In recent working life studies, professional agency is seen as pivotal to the development of work
communities and work organizations. This paper addresses professional agency during a practicebased
intervention (work conference) in a Finnish hospital setting. To develop work practices, the
intervention sought to create a dialogical space for the promotion of collective professional agency.
Here, we present an investigation of the manifestations of professional agency and how they
emerged within and between professional groups. We also elaborate how professional positions
frame the emergence of different manifestations of professional agency. The audio and video
materials from the intervention are analyzed through the utilization of qualitative content analysis
and analysis of key incidents illustrating the emergence of professional agency and its connection
to prevailing circumstances in a hospital work context. Transformative, responsive, relational, and
resisting forms of agency were identified. The emergence of these forms differed amid the intervention
and across the professional groups, reflecting power relations in the organization. In light of
the findings, we discuss the meaning of different forms of professional agency for developmental
efforts and how professional agency may trigger or hinder sustainable organizational development.
