Oldal 134 [134]
VOLKER JÖRN WALPUSKI
is necessary he has to check every message and make a decision. And, to be
honest, nothing is made clear by the company; the decision and regulation is
left to the individual.
How SUPERVISION AND COACHING IS AFFECTED BY UBIQUITOUS
COMPUTING
Therefore one task of supervision and coaching could be to uncover this area of
conflict. The next step should be to make it discussable within the organisation.
The objection now might be that smart devices are just another kind of new
media like telephone, telefax or letters some decades or centuries before. But
ubiquitous computing and permanent availability are new challenges and they
change our lives and work far-reaching. Ubiquitous computing differs from
other media by its power to blur boundaries. And this fuzziness is a perfect
work assignment for counselling.
So mainly there are two reasons why supervisors and coaches in their
professional work are affected by ubiquitous computing:
a) The content of counselling changes or expands (just mentioning keywords):
a. Individual reflection: Self-monitoring, positioning in work-privacy¬
conflict/blurring of boundaries, careers advice, psychological strain,
mindset as ‚interest in risk-to-self‘, misunderstandings/conflicts
caused by high-speed computer mediated communication (CMC),
fears and anxieties, ...
b. Reflection of cooperation: structures for efficient cooperation (support
vs. disturbance), work-privacy-conflicts, anticipated expectations, speed
of work, communication styles, misunderstandings/conflicts caused by
high-speed computer mediated communication (CMC), reduction of
complexity and communication overflow, speed of work, ...
Simply: Reflection on use of smart devices as a core competence for
being able to work and stay healthy in a CMC environment.
b) The process of counselling is going to change:
a. Ubiquitous Computer Mediated Communication disturbs face-to¬
face settings as shown above for example by incoming or expected
messages.
b. Supervision on cooperation and interaction becomes more difficult
because the absent persons are somehow present in the supervision
is necessarily sent in leisure time. Exceptions are emergency situations and situations where
immediate action is required.” (translated by the author)
* 132 +