Team coordination in high-risk circus acrobatics

Abstract

To advance understanding of the mechanisms allowing for team coordination (TC) in complex motor actions, we conducted a qualitative study with eight elite hand-to-hand circus acrobats. Data collection consisted of field observations, an open-ended interview with the participants’ head coach, and focus group interviews with all acrobats. Data analysis yielded three higher order themes: TC, collective efficacy (CE), and TC-CE linkage. Teammates’ shared and complementary mental models, as well as implicit and explicit communication dynamics, emerged as formative sub-themes of TC; self-efficacy and other’s-efficacy emerged as reflective sub-themes of CE. Our findings also suggest that TC is likely inter-related to CE in a systemic fashion. Practitioners should encourage the development of both shared and complementary models of thinking, while promoting verbal and non-verbal communication skills. Finally, increasing teammates’ confidence in themselves and in their teammates can help in the development of CE as well as the enhancement of TC.

Coordination Cost and Super-Efficiency in Teamwork: The Role of Communication, Psychological States, Cardiovascular Responses, and Brain Rhythms

“…In this regard, previous research suggests that peaks of alpha activity (more relaxation) and less beta power (increased automaticity) are observed across the whole brain as individuals become more proficient in a given task and/or are subjected to less work overload (Bertollo et al 2016 ; Pacheco 2016 ). We also observed large increases of theta power activity across the whole brain from Game 1 to Game 2 to Game 3, further suggesting that more focused attention is needed over time likely because teammates develop task and team-related knowledge (Cooke et al 2000 ; Filho and Rettig 2018 ; Filho and Tenenbaum 2020 ; Mohammed et al 2010 , 2017 ), which form the basis for team coordination.…”

“…To expand upon Study 1 and Study 2, we compared team performance and individuals' perceived psychological states, cardiovascular responses and alpha, beta and theta power over three games. As teammates develop shared and complementary knowledge over time (see Filho and Rettig 2018;Filho and Tenenbaum 2020;Mohammed et al 2010; 2017), we expected positive increases in performance, core affect and efficacy beliefs from Game 1 to Game 3. Furthermore, due to adaptive task specialization (i.e., teamwork saves individuals' energy through division of labour) that comes with team development over time (Duarte et al 2012;Eccles 2010), we expected a decrease in attention, cardiovascular responses, and absolute brain power from Game 1 to Game 3.…”

“…The development of team knowledge decreases coordination cost because teammates learn to communicate more effectively and save energy through the division of labour (Eccles 2010 ; Filho and Tenenbaum 2020 ). Indeed, research across domains, including studies with special police units (Boulton and Cole 2016 ), emergency medical teams (Westli et al 2010 ), hand-to-hand circus acrobats (Filho and Rettig 2018 ), and interactive team sports (LeCouteur and Feo 2011 ), has revealed that over time teammates’ move from overt to covert communication and learn to synchronise their actions.…”

Shared Zones of Optimal Functioning: A Framework to Capture Peak Performance, Momentum, Psycho–Bio–Social Synchrony, and Leader–Follower Dynamics in Teams

“…SMM consist of different types of knowledge (know-what; know-why; know-where; know-when; know-how) held in common by a team (Filho, 2019), which in turn have been defined as a collection of individuals united by shared goals (Hackman & Wageman, 2005).…”

“…To perform optimally, teams must share highquality knowledge which enables performance, as opposed to low-quality knowledge which hinders performance (Lim & Klein, 2006). Furthermore, SMM are a cross-level property insofar that teammates also share knowledge about the individuals in the team, the team as a whole, and the broader performance context (Filho, 2019). In other words, individuals are nested within teams, which in turn are bounded to a specific performance context (e.g., military, sports).…”