6533b870fe1ef96bd12d0376

RESEARCH PRODUCT

The Practice of Professional Agency and the Emergence of Collaborative Creativity in Developmental Staff Meetings

Panu ForsmanKaija CollinAnneli Eteläpelto

subject

ComputingMilieux_THECOMPUTINGPROFESSIONbusiness.industrymedia_common.quotation_subjectActive engagementPower relationsPublic relationsCreativityPolitical sciencePedagogyHealth careAgency (sociology)EthnographyObservational studybusinessHuman resourcesmedia_common

description

In this study, we focused on the manifestations of professional agency and collaborative creativity in team meetings. We aimed to investigate how different kinds of professional agency are related to collaborative creativity. We used an ethnographic approach, collecting observational data from the team meetings of the Human Resource Department of a Finnish Health Care District during 2009–2010. We found that professional agency is practised in various ways in team meetings, reflecting different habitual practices and power relations. In addition, it appeared that the nature of the professional agency practised affected the emergence of collaborative creativity. An environment with a high degree of freedom and a conversational atmosphere supported the practice of professional agency and the emergence of collaborative creativity. By contrast, a tradition of regulation and non-conversational practices acted as obstacles to agency and creativity.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2014-01-01
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7012-6_4