When becoming a specialist, learning-through-service plays a significant role. The workplace affords good opportunities for learning, but the service-learning period may also impose stress on phycisians in specialization training. In medical work, social support has proved to be a very important factor in managing stress. Social support may afford advantages also for learning and professional identity building. However, little was known about how social support is perceived by doctors in specialization training. This study aimed to understand the perceptions of physicians in specialization training regarding social support communication in their workplace during their learning-through-service period. The study was conducted qualitatively by inductively analyzing the physicians’ descriptions of workplace communication. The dataset included 120 essays, 60 each from hospitals and primary healthcare centres. Physicians in specialization training explained the need of social support with the responsibilities and demands of their clinical work and the inability to control and manage their workloads. They perceived that social support works well for managing stress, but also for strengthening relational ties and one’s professional identity. A leader’s support was perceived as being effective, and both senior and junior colleagues were described as an important source of social support. Also co-workers, such as the individual nurse partner with whom one works, was mentioned as an important source of social support. The results of this study indicate that social support works at the relational and identity levels, which is due to the multi-functional nature of workplace communication. For example, consultation functions as situational problem-solving, but also the tone of social interaction is meaningful. Thus, strengthening one’s professional identity or collegial relationships requires further attention to workplace communication. Abbreviations PiST: Physician in specialization training

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of management group meetings (MGMs) in hospital organization by examining the social interaction in these meetings. Design/methodology/approach - This case study approaches social interaction from a structuration point of view. Social network analysis and qualitative content analysis are applied. Findings - The findings show that MGMs are mainly forums for information sharing. Meetings are not held for problem solving or decision making, and operational coordinating is limited. Meeting interaction is very much focused on the chair, and most of the discussion takes place between the chair and one other member, not between members. The organizational structures are maintained and reproduced in the meeting interaction, and they appear to limit discussion. Meetings appear to fulfil their goals as a part of the organization's information structure and to some extent as an instrument for management. The significance of the relational side of MGMs was recognized. Research limitations/implications - The results of this study provide a basis for future research on hospital MGMs with wider datasets and other methodologies. Especially the relational role of MGMs needs more attention. Practical implications - The goals of MGMs should be reviewed and MG members should be made aware of meeting interaction structures. Originality/value - The paper provides new knowledge about interaction networks in hospital MGMs, and describes the complexity of the importance of MGMs for hospitals.

Collaboration with clients is an efficient way to develop social services. To strengthen the possibilities for clients to influence services, client juries are established. However, collaboration in the juries is perceived as difficult because of the power imbalance inherent in the client-social worker relationship. The aim of this study was to examine how the participants negotiated power relations in client jury meetings. The data consisted of four observed disability services client jury meetings. Analysis was performed using action-implicative discourse analysis, which aims to define different communicative problems, interactional strategies, and situated ideals of communicative practices. The results revealed the use of four main strategies to negotiate power relations in client jury meetings: avoiding conflicts with clients, trying to reveal injustice, taking responsibility, and widening the perspective. By studying the interactions within the disability services client juries, the methods for promoting the involvement of service users in developing social services can be improved.

PurposeThis qualitative study aims to understand young professional newcomers' experiences of communication processes in membership negotiation in their first workplace after graduation.Design/methodology/approachInstead of a one-time interview, the participants were contacted five to ten times during the three to ten months, beginning when they entered the workplace. The data were analyzed using a constant comparative method.FindingsThree communication processes during membership negotiation were identified: developing reciprocity, seeking and perceiving acceptance and becoming an active member. To experience membership, newcomers need to achieve acceptance and engage in reciprocal communication in early interaction situations with managers and coworkers.Research limitations/implicationsOnly the experiences of newly graduated newcomers were studied. This study illustrates the communication processes and social interaction evolving in membership negotiation during newcomers' entry.Practical implicationsOrganizations need to re-evaluate their short orientation programs to support membership negotiations in workplace communication.Social implicationsBy recognizing the communication processes during membership negotiation, the practices of newcomers' entry can be developed to support the membership development.Originality/valueThis study contributes to membership negotiation by showing how newcomers join the flow of membership negotiation through the processes of developing reciprocity, seeking and perceiving acceptance and becoming an active member.

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