TY - JOUR
T1 - Personal goals, group performance and ‘social’ networks: participants’ negotiation of virtual and embodied relationships in the ‘Workplace Challenge’ physical activity programme
AU - Evans, Adam Brian
AU - Carter, Alice
AU - Middleton, Geoff
AU - Bishop, Daniel
N1 - CURIS 2016 NEXS 071
PY - 2016/5/26
Y1 - 2016/5/26
N2 - County Sports Partnerships (CSPs) epitomise the growing reliance upon building networks and partnerships in sports delivery. This study investigated how social networks were created and contested in a CSP-led programme entitled the ‘Workplace Challenge’ (WPC). The WPC used a web-platform to encourage workplace-based teams to engage in physical activity by self-recording their activity over an eight-week period. Points were awarded for activity completed and a peer-challenge facility was promoted via online league tables, prizes and the opportunity to ‘challenge’ other users. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of seventeen participants recruited from one public and one private sector workplace and from a sample of participants registered as individuals. Two programme planners employed by the CSP also took part. A figurational framework was utilised to investigate participants’ negotiation of networks of embodied and virtual relationships within the programme. Findings suggest the messages promoted in the WPC were disseminated and transformed according to the organisational structure of these networks. Embodied social relationships within workplaces reinforced peer support in professional I–We identities, whereas virtual networks sometimes highlighted participants’ isolation. Moreover, emphasis upon competition within and between teams caused some participants to question their performance. Often, competition motivated engagement. For less active participants, constant comparison could prove discouraging, particularly if participants felt they had let their colleagues down. Planners of similar programmes must be cognizant of the uneven manner of programme dissemination. Contextual differences at the point of delivery including existing organisational structures and power hierarchies have an impact upon participants’ perceptions of a programme.
AB - County Sports Partnerships (CSPs) epitomise the growing reliance upon building networks and partnerships in sports delivery. This study investigated how social networks were created and contested in a CSP-led programme entitled the ‘Workplace Challenge’ (WPC). The WPC used a web-platform to encourage workplace-based teams to engage in physical activity by self-recording their activity over an eight-week period. Points were awarded for activity completed and a peer-challenge facility was promoted via online league tables, prizes and the opportunity to ‘challenge’ other users. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of seventeen participants recruited from one public and one private sector workplace and from a sample of participants registered as individuals. Two programme planners employed by the CSP also took part. A figurational framework was utilised to investigate participants’ negotiation of networks of embodied and virtual relationships within the programme. Findings suggest the messages promoted in the WPC were disseminated and transformed according to the organisational structure of these networks. Embodied social relationships within workplaces reinforced peer support in professional I–We identities, whereas virtual networks sometimes highlighted participants’ isolation. Moreover, emphasis upon competition within and between teams caused some participants to question their performance. Often, competition motivated engagement. For less active participants, constant comparison could prove discouraging, particularly if participants felt they had let their colleagues down. Planners of similar programmes must be cognizant of the uneven manner of programme dissemination. Contextual differences at the point of delivery including existing organisational structures and power hierarchies have an impact upon participants’ perceptions of a programme.
U2 - 10.1080/2159676X.2016.1154096
DO - 10.1080/2159676X.2016.1154096
M3 - Journal article
SN - 2159-676X
VL - 8
SP - 301
EP - 318
JO - Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health
JF - Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health
IS - 3
ER -