The principal objective of this study is to highlight the 'managerial dimension' in telemarketing activity. The ergological perspective understands work as a unique encounter with a task to be performed, which, within its variability, always requires management by the workers. This management is intimately related to the capacity to define and produce illness and health. In order to grasp the complexity and singularity of working in telemarketing, beyond that which is visible and quantifiable in the prescriptions, the use of the Instructions for the Double technique and Meetings about Work was tried, with a view to providing the workers with a reflection upon and a discourse about the work. Restandardizations were observed in another use of the prescriptions: pauses, script and voice, by means of which telemarketers make their mark. The value of the jobin contrasts to the negative repercussions on health, falling ill and suffering, with close monitoring of behavior, time and space. The conclusion is that health professionals, researchers and the workers themselves must acknowledge the considering of the 'managerial dimension', in its singularity, as a fundamental element for preventing illnesses and promoting health.
telemarketing; occupational health; ergology