s feeling of togetherness and open communication thereby also enhancing team members’ flow experiences.