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Article published In:
Interaction Studies
Vol. 19:3 (2018) ► pp.499–518

Team coordination in high-risk circus acrobatics

| University of Central Lancashire
| Florida State University

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.

Keywords: team coordination, shared mental models, group dynamics, collective efficacy, dyadic teams
Article outline
  • Conceptual framework of coordination in teams
  • The present study
  • Method
    • Participants
    • Data collection
      • Focus group interviews
      • Coach interview
      • Field observations
    • Data analysis
      • Inductive thematic analysis
      • Direct content analysis
  • Results
    • Team coordination
      • Shared mental models
      • Complementary mental models
      • Verbal communication
      • Non-verbal communication
    • Collective efficacy
      • Self-efficacy
      • Other’s-efficacy
    • Team coordination and collective efficacy linkage
  • Discussion
    • Underlying factors of team coordination
    • The role of collective efficacy
    • Team coordination and collective efficacy linkage
    • Limitations
    • Future research and applied implications
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Published online: 13 March 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/is.16035.fil
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