Det flexibla arbetets villkor – om ... - Lunds universitet

AbstractSelf-governing competence for flexible workNew conditions for work, involving demands for quick adjustmentand increased flexibility, have underpinned a discourse of work-basedand lifelong learning in which continuous competence developmentis often viewed as beneficial for both the organisation and the employees.These flexible work arrangements rely heavily on the individual’scapacity of organising and structuring her own work and performance,and the thesis addresses the question of the individual’s ability to adaptto and handle these flexible work conditions. The aim is to contributeto an understanding of the competencies required in flexible worksettings, and the thesis asks two questions: (1) What characterises thework conditions in flexible forms of work? (2) How does the individualhandle these flexible work settings in terms of competence? Thetheoretical frame of reference is constructivist and is contextuallyoriented. Empirical data emanates from two case studies. The firstencompassing teleworking civil servants in a government authorityand the other freelance reporters. Data collection included questionnaires,interviews and e-mail questions.Results show that the flexible work settings in the case studies wererelatively disintegrated and deregulated in the sense that the conditionswere no longer lucid and well defined. It also appeared to open up aspace for regulation of a more implicit kind. These conditions requirea metacognitive competence characterised as a self-governing competence.This refers to the guiding, supervising function needed for theindividual to be able to define, structure and discipline her ownperformance and, ultimately, her ability to manage and govern herselfin a wider, functional sense. Thus, what seems to be characteristic forthe flexible and delimited work conditions is that the preconditions ofwork do not appear in forms of an independent environment. Insteadof formal directives and limitations, the regulation of work takes placeto a large extent through implicit regulation processes, continuouslynegotiated in interaction between individuals and the environment. Inconclusion it is argued that the flexible work conditions are characterisedby intersubjective regulation processes, discursively and interactivelyconstructed without perceptible coercion. The self-governing competencerequired involves transformation in terms of continuous learningas well as a development in terms of higher levels of cognitive complexity,integration and differentiation.Arbetsliv i omvandling 2004:8 isbn 91-7045-718-2 issn 1404-8426