| NSF Org: |
SES Division of Social and Economic Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | April 27, 2020 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | October 17, 2022 |
| Award Number: | 2027767 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Songqi Liu
soliu@nsf.gov (703)292-8950 SES Division of Social and Economic Sciences SBE Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences |
| Start Date: | May 15, 2020 |
| End Date: | December 31, 2022 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $50,625.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $50,625.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
4202 E FOWLER AVE TAMPA FL US 33620-5800 (813)974-2897 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
FL US 33617-2008 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | SoO-Science Of Organizations |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.075 |
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced much of the country?s workforce into remote work arrangements. With the need for social distancing, the ability to continue essential business functions through effective remote work arrangements is a key means for addressing the global health crisis. However, many organizations are unprepared to accommodate a remote workforce and likewise lack insight into best practices as to how to promote continued productivity and well-being of the workforce in such arrangements. Although there is a large body of extant research on remote work arrangements, numerous questions remained under investigated. This project will address these gaps by studying the impact of several organizational, individual, technological, and supervisor characteristics on remote worker adjustment, well-being, and productivity. Findings from the project will provide evidence-based best practices that many large and small businesses can use both during future pandemics and other extreme events, but also going forward in normal work environments that may increasingly want to support remote work.
The COVID-19 pandemic has suddenly promoted the need for remote work arrangements on a vast scale, but we lack key information regarding what makes such work productive and sustainable. This project will obtain data from 500 full-time employees who are working remotely during the response to COVID-19 but were not doing so previously. The first phase of the project will collect a baseline survey that captures characteristics and experiences prior to the pandemic and remote work transition and general perceptions of the adjustment to remote work process. Phase 2 involves a 30-day experience sampling study administered daily at the end of each workday that will capture day-to-day experiences, attitudes, and performance of remote workers. Benefits of this panel design are: 1) provides insights into how multiple dynamic changes influence outcomes; 2) enhances ecological validity; 3) allows researchers to examine both within- and between-person processes; and 4) reduces retrospective recall biases. The project will partner with several work organizations to collect the data. Data from Phase 1 will be analyzed using regression and dominance analysis; data from Phase 2 will be analyzed using multi-level modeling which controls for nested structures, adjusting standard errors to take into account the lack of independence. These analyses also control for between-subject variables and previous measurements while also accounting for missing data. Findings from the project will inform organizational theories involving the effects of organizations, individuals, work, and technology on workers and work outcomes.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced much of the country’s workforce into remote work arrangements. Three years later, many full-time workers continue to work remotely. Moreover, the majority of remote workers want to continue to work remotely for some portion of the work week and would look for employment with another organization if the option was lost. Although there is substantial research on telecommuting, numerous basic questions concerning remote work remain unanswered.
The goals of our research were to examine factors associated with adjustment to remote work, daily worker experiences associated with remote worker performance and wellbeing, aspects of technology and communication associated with employee performance and wellbeing, and supervisor behaviors associated with employee performance and wellbeing.
To examine these issues, we conducted two studies. The first study included data from full-time employees across a number of different jobs and industries who were working remotely during the response to COVID-19 but who were not doing so previously. The second study included data from matched supervisor-employee pairs in which both members were working hybrid remote or fully remote.
Several key findings emerged from our research. First, consistent predictors of adjustment to remote work were feelings of social isolation at work and the nature of one’s home workspace – whether it was comfortable and conducive to productivity. Specific aspects of the home remote workspace that seemed to matter most for job performance were having an external keyboard, a quiet space, a true desk, and an adequately sized monitor. Second, we examined the role of the supervisor in relation to direct reports’ sense of belongness. Supervisor virtual activities (e.g., virtual happy hours) were not related to direct reports’ feelings of belongness. Key predictors were trust in the supervisor and ease of communication. Third, we found daily frequent communication was associated with higher levels of daily remote worker performance, as well as more (rather than less) daily employee burnout. Thus, while greater communication frequency helps performance, it can also increase burnout, suggesting a performance-burnout tradeoff. We also found that when supervisors set clear communication expectations, it was associated with higher employee performance and lower levels of employee burnout. Fourth, we found that daily boundary management tactics such as taking breaks, time blocking, and shutting off, putting away, or silencing technology devices were associated with daily work-nonwork balance. In addition, supervisor information and communications technology (ICT) expectations (e.g., expecting employees to be accessible at all times) strengthened the relationship between employee boundary management tactics and daily work-nonwork balance. Overall, our results have implications for both remote workers and their supervisors and provide actionable information that can be used to make remote work effective.
Last Modified: 04/29/2023
Modified by: Tammy D Allen
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