Remote Work: BASSC Critical Information Exchange - PowerPoint Presentation

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Remote Work:

BASSC Critical Information Exchange

Sarah Carnochan, Ph.D., BASSC Directorscarnochan@berkeley.eduMadeline Noya, Ph.D., Aldea Analyticsmadeline@aldeaanalytics.comJuly 10, 2020To cite: Carnochan, S., & Noya, M. (2020). Remote Work: BASSC Critical Information Exchange [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Vi7ZqEpIkWD4oeaRhmbH3XJTLtlyxqiM

Session Overview

Welcome: Who is Participating – 5 minutes

Review of Evidence – 20 minutes

Government/Professional Resources - Madeline

Academic Research - Sarah

Cross-County Information Exchange – 60 minutes, All

Identifying Challenges – Brief Breakouts

Sharing Promising Practices - All

Wrap Up – 20 minutes

Key Themes

Next Steps?

Feedback

Key Questions – What, Who & How?

Changing to remote work can be relatively simple

OR create an entire culture change. WHAT? Place Change Only:  Almost everything the same except employee is working remotelySame schedule, work expectations, management style, & assessment practices

Results Only:  Structure is set up only to measure results, not time nor amount of workNo set schedule, no expectations except that result is achieved, assessment of results only

Resources:

https://technologyadvice.com/blog/human-resources/results-only-work-environment/

https://www.business.com/articles/do-results-only-workplaces-really-work/

https://fcw.com/articles/2012/10/22/rowe-readiness.aspx

https://www.govloop.com/community/blog/the-reason-for-rowe-failure/

Place Change Only

Results Only

Key Questions – Who?

WHO?

Which employees or groups of employees can work remotely?What are the criteria for making the determination?Who will make the decision?Government Protocol Resources:

https://www.telework.gov/

https://www.dgs.ca.gov/Resources/Telework

https://gomb.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Deployment-Guide.pdf

No Employees

All Employees

Key Questions – How?

HOW?

How will you engage employees?Leadership & organizational culture - flexibility, autonomy, trustCommunication processesTeamwork/collaboration

Technology supports

Social relationships

Resources:

https://www.gallup.com/workplace/288956/covid-teams-working-remotely-guide-leaders.aspx

https://www.fond.co/blog/are-remote-workers-more-productive/

https://youtu.be/oiUyyZPIHyY

https://www.timedoctor.com/blog/team-collaboration-hacks-and-tools/

Compliant

Fully Engaged

Key Questions – How?

HOW?

How will you assess employees? Clear outcomes/deliverables – individual impact related to organizational impact

Accurate and consistent deliverable & productivity measurementsEquity: compensation, promotion

Resources:

https://remote.co/employers-share-how-measure-productivity-among-remote-workers/

https://www.infoentrepreneurs.org/en/guides/measure-performance-and-set-targets

https://technologyadvice.com/blog/human-resources/results-only-work-environment/

https://www.universalclass.com/articles/business/the-top-8-methods-for-accurately-measuring-employee-productivity.htm

Traditional Annual Review

Results Continuously Assessed

Key Questions – How?

How?

In order to make remote work productive and positive for staff, management, and the public, which parts needs to be in place? IT infrastructureData & Information SecurityUnion AgreementProject Management Software

KPI’s clearly defined at organizational level

Data Collection & Reporting on Individual level contributors to KPIs

Training & Protocols for Supervisors

Reading the Research Results Tables

Issue 

EffectsRelated FactorsIssue #1

Issue #2

Issue #3

Issue #4

Arrows:

If it’s green, it’s good

If it’s red, it’s a concern

If it points up, it represents an increase

If it points down, it represents a decrease

If it’s smaller, the evidence is weaker

If it’s bigger, the evidence is stronger

Employer Benefits and Costs

 Issue

EffectsRelated FactorsRetention May reduce turnover

Decreases employee intent to leave

Choice and flexibility

Where/when to work

Absenteeism

Fewer absentee days

 Reduced work-life conflict

Organizational commitment

Increases organizational commitment and identification

Communication satisfaction

Quality of work relationshipsPerformance Individual

Positive effects on individual performance, productivity

True for objective/supervisor rated performance

Increased hours, more control and flexibility

Organizational

Innovation

Customer/vendor relations

Innovative organizations may opt for RW

Performance Monitoring Challenges

Perceived challenges to monitoring

Trust minimizes lower visibility concerns

Assess output not actions

Knowledge Sharing (KS)

