Negotiated Rhythms of Mobile Work: Time, Place, and Work Schedules

Abstract

This study investigates the role of rhythms in the collaborative coordination of mobile work as well as in the individual actors' comprehension and command of their work. Drawing on an ethnographic study of home-care work, we examine the ways in which temporal regularities or rhythms are formed and reinforced. Further, we analyse how the major temporal rhythms are configured and furnished by individual, collective, and social rhythms, and how these rhythms contribute to the collaborative flow of activities. Finally, we discuss how the concept of rhythms adds to an understanding of alignment and coordination in mobile and distributed work settings.