What is the Work M&M Files?
The Work M&M Files is a card set about meaningfulness and meaninglessness at work. It encourages working communities, regardless of their trade, to discuss these topics. Discussions help to cherish work meaningfulness and guard against the meaninglessness of work.
Experiencing work as meaningful is considered a desired building block of a good life. It also contributes positively to work satisfaction, engagement, and general wellbeing. Understanding experiences of meaningful work is essential for the employee-focused development of work. (Allan ym., 2019; Bailey ym., 2019; Both-Nabuwe ym., 2017; Martikainen, 2022; Salonen & Tapani, 2020; Steger, 2019.)
Why should M&M Files be used in working communities?
Meaningful experiences construct of employee’s individual goals, life experiences, and values as well as the broader contexts of work, organization, and society (Lysova et al., 2019). Meaningfulness forms individually, influenced by different contexts and various circumstances of work and is associated with the deep concerns of life and existence. Therefore, it is difficult to provide universal guidelines on how to support employees’ multidimensional experiences of meaningfulness at the workplaces (Bailey et al., 2017; Lips-Wiersma & Morris, 2009).
Research states, however, that in addition to individual and circumstantial dimensions, meaningfulness constructs socially amongst working communities. Hence, instead of offering universal guidelines regarding how to promote meaningful work at the workplaces, Work M&M Files direct working communities to have shared dialogues about the topic. Collective dialogues around meaningfulness and meaninglessness of work help cherish meaningfulness and guard against meaninglessness. Positive interaction amongst working communities strengthens the work engagement and eases work strain. Worthiness of work or care and belongingness amongst the working community may get expressed in the discussions. Experienced in interaction they support meaningful work. (Dutton ym., 2016; Hakanen ym., 2012, Lysova ym., 2023, Wrzesniewski ym., 2003.)
Shared discussions about authentic work-related experiences heighten awareness of meaningfulness in everyday work. Awareness of meaningful moments and factors of meaningfulness at work is found to strengthen experiencing meaningfulness (Lysova et al., 2023). Also, the discussions may provide an outlet for problems and defects at work, possibilities to re-imagine ideal work, and equal possibilities for people to organize in making a difference towards better work life (Yeoman, 2023).
The results of The m&m of work -research project indicated that discussing meaningfulness is called for as useful and needed at the workplaces, but meaningfulness discussions are rare. The research process enabled collective meaning making in the working communities. It was seen to strengthen and deepen experiences of meaningfulness in the everyday work, broaden the perspectives of meaningfulness, and strengthen belongingness within the communities. (Oikarinen et al., 2023.) Quotes on the Everyday Experience cards originate to the co-operative inquiry data.
Card categories enrich discussions with different modes of knowledge
Work M & M Files pave way for discussions about the moments of meaningfulness and meaninglessness in everyday work. Discussions thus induce meaningfulness supporting interaction amongst working communities. The cards are designed to prompt discussions with different modes of knowledge which help the emergence of various viewpoints and facilitate different ways of thinking. Recognition of meaningful experiences and discussions around them are prompted by four different modes of knowledge: experiential, propositional, presentational, and practical. The cards are named according to the modes of knowledge as Studied Stuff (propositional), Everyday Experience (experiential), Surprise Challenge (practical), and Imaginative Cues (presentational).
Different modes of knowledge are utilized to prompt a diversity of thinking that is relevant to discussions about meaningfulness. In addition, different modes of knowledge assist when the aim is to mindfully acknowledge personally meaningful work-related experiences in a pressured and fragmented working environment and share them within the working community. Members of the working community carry profoundly rooted knowledge of the essential needs for meaningful work. Various ways of prompting discussions are meant to support the discussants’ diversity of experiences and mindsets and facilitate identifying their authentic experiences (Heron, 1996; Heron & Reason, 2008; Bailey & Madden, 2016).
The modes of knowledge originate in a co-operative inquiry research methodology. The main principle in co-operative inquiry is focusing on the phenomenon of interest together with the people it concerns, instead of researching them from the “outside” (Heron & Reason, 1996; 2006; 2008). Different modes of knowledge deepen understanding around the everyday moments of meaningfulness. A workplace culture that supports meaningful work can be strengthened through deepened understanding about meaningfulness and meaninglessness (Heron & Reason, 2008).
Different mode of knowing and card categories in the Work M&M Files (adapted from Heron & Reason, 2008).
| Mode of knowing | What it means? | Card category in the Work M&M Files |
|---|---|---|
| Propositional knowledge |
Knowing about something through ideas and theories. Often expressed in informative statements, that make sense. ”Meaningful work is important because it strengthens work satisfaction.” |
Studied Stuff |
| Practical knowledge |
Knowing how to do something. Expressed in skills or competence and relevant and worthwhile action in a situation. “I feel more meaningful when I give my colleague positive feedback.” |
Surprise Challenge |
| Experiential knowledge |
Knowing grounded in experience. Emerges through direct face-to-face encounters with people or situations. Knowing and understanding through perception, empathy, and connection. “I know my work is meaningful work when I see my students develop.” |
Everyday Experience |
| Presentational knowledge |
Connects with experiential knowing. Various imagery conveys meaning and significance through perception and interpretation of, for example, movement, dance, sound, music, drawing, painting, sculpture, poetry, story, or drama. “I saw ‘Death of a Salesman’ yesterday. I never want to end up like the main character, wasting my work life in a chase of a false dream.” |
Imaginative Cues |
The model of 4 C’s as a theoretical base for M&M Files
“The model of 4 C’s” serves as the theoretical base for the M&M Files. The model emerged in a previous study where narratives of meaningful/meaningless moments of work were investigated. Peoples’ meaningful and meaningless work-related experiences are summarized in the model as four central themes: meaningful experiences of connection, contribution, conversion, and meaningless experiences of confinement – especially in relation to lacking agency or wasting time at work. (Martikainen et al., 2022.)
These themes intersect the cards in M&M Files as they are seen to prominently associate with experiences of meaningful and meaningless work. In other words, acknowledging moments of connection, contribution and conversion in everyday work may support meaningfulness – and on the other hand, observing moments of confinement may help to notice a present threat of meaninglessness. Similar dimensions of meaningful work, such as developing as a person, solidarity with others, utilizing potential and skill, recognition, and contribution to others are supported widely in research (e.g. Pavlish & Hunt, 2012; Ryan & Deci, 2000; Lips-Wiersma & Wright, 2012; Bailey & Madden, 2016; 2017; Rosso ym., 2010; Rantanen et al., 2023: Laaser & Karlsson, 2023).