Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work Michael Prilla1, Viktoria Pammer2, Birgit R. Krogstie3

1Information and Technology Management, Ruhr University of Bochum 2Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen3Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work

Collaborative Reflection as bottom-up Work RedesignTriggered and implemented by workers

“Being concerned about ‘how things ought to be’”

(Fischer and Ostwald, 2003)

Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work

Reflection: Transforming experiences into learning.

Behavior

Ideas

Feelings

Returning to experience

Attending to feelings

Re-evaluating experience

New perspectives

Change in behavior

Readiness for application

Commitment to action

Experience(s)Reflective

process Outcomes

Articulating, sharing(similar) experience(s)

Articulating, sharinginsights / outcomesShared perspectives,shared understanding

Coordinating and embedding group processes of reflection into work

Critical / counterfactual thinking

Inference, abstraction

Boud (1985)

Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work

Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work

“Reflection is a complex, multifaceted and messy process that is tamed and domesticated at the risk of destroying what it can offer” (Cressey, Boud et al. 2006)

Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work

Exploring Collaborative Reflection in Practice3 Studies: Hospital, Care Home, IT-Consulting

Neurological Clinic (DE)Stroke Unit

“How to act professionally in demanding situations?”

ExamplesConversation with patients’relativesCare processes

Care Home (GB)Dementia Care

“How to answer this question?”

ExamplesConversations with relatives,

residents, …Challenging Behaviour

IT-Consulting (DE)CRM Solutions

“Why are we losing pitches?”

ExamplesConversations with customers Sales presentations

Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work

Exploring Collaborative Reflection in Practice3 Studies: Interviews, observations, focus groups

Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work

Why do people engage in collaborative reflection?

What are the characteristicsof collaborative reflection?

Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work

Deciding for Collaborative Reflection Triggers and Partners

Reflection for clarification

Understanding a problemComparing performance

Partners: More or same experience

Complement formal learningstrategies and supervision

Reflection for solution implementationChecking feasibilityCreating change

Partners: Position to implement change

Enabling bottom-up change processes

Reflection for awareness

Communicating problemsTesting solutions

Partners: Less experience, subordinates / co-workers

Strategic usage of reflection by management

Mainly initial step(s) Mainly continuation / finishing

Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work

Which are the characteristics of collaborative reflection?

A mirror for individuals and groups:

Understand each other

Perspective taking & making

Change attribution

Support appraisal

Improve cooperation

Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work

How does collaborative reflection lead to work redesign?

Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work

Group work redesign

• Rules for cooperation• Improving coordination• Changing common practice

Redesign on organisation level

• Best Practice(s), Knowledge Transfer

• Changing business processes / procedures

Reflection as a means for Work RedesignGoing beyond a focus on individual outcomes

Individual work redesign

• Better understanding of work

• Changing work practice• Direction for development

Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work

Implementing SolutionsA critical intersection

Implementation by groups / members▪ Find suitable solutions▪ Implement solution

Implementation by third party (power, expertise, …)▪ Include others into reflection▪ Link to organisational artefacts

Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work

What are the challenges for tools supporting collaborative reflection?

Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work

What are the challenges for tools supporting collaborative reflection?

Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work

5 Challenges for Collaborative Reflection Support

① Connecting Sessions

② Sharing and Communicating in Context

③ Learning to understand better

④ Creating Solution Teams

⑤ Linking and awareness

Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work

Implementation of collaborative reflection support

Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work

Sharing and communicating in contextReferring to experiences

Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work

Learn to understand betterPrompting people for exchanging perspectives

Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work

Linking outcomes to organisational artefactsChanging processes

Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work

Collaborative Reflection as bottom-up Work RedesignTriggered and implemented by workers

Socio-Technical challenges remaining

Tools supporting existing reflectionShift in hierarchies and power

Change in the mind-set of workers

Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work

Thanks for your attention. Questions?

Michael Prilla michael.prilla@rub.de www.imtm-iaw.rub.de, www.mirror-project.eu

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