Workplace tentativity: biophysical environmental impacts on outdoor work

Drawing from data gathered for two ethnographic case studies within the U.S. Forest Service, we develop the concept of workplace tentativity to describe the ways that the biophysical environment influences organizational workplace routines. We find that outdoor labor, routines, and plans adjust to biophysical change and uncertainty, and we examine the resulting organizational and micro-interactional dynamics when such instances occur. Under conditions of workplace tentativity, employees frame workplace activities as tentative and subject to change with limited notice, impacting daily work plans, organizationally planned activities, the utilization of materials, and preparation for and response to accidents and injuries. Attention to the impact of the biophysical environment on workplace structures, patterns, practices, and norms is essential in an era of climate crisis.