2020

Lehtinen, Esa; Salomaa, Elina

Digital technologies have become an inseparable part of most workplace activities. In this article, we discuss the study of digital work in the context of complex organizational practices. We lay out some methodological challenges and suggest some possible solutions to them. Firstly, we contend that we should take into consideration the multimedial nature of organizational practices. Secondly, several kinds of data – such as video-recordings of face-to-face encounters, screenshots from digital platforms, ethnographic observation and interviews – may be needed to gain an understanding of such practices. Thirdly, the analyst needs to pay attention to the affordances of the media that the participants display an orientation to through their action. In our conclusions, we discuss the consequences of our approach for publishing and application of research results.