Teleworking is a debatable issue[Le télétravail, ça se discute]

At the time of the first confinement in March 2020, teleworking had developed rapidly and on a large scale. This new context changed the usual modes of coordination and called for the use of digital technologies to mediate working relationships. We are specifically interested in the emergence of new operating rules during this period. Our research therefore aims to answer the following question: what role do digital tools play in the social regulations at work at the time of the transition to teleworking? A qualitative methodology, based on 44 semi-structured interviews conducted in two organizations, was used to gather data from the first days of the confinement. These were a departmental council (Val de Seine) and a company producing neurosurgical equipment (Neurochir). Our methodology was adapted to the health circumstances, as we repeated a series of interviews on two occasions, resulting in a total of three phases of investigation, spread over a year. At the end of the research, we highlighted the pivotal role of teleworking tools and a regulatory process left to the initiative of the players, leaving little room for discussion beyond the local level. In the course of this research, we have highlighted changes in regulations and their effects. These range from a feeling of trust in the organization, to a feeling of increased control, to a perception that work is being intensified and dehumanised. Digital tools contribute in each case, in the absence of organized discussion at an institutional level. Our research argues for a discussion of the rules governing telework, and more specifically those affecting telework tools. We offer some ideas for engineering discussion forums.