Designing for loose coupling in mobile groups

Abstract

Loose coupling is a common way of organizing collaboration in work groups, but it has not been studied extensively in CSCW. In this paper, we consider the patterns of work that are seen in mobile groups that adopt a loosely coupled collaboration style. We report findings from interviews and fieldwork with teams of workers who deliver home healthcare services. In these teams, workers are mobile, widely dispersed, and autonomous, and team members communicate with each other only intermittently. Based on these findings, we identify and discuss four work patterns that occur in loosely coupled mobility: discretionary collaboration and effort thresholds, implicitly shared information, asynchronous communication and coordination, and barriers to synchrony. We consider the implications of these findings for the design of CSCW technologies.

Computer-Supported Knotworking

“…In knotworking, collaboration occurs in episodes depending on the requirements of the particular, current situation. People involved in a knotworking process create and take part in improvised collaboration groups -called knots-in which otherwise loosely connected actors come together [42]. A knot does not fit the traditional definition of a team, which is typically understood to be a stable configuration, nor does it resemble the kind of pre-existing networks that workers might exploit.…”

“…While existing theories and concepts such as ad-hoc collaboration [20], and loosely coupled work [42] already have been proposed, in this paper, we rely on the concept of knotworking suggested by Engeström and colleagues [24]. We propose that the concept of knotworking is fruitful for understanding and analyzing this kind of collaborative work, which cannot rely on established work arrangements and routines to the same degree as with stable organizations such as hospitals, production plants, and bureaucracies.…”