Ursula Plesner

Invisible work in the digitalized organization – overlooked and undervalued daily practices

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In recent years, it has become clear how the affordances of digital technologies have profound organizational implications. We see changes in tasks, organizational practices, occupations, professional relations, and much more – and those changes are quite well-decribed in organizational studies. However, we have paid less attention to the work required to keep the digitalized organization functioning – or in other words, to allow for the affordances. In this talk, Ursula Plesner will present the concept of ’invisible digi-work’, which consists of ’connceting work’, ’compensation work’ and ’cleaning work’, a vocabulary that allows us to see and value work, which is essential in today’s organizations. 

About Ursula Plesner

Ursula Plesner is an associate professor at the Department of Organization, Copenhagen Business School. She has a broad interest in the relationship between digitalization and organization. Most of her empirical studies have been carried out in public sector organizations, focusing on how ambitious digitalization agendas are realized in practice. Lately, she has been co-PI on the project Valuing Invisible Work – from efficiency ambitions to digitalization projects in practice, developing a framework for understanding the mundane and undervalued everyday work, which is a condition for the digitalized organization to function. Currently, much of her research is about deepening our understanding of this connecting, compensating and cleaning work.

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