Everywhere and particularly in the IT industry, I think one of the topmost responsibilities of a manager is to make the environment and culture such that allows working maximum flow state for him/her as well as their team-mates.

Based on fundamentals shared by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (https://lnkd.in/e_wq-pH2), if we go by Wikipedia "#flow state, also known as being in the zone, is the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity." Please refer https://lnkd.in/eNhSdUsM). For more information what is flow?

Here are key pointers that can be tried for being in flow:

1. Find at which time of the day, you perform best?  - Some work best in the morning part, some after tea time and so on. understand your routine, analyze it and find your ideal flow time, Try to get fully involved at work during flow time.

2. Schedule tasks in such a way that when, in a flow state, you do your #critical tasks, generally which gives immediate feedback. as getting feedback is one of the pillars for being more in a flow state. It's equally true that many times it's not in our hands to #schedule #tasks as we need to work what is required for our work and client, but still can try wherever and whatever possible. 

2. Challange vs #ability ratio, in other words: Balance of #Challenges and #Skills

A. if your ability is more than your challenges - increase challenges like give deadlines before the actual one, handling more things. i.e. help your teammates so when your challenges more than ability, they stand with you, it's vice-versa :)

B. if your challenge is more than your ability - recognize that and purposefully work on that, talk to your teammates & find ways to increase your ability.

4. Help your team-mates to reach their flow state
It is very important that you understand and help your teammates in a flow state. such a concept is also called team flow. This will allow better management of tasks and gives a better understanding of how and when others perform their best. For example, if Friday evening is not the best team flow time then better schedule critical tasks such a way that output does not affect :) 

5. Try something like No meeting day of a week
Once or twice a week, we should make sure no management or other planning meeting. Tip: Even better if the client knows about it, so they too do not plan meeting on such day. 

These are just a few points based on experience. If you like to know more just by searching on the internet, one can find quite interesting articles and ways to try out.

Please share in the comments if you find something interesting.