Study presents lessons from the pandemic on remote work

[ishanijerin1]

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic transformed the personal and professional lives of many people around the world, leading many organizations to adopt remote work in a sudden and unplanned manner. This scenario provided an opportunity for CSCW (Computer Supported Cooperative Work) researchers to explore distributed collaborative work in times of global crisis. With this in mind, FGV EAESP researcher Marcelo Perin, in collaboration with other experts, published an article in the journal Computer Supported Cooperative Work , investigating remote work from the perspective of the distance framework in CSCW.

Remote work during the pandemic had three main characteristics:

– Immediate response to an unplanned crisis;

– Replacement of transport infrastructure vp hr email database with digital infrastructure;

– Intersection of the private and professional spheres, introducing new types of interruptions at work.

The pandemic has brought additional challenges for those working from home, including economic stress, health-related anxiety, and work-life balance due to school closures. The research aims to understand what aspects of the shift to unplanned remote work have impacted people the most.

This framework encompasses five dimensions that investigate:

– How much people were working as a team;

– How willing they were to collaborate;

– How was the team’s communication;

– What physical and technological infrastructure was available;

– How organizations dealt with these adaptations.

To this end, the survey used an online form with 31 questions based on the CSCW theory and its five dimensions. Responses were obtained through a “snowball” process (where each respondent indicates other potential participants) and were mostly answered by technology professionals. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from more than 350 respondents working in more than 40 cities in Brazil between April and May 2020, during the first weeks of the pandemic decree.

The study assessed the level of engagement, motivation, availability and proactivity of coworkers during remote work in adverse situations. In terms of Organizational Management, strategies and incentives adopted by organizations during the pandemic were identified, such as flexible hours and financing for home office infrastructure, to understand how companies adapted to this new scenario.