Abstract
This paper examines the proposition that temporary project-based organizations that operate across the formal boundaries and hierarchies of health and social care organizations can create ‘trading zones’ in which different types of knowledge can come together as new multi-disciplinary practices are constructed. The paper presents new case study evidence that shows how small project-based teams of care professionals from previously separate provider organizations were able to create dialogic ‘spaces’ and strong project identities that facilitated the sharing of useful knowledge. These teams included senior social care managers whose ability to make effective use of population health data was mediated and facilitated by their ability to form ‘guiding coalitions’ that allowed them to claim and demarcate new operating jurisdictions. Middle managers played a proactive role as ‘horizontal integrators’ that were able to orchestrate divergent skills and learning capabilities. Project-based teams also included supervisory grade service managers whose involvement allowed the design and subsequent routinization of new services to be directly informed by the situated knowledge and experience of those working at, or close to, the front-line of care provision.