High-performance teams

Orchestras are teams of high specialised professionals. But what is the most successful way to bring together the individual capabilities of the performers to get to high performance?

Factsheet

Situation

This research projects aims at describing and understanding the functioning of high-performance teams in music. Our analysis focuses on informal interaction, based on a survey of the organisational structure of the ensembles.

Course of action

Our aim is to find out which conditions should prevail to get best results in high-performance music teams. We analysed three differently organized ensembles. After surveying the formal structures of the ensembles and their contexts, aims and structures by questionnaires we analysed decision-finding processes by oberserving rehearsals. Additionallys we conducted interviews with key players of the ensembles and with experts from other areas (business, sport etc.).

Result

Data surveyed on by several methodologies concerning conditions and realisation of high performance in music ensembles show that not only leading positions are important for the interaction, but also informal central persons. Among them co-leaders take a very significant role. The basis of high performance in music ensembles is what psychologists call "heedful interrelating", which meens to be aware that only optimal cooperation of the group generates best resultes.

This project contributes to the following SDGs

  • 8: Decent work and economic growth