Reduces opportunities for communicating ideas and information

Trust, relationships, org commitment strengthen KS

Tech support, relationships increase trust and strengthen KS

Employee Benefits and Costs

Issue

EffectsRelated FactorsWell-beingIncreases work-life balance, by reducing stress and work exhaustionAutonomy

Time pressureJob Satisfaction

Positively effects job satisfaction

Increase levels off at higher frequency of RW

Increased sense of control and autonomy

Supervisor/coworker relationship quality

ADA Accommodation

Can be a reasonable accommodation

Can expand hiring pool

Work-family Conflict

Mixed evidence on the effects

Stronger effects for higher frequency RWWork interferes less with family Family interferes more with workSchedule flexibilityOptions to create boundariesIncreased experience with RW over time reduces work-family conflictAdvancement

Early research reports mixed effects

Recent study found no effect on promotions, but lower salary growth

Organizational endorsement of RW limits negative effects

Work Relationships

Supervisor relationships are affected positively

Higher frequency RW affects coworker relationships negatively

Remote managers:

Positive effects for RWs

Negative effects for office-based workers

Fewer face-to-face interactions

Less informal communication

Contributions less visible

Similar manager/worker arrangements appear beneficial

Social/Professional Isolation

Advancement concerns

Increases performance challenges

Increases intent to leave

Social isolation not unique to RW

“Belonging” strengthened by choice and org knowledge

Concerns may be greater than actual effects

Factors Influencing Effectiveness of Remote Work

Issue

EffectsRelated FactorsJob CharacteristicsAutonomy

Increases satisfaction, productivity and performance

Decreases absenteeism, work interference with family

Schedule control

Control of work processes

Complexity/Creativity

Higher complexity work positively affects performance for higher frequency RW

Creative work has positive implications for productivity

Complex work may be more difficult to evaluate

Interdependence

Decreases productivity

Lower job satisfaction than for non-interdependent RWCoordination more difficultInterdependence can hinder team performanceEmployee CharacteristicsSelf-Management/Planning

Increases performance/productivity

Need for order and autonomy

Motivation and independent work

Communication Skills

Formal and informal communications have positive effects on knowledge sharing, team performance

Proactive help seeking

Inclusive language with coworkers

Organizational Supports

Supervision

Trust

Monitor outcomes/outputs not activities

Training: technology, time-management, boundaries

Promote social connection and belonging

Feedback

Provide information

Communications

Co-worker communications support team performance

Leader communications promote adoption, implementation

Supervisors: direction-giving, conveying empathy

Technology

Mitigates impacts of virtual/remote communication

Social richness: simulates face-to-face

Telepresence: Sense of presence in environment

“It’s Complicated…”

Factors affecting remote work outcomes and effectiveness involve

multiple, interacting issues

.

Frequency

of remote work matters:

Job Satisfaction: Highest for moderate frequency RW, lower for high and low frequency

Intent to Stay/Organizational Commitment: Greater for higher frequency RW

Social Isolation and Performance: Higher frequency RW is related to lower performance levels where there is social isolation

Work Relationship Quality: Higher frequency RW has a positive effect on relationships with leaders but a negative effect on relationships with co-workers

Relationships

matter:

While RW diminishes knowledge sharing, interpersonal bonds promote knowledge sharing, reduce negative effects

High quality supervisory relationships create social, cognitive, and psychological resources, and increase sense of belonging for RW and non-RW

Selected References

Allen, T. D., Golden, T. D., & Shockley, K. M. (2015). How effective is telecommuting? Assessing the status of our scientific findings. 

Psychological Science in the Public Interest

, 16(2), 40-68.Beauregard, T. A., Basile, K. A., & Canónico, E. (2019). Telework: Outcomes and facilitators for employees. In R. N. Landers (Ed.),

The Cambridge handbook of technology and employee behavior

. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.