4.2.1. Telework Inputs
Figure 2 illustrates how employees rated input-related factors categorized as resources availability, digital infrastructure, and professional relationships. As expected, in a virtual workplace, items from digital infrastructure are the most highly rated, followed by input factors related to resources availability.
Resources Availability. Figure 2 shows that more than half of the respondents perceived availability of information and coworkers as primary telework enabling factors. Employees underscored no interruptions from coworkers as a key telework input, in contrast with working in a shared space area where employees could interact more easily. Similarly, other researchers [
46] reported an enhanced ability of employees to focus on job responsibilities through reduced interruptions from coworkers. Irrespective of the coworking space (office, virtual), other findings [
37] indicated social features including professional relationships as the most highly rated input. Telework inputs may also negatively impact both employee perceptions and manager beliefs. During telework, many individuals work in the same space where their family members live. Because of lockdown measures, the pandemic period has completely changed work context and employees’ perceptions, as adults and children remain at home much longer than accustomed to.
Managers noticed an opportunity to gain more time to accomplish their responsibilities and reach their goals while teleworking. According to several managers interviewed, the lack of disruptions and interruptions aids efficient task planning and enhances concentration.
“There were less interruptions, and it gave me time to do good planning”. (BM3)
“It’s being able to concentrate a lot more, being able to have less disruptions, […] being able to be in control of them”. (BM4)
“And there may be also no interruptions from coworkers, because when we were in the offices, it was very easy for others to ask questions—it didn’t depend on the time or on what you were doing, […] now you can use the ‘do not disturb’ option on the application and you can concentrate and focus on what you are working on in that moment”. (BM2)
Digital Infrastructure. During telework, email and video conferencing or group calling applications are the most used instruments to interact, as almost all employees surveyed reported (
Figure 1). The studies from the field also indicate that email is the most commonly used tool for written communication and video conferencing instruments replacing face-to-face communication [
47].
All work activities faced the shift to a digital environment, since scheduling software and project management software are digital infrastructure components that employees usually work with. This might be evidence that the telework model is reshaping the world of work, increasing transparency and accessibility for the workforce.
Managers acknowledged more difficult communication when using digital tools than while being present in the office. Video calling applications and team collaborations software are the commonly used digital technology tools to engage managers with their coworkers when teleworking. Executives perceived digital technology as an effective setting to better manage business projects. For instance, project management software keeps track of working activities and cloud storage platforms ensure a smooth process of certain operational tasks.
“[…] we have our internal project management software that we use, in which we keep progress; cloud storage platforms have been used a lot, because if we are creating remotely, we review it often and come back as post production”. (BM3)
Although video conferencing applications are critical while teleworking, managers lacked informal conversations and noticed inefficiency in planning meetings because of a high demand to collaborate between different teams with different members within the company.
“There are a lot of discussions that are happening outside the official meetings which are no longer heard because we are at home”. (BM1)
“[…] once you are sitting with a lot of people in the office, that gives you the scope of understanding the other people’s perspective as well and giving my perspective back. At these times this is not happening…”. (BM3)
Professional Relationships. Most employees working remotely revealed a poor quality of professional relationships, choosing statements such as: “lack of relationships with coworkers”, “poor interactions with my coworkers”, “poor contact with people”, “poor engagement with my peers”, “poor connections”, “no real contact with coworkers”. Similarly, the authors of [
14] stated that employee well-being may decrease due to lack of social contact. Sewell and Taskin [
48] found that due to lack of face-to-face interactions, relationships between employees may deteriorate.
Managers perceived a negative impact of coworkers’ unavailability when decisions need to be taken. One of the interviewees emphasized the benefits of physical presence in the workplace, particularly during executive meetings.
“It’s somehow beneficial to be in person […] especially for executive decisions … where some of the decisions are taken in the meeting room but others are taken also outside the meeting room. So, not being able to socialize and engage with my fellows—this would be probably something that I would highlight as a downside”. (BM4)
Likewise, the authors of [
49] asserted that activities requiring close collaboration and decision-making might be difficult to transition in a digital workplace.
A virtual coworking space is a facilitative environment for communication that increases impact on work collaboration and achievement of shared goals. Working in international teams, all the interviewed managers grasped telework as an opportunity to bring people together and receive feedback more easily than could happen in the office.
“I think this new context is helping a lot more … if the whole company works remotely, then all the interactions happen virtually, and I could be part of it a lot more than I could have been otherwise”. (BM4)
“I’ve noticed that my coworkers were giving feedback related to a specific matter quicker during remote work than when we worked from the office”. (BM5)
4.2.2. Telework Outputs
The results summarized in
Figure 3 suggest that telework outputs were primarily related to knowledge exchange and work–life balance, as reported by employees.
Knowledge Exchange. Overall, the results summarized in
Figure 3 suggest underestimation of needed time and tasks more difficult than anticipated were the outputs most indicated by the employees as affecting the achievement of their goals during telework. Only less than 10% of the respondents thought that the tasks were less difficult or needed less time.
From the management perspective, the most important aspect of knowledge exchange was the underestimation of needed time, identified in the relationships with the company’s stakeholders.
