Creating an Environment of Social Coherence

The Science of Group Flow and Collective Intelligence in Health & Human Services

With work becoming more and more collaborative, we recognize that human intelligence is not just happening at the individual level. Rather, it takes place in the context of interactions with others.Being able to regulate and respond adaptively is a key skill for creating the high levels of shared intelligence critical to achieving positive outcomes in human service systems of care. Understanding how our brains and nervous systems work at work help leaders and teams cultivate skills for connecting with others in a way that unlocks collective intelligence. A scientifically measurable state, social coherence occurs in social settings when groups of people create resonance with their intentions and goals by becoming self-regulated and emotionally aligned. When this happens, a sense of group flow is activated, which enhances the capacity to make decisions, solve problems, and create new things together. Social coherence and flow are extremely important for team and organizational performance. Regardless of the work we are doing, we are always in relationship. Some examples of these relationships are team interactions, communication with a direct report or a manager, client communication, and cross departmental or cross agency dialogues. Collective intelligence involves the ability to reinterpret ourselves by way of interactions with a group, team, or system. This is a shift from just engaging and connecting well with others to perceiving the group or system as an integrated whole, where there is deep democracy in meetings or conversations.

This interactive science-based workshop draws on breakthroughs from the fields of modern neuroscience, social coherence, collective intelligence, flow, and emotion regulation to provide fresh insights into what it takes to cultivate high performing teams and workplace environments that promote learning, innovation, high morale, and forward movement.

Learning Objectives

  1. Describe the scientific state of coherence and how it relates to human performance in a human services workplace
  2. Examine research in the field of collective intelligence and flow as it relates to leadership learning and performance
  3. Apply science-backed approaches to creating coherence environments that promote flow and higher levels of human performance in team and group contexts
Skills

Posted on

May 8, 2023