Drawing the Line – Turning Social Practices of Smartphone Use Into (In)formal Rules and Regulations

Today's workplace is strongly influenced by digital information and communication technologies (ICT). Remote work raises new demands regarding employees’ availability as well as work engagement and requires new rules. However, how social practices regulate smartphone use in organisations has seldom been investigated. This paper explores the use of smartphone technology in organisations and how to implement formal rules. The analysis of 12 qualitative in-depth interviews with employees in a profit-oriented and a public service organisation confirms and enriches the types of usage as suggested by Orlikowski’s work on information technologies in organisations. In addition, we suggest reframing the non-enactment of smartphone technology as a constructive practice of ensuring productivity and employee well-being instead of being caused by a lack of technical know-how, or fear of losing power. In addition, three different types of practices for formally governing work-related smartphone use in new work arrangements have been identified: a) formalising the implicit communication etiquette, b) designing rules for specific organisational contexts and c) making use of technical resources. From a practical point of view, we recommend managers introduce a participatory process to design a formal policy that builds on established social practices.