Managing Currents of Work: Multi-tasking Among Multiple Collaborations

Abstract

Abstract. This research reports on a study of the interplay between multi-tasking and collaborative work. We conducted an ethnographic study in two different companies where we observed the experiences and practices of thirty-six information workers. We observed that people continually switch between different collaborative contexts throughout their day. We refer to activities that are thematically connected as working spheres. We discovered that to multi-task and cope with the resulting fragmentation of their work, individuals constantly renew overviews of their working spheres, they strategize how to manage transitions between contexts and they maintain flexible foci among their different working spheres. We argue that system design to support collaborative work should include the notion that people are involved in multiple collaborations with contexts that change continually. System design must take into account these continual changes: people switch between local and global perspectives of their working spheres, have varying states of awareness of their different working spheres, and are continually managing transitions between contexts due to interruptions.

To Be or Not to Be Aware: Reducing Interruptions in Pervasive Awareness Systems

“…However, mediation of awareness always happens in a social context that gives meaning to it and relates to multiple social networks [16]. Empirical investigation has shown that we are continuously moving across different collaboration spheres that compete to get our attention [9]. While this study focuses mainly on the working environment, an initial study that we have conducted with a group of exchange students has pointed out similar issues also in connection to awareness mediation.…”

Supporting the Planning and Organization of Multiple Activities in the Workplace

“…Many studies have been conducted in the last forty years to understand how knowledge workers divide their time and efforts among several projects and initiatives at the workplace [2,3,5]. Some of these studies have shown that activities performed by information workers are varied, fragmented, and brief, which forces them to focus on each activity for a short period of time [5].…”

“…Some of these studies have shown that activities performed by information workers are varied, fragmented, and brief, which forces them to focus on each activity for a short period of time [5]. This reality makes information workers to engage in explicit efforts to keep control over their commitments, and use strategies to organize, prioritize and focus on what they have and want to do [3,5].…”

“…Some of these studies have shown that activities performed by information workers are varied, fragmented, and brief, which forces them to focus on each activity for a short period of time [5]. This reality makes information workers to engage in explicit efforts to keep control over their commitments, and use strategies to organize, prioritize and focus on what they have and want to do [3,5]. We define this type of effort as personal activity management (PAM), a kind of meta-work that expands beyond those necessary efforts related directly to accomplish the purpose of a specific activity and focuses on the orchestration of the complete set of activities that the person has committed to do.…”

Editorial Availability Management in Mediated Communication

“…The increased availability of such media communication media and the increasingly continuous connectivity of individuals can have fundamental impact on the way we work together with colleagues, or the way we socialize with friends and family. Individuals can initiate contacts opportunistically and with great ease, which at the receiving end creates the problem of managing one's availability for communication [1][2][3]. This need is manifested at work, where one has to avoid interrupting or being interrupted for the sake of productivity, reduced stress, and even for avoiding erroneous action; it is also manifested at leisure when individuals need to secure moments of leisure, relaxation, or private enjoyment alone or with family and friends [4][5][6].…”