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. 2021 Jan;70(1):16-59.
doi: 10.1111/apps.12290. Epub 2020 Nov 5.

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

Bin Wang  1   2 , Yukun Liu  2 , Jing Qian  3 , Sharon K Parker  2
Affiliations

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

Bin Wang et al. Appl Psychol. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Existing knowledge on remote working can be questioned in an extraordinary pandemic context. We conducted a mixed-methods investigation to explore the challenges experienced by remote workers at this time, as well as what virtual work characteristics and individual differences affect these challenges. In Study 1, from semi-structured interviews with Chinese employees working from home in the early days of the pandemic, we identified four key remote work challenges (work-home interference, ineffective communication, procrastination, and loneliness), as well as four virtual work characteristics that affected the experience of these challenges (social support, job autonomy, monitoring, and workload) and one key individual difference factor (workers' self-discipline). In Study 2, using survey data from 522 employees working at home during the pandemic, we found that virtual work characteristics linked to worker's performance and well-being via the experienced challenges. Specifically, social support was positively correlated with lower levels of all remote working challenges; job autonomy negatively related to loneliness; workload and monitoring both linked to higher work-home interference; and workload additionally linked to lower procrastination. Self-discipline was a significant moderator of several of these relationships. We discuss the implications of our research for the pandemic and beyond.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Theoretical framework identified from Study 1. Note. Although we did not analyze the relationship between the four virtual work characteristics and the challenge of ineffective communication in Study 1, we still include it in our framework because this challenge might be influenced by other virtual work characteristics such as technical support, task interdependence, and task complexity (e.g., Bélanger et al., ; Marlow et al., 2017).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
The moderating role of self‐discipline on the relationship between social support and procrastination.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
The moderating role of self‐discipline on the relationship between social support and loneliness.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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