Coordination Mechanisms for Self-Organized Work in an Emergency Communication Center

We describe an observational study of work coordination in an emergency communication center, where a collocated team of communication specialists engages in complex activities of communicating with pre-hospital medical teams, and coordinating patient care and transport. Unlike teams with clearly defined work roles and team structures that were introduced to increase work efficiency and minimize redundancy, the team we studied lacks the role differentiation. To better understand how complex work is accomplished under these conditions, we conducted in-situ observations in the center's control room and interviewed communication specialists. We found that communication specialists self-organized by using a mix of material and immaterial coordination mechanisms, including work schedules, computer systems, and tacit agreements to coordinate tasks. Using these findings, we then identified three features of self-organized, collocated and time-critical teamwork that require technology support: awareness of task ownership, task self-assignment, and informal team hierarchy. We conclude by discussing technology requirements to support these teamwork features.