Verbal Communication as a sign of adaptation in socio-technical systems: the case of robotic surgery

  • Authors:
  • Nyssen Anne-Sophie;Blavier Adélaïde

  • Affiliations:
  • University of Liège;University of Liège

  • Venue:
  • NDM'09 Proceedings of the 9th Bi-annual international conference on Naturalistic Decision Making
  • Year:
  • 2009

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Abstract

Motivation - The aim of this paper is to study how a complex system such as surgery adapts itself to external changes such as robotic system using verbal communication as a manifestation of the surgeon's adaptation work progress. Research approach - First, we compared verbal communication between surgeons in two conditions (laparoscopy and robotic surgery). Secondly we compared three teams with different levels of expertise with the robot on a repeated surgery act in order to distinguish between the momentary and the permanent changes. Findings/Design - We showed more acts of communication with the robotic system. The content analyses of the communication revealed a profound change of the structure of the task that requires new explicit collaborative modes. Research limitations/Implications - Although our sample is small, our communication grid can be used in other domains concerned with telework. Originality/Value - Verbal communication is used to study adaptation mechanisms.