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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-privacyconflict/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-toface 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 +