“Underestimation of needed time was definitely a problem, because […] the third-party stakeholders or internal stakeholders have considered that during the lockdown there are no working hours. […] Then it’s the extra-expectations that you have to work on, Saturdays or Sundays … because it’s a teamwork, if somebody needs something from my team then I need to ensure that rest of my team members are going to be designing content for that person; they will also need to work on the delivery so we can get things in time”. (BM3)
Work–Life Balance. Employees mentioned flexibility of the new work model and the time saved for their personal life: “the ability to work from any city”, “saved time as I do not have to travel to my workplace”, “no time spend going to work—saved almost 3 h per day”, “flexibility and saving time on traveling which is used now for productive work”, “flexibility in solving tasks”, “less time spend commuting”, “more time for personal life”, “arranging personal and professional responsibilities better”. They also noted an increased creativity and a more effective use of technology: “more creativity during work from home”, “better use of technology”, “more tools that I could use”. A significant level of employees’ concentration was also reported due to flexibility and self-control over the work tasks [
50].
Managers perceived an improved work–life balance, as employees could use the saved time for other purposes. Access to technology that allows people to be at work in a matter of minutes added to the benefit of being able to disconnect from the work program faster.
“[…] they are not spending time on going to the offices and coming back home. This may be one of the aspects important for the people. And I think the fact that they are allowed somehow to make their own program […] because some of the people prefer to start earlier and to finish work also earlier and this is also a benefit”. (BM2)
“I work more but I disconnect quicker”. (BM3)
Telework is perceived as a time-effective solution that helps managers perform their activities without wasting time in traffic to commute between home and office. As this was also seen as an advantage for employees, people are more comfortable with telework. Companies will need to accommodate employees’ preference to work from a distance on a long-term basis, as it may be less likely for them to choose to return to old habits of spending time commuting, especially in the case of living in big cities.
“If I am not travelling, staying at home, I am saving more than 1.5 h of the day easily only on travel […] then a lot of other things which I can do, so definitely good planning happened”. (BM3)
“People in my industry won’t go back to that especially in London, people have to commute for hours (for about three years I’ve done 1 h and a half to commute each way to my previous workplace) and I don’t think people are willing to do that anymore, especially in this industry, so everyone being back in the office is not going to work”. (BM4)
Other perspectives of the managers emphasized the importance of offering employees more flexibility to manage their work responsibilities and more time for their personal lives.
Professional Isolation. Although few, employees also mentioned the feeling of isolation and distinct challenges regarding work–life balance as negatively affecting their work productivity. Some employees also stated “no sense of time”, “receiving more tasks during work from home”, “more distractions”, “nervousness and lack of work–life balance”, “lack of teamwork”. Findings from the literature confirm that social isolation and overworking trends within the digital workplace may have a negative impact on employees’ work performance [
17,
51].
Business managers addressed the professional isolation output, highlighting the unfavorable aspects of working in a digital workplace. The lack of interaction restricted them to reach their goals or to build interpersonal relationships with their employees.
“Another negative factor that I consider that is impacting our goals and our work is the missing human interaction”. (BM2)
Physical presence was essential to monitor and check employees’ work when people used to work from the office.
“[…] I think that the building block of my management style is managing by walking around so I can interact with people, checking in on them […] And I would not say that this is not possible remotely but certainly it comes with some challenges that would not have been otherwise in the office”. (BM4)
However, telework brought advantages for the business itself, while the workforce experienced the feeling of being isolated. Some employees were challenged to set up an office space at home or share it with other family members.
“[…] and another impact was […] was the feeling of being isolated. People started feeling anxious sometimes of the pressure maybe from now and then, especially for people who are living in really small places […] also it has been exceptionally challenging for employees with kids”. (BM5)
4.2.3. Telework Outcomes
Figure 4 indicates high frequencies for the outcome-related factors identified by the survey respondents. Specifically, while teleworking, employees reported, to a large extent, outcomes related to hybrid work model, innovation, and business opportunities.
Hybrid Work Model. A number of aspects identified by respondents as preventing them from achieving their goals while teleworking may be seen as outcomes, suggesting future opportunities for the entities to design and develop a hybrid work model for the post pandemic period. An extensive study conducted by McKinsey and Company [
52] with 5000 employees supports the idea that a new, more effective work model needs to be experimented. The lessons learned during the pandemic, in terms of policies, practices, working norms, or collaboration technologies may help companies to change and evolve. Unplanned tasks and problems with working systems were the primary reasons identified by more than half of the participants as limiting the accomplishment of their work tasks during telework. Another highly chosen factor was the poor response system time. In contrast, the lack of concentration and inefficient planning are less frequent in the employees’ answers.
These findings denote a list of enabling factors that companies may use in their endeavor of changing the work environment. The in-depth analysis conducted via interviews supported the aspects identified by the employees. Furthermore, the managers complemented the list of the outcomes with inefficient planning and lack of concentration.
The decrease of team productivity was one of the concerns while teleworking, generated by inefficient planning and unplanned tasks.
“I think that we are not that efficient as we were when we were together in the office and maybe, probably it’s getting a little bit difficult for us to estimate the time needed to resolve some tasks because of those unplanned tasks”. (BM2)
Another concern mentioned by managers was the lack of organizing at the beginning of implementation of the new work model.
