Rethinking connectivity management practices: the role of sociomateriality within institutions

While communication is a vital aspect of every workplace, there are also concerns associated with the management of connectivity outside working hours. This re-search takes a new perspective on connectivity management by exploring connective decisions while considering the interplay between the social and the material in shaping these decisions. Reporting on an in-depth case study design, we adopt a socio-material framework to study connectivity management for professionals at different institutional settings. We identify four connectivity management practices: centralising point of contact, redirecting communication platforms, keeping the door half open, and material segregation. We found that these practices are underpinned by three institutional characteristics: expectations of availability, dominance platform of communications, and intensity of connectivity. We infer that while professionals may develop practices toward the management of connectivity, their practices are enabled and constrained by a blend of sociomaterial elements already embedded within their institutional settings.