Fluency Experiences: in Knowledge-Intensive Individual Work and Collaboration

Aalto University, P.O. Box 11000, FI-00076 Aalto www.aalto. fi Author Heli Bergström Name of the doctoral dissertation Fluency Experiences in Knowledge-Intensive Individual Work and Collaboration Publisher Aalto University School of Science Unit Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Series Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS 46/2011 Field of research Leadership, Organizations and Work Psychology Manuscript submitted 21 January 2011 Manuscript revised 15 May 2011 Date of the defence 23 June 2011 Language English Monograph Article dissertation (summary + original articles) Abstract Although knowledge-intensive work and leadership of knowledge workers have been studied from different viewpoints and with different approaches, the research in the field appears to be very fragmented. The existing literature concentrates on the nature of knowledge-intensive work, or productivity and effectiveness of it. Because of limited amount of scientific literature and lack of empirical evidence, significance of fluency is not well understood, although fluency is an important concept from viewpoint of e.g., effectiveness. Fluency refers to an expectation of planned, effective, and goal-oriented flow of work, which becomes apparent in fluency experiences. Data of this multiple-case study, aiming at finding enablers and hindrances affecting fluency experiences in knowledge-intensive individual work and collaboration, was gathered using two methods: texts written by the informants, and semi-structured interviews. Data was analyzed using inductive-abductive reasoning to construct enablers and hindrances affecting fluency experiences based on the informants’ responses. Factors related to fluency experiences were analyzed with help of relevant theory-based frameworks. Nine informants representing various professions participated in this study. Contribution of this thesis is a generic model, which describes fluency experiences in knowledge-intensive individual work and collaboration. The model introduces knowledge workers’ most common fluency experiences, and contextual and work factors related to them. This thesis suggests that: 1) an individual’s fluency experiences are partly independent of the environment, because an individual’s experiences seem to emerge from individual emotional experiences, which are influenced by different external and internal triggers; 2) fluency is a core concept in producing positive results in knowledge-intensive individual work and collaboration, and that fluency should be considered as important a concept as productivity and effectiveness when evaluating knowledge-intensive work; and, 3) enablers and hindrances affecting fluency experiences in knowledge-intensive individual work and collaboration should be evaluated more thoroughly as factors affecting productivity and effectiveness of knowledge-intensive work, because fluency as a part of the work process has a significant influence on effectiveness and quality of work.Although knowledge-intensive work and leadership of knowledge workers have been studied from different viewpoints and with different approaches, the research in the field appears to be very fragmented. The existing literature concentrates on the nature of knowledge-intensive work, or productivity and effectiveness of it. Because of limited amount of scientific literature and lack of empirical evidence, significance of fluency is not well understood, although fluency is an important concept from viewpoint of e.g., effectiveness. Fluency refers to an expectation of planned, effective, and goal-oriented flow of work, which becomes apparent in fluency experiences. Data of this multiple-case study, aiming at finding enablers and hindrances affecting fluency experiences in knowledge-intensive individual work and collaboration, was gathered using two methods: texts written by the informants, and semi-structured interviews. Data was analyzed using inductive-abductive reasoning to construct enablers and hindrances affecting fluency experiences based on the informants’ responses. Factors related to fluency experiences were analyzed with help of relevant theory-based frameworks. Nine informants representing various professions participated in this study. Contribution of this thesis is a generic model, which describes fluency experiences in knowledge-intensive individual work and collaboration. The model introduces knowledge workers’ most common fluency experiences, and contextual and work factors related to them. This thesis suggests that: 1) an individual’s fluency experiences are partly independent of the environment, because an individual’s experiences seem to emerge from individual emotional experiences, which are influenced by different external and internal triggers; 2) fluency is a core concept in producing positive results in knowledge-intensive individual work and collaboration, and that fluency should be considered as important a concept as productivity and effectiveness when evaluating knowledge-intensive work; and, 3) enablers and hindrances affecting fluency experiences in knowledge-intensive individual work and collaboration should be evaluated more thoroughly as factors affecting productivity and effectiveness of knowledge-intensive work, because fluency as a part of the work process has a significant influence on effectiveness and quality of work.