“[…] will be unplanned tasks because the things which we planned were rough not happening in the beginning, in the first few months”. (BM3)
The unplanned tasks were also challenging remote managers in terms of overworking patterns that need to be considered in the new, hybrid work environment. One of the business managers mentioned that during telework when the quarantine period was instated, both internal and external stakeholders had higher expectations and demanded delivering extra work.
A potentially interesting contribution generated by the hybrid work outcomes, identified by both employees and managers, may be the suggestion to put in practice specific competencies in order to overcome overworking behaviors and avoid employee burnout.
“[…] they have really considered that during the lockdown there are no working hours, there is no start time, there is no end time, there is no weekend … Everyone was working. We worked 7 days per week for the first 3, 4, 5 months all together”. (BM3)
Similar findings were reported by [
46] who noted time management and unanticipated workload as challenges posed by the new work model.
Another two outcomes, frequently identified by employees, were brought into the discussion by the managers. These refer to problems with systems hardware/software and poor response time. The ideas raised by managers led towards the importance of including digital technologies in the hybrid work model to overcome the aspects identified as preventing the employees from achieving their goals while teleworking. For example, BM1 mentioned that due to the fast transition to the new work model, the company did not have adequate time for establishing a digital infrastructure.
“[…] because the work from home was moved so quickly during the pandemic, we still have issues with system hardware and software”. (BM1)
Other authors also emphasized the importance of offering technology-based business solutions to employees to ensure similar productivity as when they were working in the office [
53]. This suggests that implementing efficient technology infrastructure and reliable technology-based solutions for telework are essential in the business innovation context.
A different approach managed to accommodate telework practices with the physical presence of coworkers by providing a work camp. A hybrid strategy to ensure workers productivity and achieve team collaboration is a great initiative from which employees may want to take advantage. This approach may ensure the sustainability of the new work model by introducing in the corporate campuses such opportunities to meet with coworkers just for a period of time, when employees can set working goals and make decisions.
“Probably other tech companies are becoming more like camping around where you maybe go for a week. We do that, I do that in the Silicon Valley, [the company] has those type of offices, with flats and all the infrastructure that I need to feel like home when I am there and I think that’s going to happen more […] that offices will become more that boot camps where you go for a week, two weeks and kind of get down with something; then you go back home and work remotely”. (BM4)
Innovation. Various aspects of employees’ access to digital technology were identified as innovation-related outcomes. To a large extent, employees acknowledged the use of social media platforms and team collaboration software while teleworking. The evolution of new technologies facilitated the creation of distributed teams; therefore, an efficient telework model requires digital solutions to encourage teamwork. An important number of respondents also chose more specialized digital tools such as note-taking, noise canceling or employee rewards applications. Social media platforms are generally used to improve employee engagement and maintain a sense of belonging within a professional group [
54]. Moreover, the authors of [
55] stated that productivity is influenced to a great extent by social connectivity.
From the management point of view, another telework outcome that may contribute to the innovation process was the employee monitoring software, also used to track productivity and work accomplishment timeline.
“We use OKR software [Objective and Key Results software] and thus we have key results on our productivity that we measure […] It basically tracks how effective we are at writing software and the reason for that is not to monitor team members but to figure out if there is any tool that we are missing”. (BM4)
In terms of employee motivation and engagement, managers used digital tools for rewards and recognition as well as social media platforms, which may be the new contribution to the innovative business environment, after the pandemic period ends.
“[…] employee reward tool—yes, we use it as I mentioned earlier, we had that appreciation week, in which we used the employee reward tool”. (BM3)
“We are using [social media platforms] more for networking and somehow for keeping a good vibe in the team”. (BM2)
Managers also raised the need for finding digital tools to include in the telework environment the benefits of working in an office. Specifically, the private conversations that aim at developing interpersonal relationships are missing in the digital workplace and it negatively influences social connectivity.
“Yes, working in office is definitely making a difference … because you can express more when you are in front of your supervisors rather than telling them something on email or telling on the phone call or on the video call”. (BM3)
“It does affect us, the private conversations, the discussions that we have and also the discussions that we have during breaks”. (BM1)
Business Opportunities. More than half of the participants perceived that they could plan their time better and concentrate better, providing a higher productivity by focusing on their task while teleworking. However, less than 20 respondents identified a good system response time as a benefit of telework. Time management improvement was also found to be a positive telework factor in the research of [
17,
56].
Supporting employees’ opinions, managers identified similar business opportunities as deriving directly from telework activity. Thus, good planning of the work tasks was linked with better job autonomy and less time spent on certain activities. Specifically, it also helped improve the work productivity at managerial level. Managers were able to finish more tasks while teleworking, as compared with their activity working in the office.
“I think good planning because you have bigger ownership over your work being alone, being independent. Being able to organize your work is a plus and also because you are not interrupted every time, you tend to spend less time on your tasks”. (BM1)
Managers also identified good concentration as another incentive for increased productivity seen as a business opportunity.
“… you can concentrate and focus on what you are working on at that moment”. (BM2)