Achieving Effective Remote Working During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Work Design Perspective

Area of Science:

• Organizational Psychology
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Pandemic Studies

Background:

• Existing remote work research may not apply to pandemic conditions.
• The pandemic necessitated widespread remote work, creating unique challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore remote work challenges during the pandemic.
• To identify virtual work characteristics and individual differences influencing these challenges.

Main Methods:

• Mixed-methods investigation combining semi-structured interviews and survey data.
• Study 1: Qualitative interviews with Chinese remote employees.
• Study 2: Quantitative survey of 522 remote employees.

Main Results:

• Identified four key challenges: work-home interference, ineffective communication, procrastination, and loneliness.
• Found social support, job autonomy, monitoring, and workload affected challenges.
• Self-discipline moderated relationships between work characteristics and challenges.

Conclusions:

• Virtual work characteristics impact remote worker performance and well-being through experienced challenges.
• Social support and job autonomy mitigate challenges, while workload and monitoring can exacerbate them.
• Individual self-discipline plays a crucial role in navigating remote work during crises.