Abstract
This final report summarises the objectives, results, and conclusions of the research project “Hybrid work of experts (HYBRIDI)” which was funded by the Finnish Work Environment Fund. The two-year research project was carried out in Tampere University 1.1.2022–31.12.2023, after removal of the strictest COVID-19 restrictions and as working life moved towards the so-called new normal.
Hybrid and remote work affects both individuals and work communities, especially because of the nature of interaction changes in remote work. Interaction situations in expert work such as meetings and collaboration are essential to achieve work objectives. Interaction situations in hybrid work are different from those in traditional office work, whether they are planned meetings, training sessions, joint working, or unplanned informal encounters. It is therefore important to explore what happens when we meet face-to-face, remotely or in a hybrid way, where some people are in the same room and others participate remotely via online applications. We also examined the impact that these interaction modes have on employee well-being, the experience of achieving work goals and development of competence. Well-being was examined via achievement emotions and basic psychological need satisfaction experienced in professional interaction situations at work, as well as objectively measured physiological arousal (electrodermal activity). In addition, the study collected a broader cross-sectional survey data to investigate the relationships between the amount of teleworking and job well-being (job satisfaction and turnover intention), and learning (informal learning).
The research provides new, multifaceted, and topical information on hybrid work of experts, especially from the point of view of interaction situations at work. This is important because the results of international studies are not transferable to Finland as such, due to, among other things, different work or management cultures, teleworking traditions, technological solutions, and work regulation. In addition, expert work often requires a wide range of multidisciplinary skills, which can only be achieved through successful cooperation. The focus of this project was also on providing practical benefits to working life and thus the results were used to write an easy-to-read guide on how to organise interaction situations in expert work.
The data was collected from three companies. The participants were companies’ employees who did expert work and worked in Finland. The data collection was carried out in 2022 and consisted of three phases including a cross-sectional survey (N = 295), a phase focused on interaction situations at work: a smart-ring and a diary-like questionnaire (N = 81), and interviews (N = 35). Participants in all phases responded to the survey before the smart ring and diary phase, and to the interview last. Most of the interaction situations took place completely remotely. Face-to-face interaction situations were reported the least. Bayesian multilevel modelling (data from interaction situations) and structural equation modelling (survey data) were used as methods for analysing the quantitative data. For the analysis of the qualitative data, data-driven content analysis and typological analysis were used.
In general, hybrid situations (part face-to-face, part remote) were perceived as the most challenging of the types and participants considered that, at their weakest, hybrid situations combine the disadvantages of both remote and face-to-face interaction. Hybrid situations had the lowest scores for autonomy and relatedness satisfaction, competence development, and goal fulfilment, and had the highest levels for physiological arousal compared to face-to-face and fully remote situations. In hybrid situations, face-to-face participants experienced more activating emotions and higher physiological arousal compared to remote participants. Experiences of participants attending hybrid situations remotely differed from participants attending onsite. Onsite (face-to-face) attending employees had more activating emotions, higher physiological arousal, and more positive emotions related to goal fulfilment compared to remote attendees. Remotely attending participants had more frequent feelings of being left out.
The more remote workdays an employee did, the lower was their relatedness satisfaction. Although remote work allows online learning and training independent of time and place, remote interaction was perceived to hinder learning by, among other things, narrowing networks. Model learning (learning by observing) and asking advice from colleagues was perceived more difficult in remote settings. Remote meetings are an effective form of encounter for routine, repetitive encounters and simple situations. They were also found to be good for interactions between two people or small groups where trust is already established, and when participants are expected to be listeners, as in briefings.
More enthusiasm was reported in face-to-face encounters compared to other forms of encounters, and emotions related to the interaction situation were mostly activating in face-to-face settings. Emotions related to goal fulfilment were dominated by anticipatory joy. Face-to-face encounters were associated with slightly higher levels of competence development and autonomy and relatedness satisfaction: people are more likely to share their personal issues face-to-face, which increases trust and relatedness between employees. Especially creative work, complex issues, unstructured problem situations, getting to know each other, building trust, situations requiring collaborative discussion and dealing with issues involving emotions benefit from face-to-face encounters.
Overall, the satisfaction of autonomy and relatedness in work interaction situations and at work in general is important. The satisfaction of these needs is strongly linked to well-being at work and supports employees’ learning. Experiencing autonomy, relatedness, and positive emotions also leads to a better fulfilment of the goals set for work interactions.
Goal fulfilment and relatedness in interaction situations nourished positive emotions, whereas activating emotions were reported more frequently when autonomy and competence development were experienced. Respectively, positive emotions, autonomy and relatedness promoted goal fulfilment of the situations. Competence development was experienced more when autonomy and relatedness were satisfied and in the presence of activating emotional state, but less when more participants were online (hybrid or online).
Previous studies have shown remote working having a positive impact on many individual and organisational outcomes. This research focused more specifically on interaction situations in work. Several practical implications for interaction situations of hybrid expert work emerged from the study: 1) when organising hybrid meetings, it is important to assess the benefits and disadvantages of the format. Hybrid situations are perceived as challenging, and the factors related to well-being and learning were lowest in hybrid situations compared to face-to-face and completely remote encounters. 2) Casual encounters at work are of great importance from the perspectives of community and competence development. Face-to-face, informal encounters are important for everyone, but especially for new employees. 3) Certain types of situations work well online, while others benefit particularly from face-to-face interaction. First meetings, where people get to know each other and build trust, and creative work sessions need face-to-face interaction. More routine and structured situations, on the other hand, can often be handled well online, as long as they are well planned and organised. 4) Online and hybrid situations are particularly challenging in terms of relatedness and competence development. Enabling a sense of community and relatedness, as well as informal knowledge sharing, by organising and supporting face-to-face situations is important for the organisations utilising remote work.
Hybrid and remote work affects both individuals and work communities, especially because of the nature of interaction changes in remote work. Interaction situations in expert work such as meetings and collaboration are essential to achieve work objectives. Interaction situations in hybrid work are different from those in traditional office work, whether they are planned meetings, training sessions, joint working, or unplanned informal encounters. It is therefore important to explore what happens when we meet face-to-face, remotely or in a hybrid way, where some people are in the same room and others participate remotely via online applications. We also examined the impact that these interaction modes have on employee well-being, the experience of achieving work goals and development of competence. Well-being was examined via achievement emotions and basic psychological need satisfaction experienced in professional interaction situations at work, as well as objectively measured physiological arousal (electrodermal activity). In addition, the study collected a broader cross-sectional survey data to investigate the relationships between the amount of teleworking and job well-being (job satisfaction and turnover intention), and learning (informal learning).
The research provides new, multifaceted, and topical information on hybrid work of experts, especially from the point of view of interaction situations at work. This is important because the results of international studies are not transferable to Finland as such, due to, among other things, different work or management cultures, teleworking traditions, technological solutions, and work regulation. In addition, expert work often requires a wide range of multidisciplinary skills, which can only be achieved through successful cooperation. The focus of this project was also on providing practical benefits to working life and thus the results were used to write an easy-to-read guide on how to organise interaction situations in expert work.
The data was collected from three companies. The participants were companies’ employees who did expert work and worked in Finland. The data collection was carried out in 2022 and consisted of three phases including a cross-sectional survey (N = 295), a phase focused on interaction situations at work: a smart-ring and a diary-like questionnaire (N = 81), and interviews (N = 35). Participants in all phases responded to the survey before the smart ring and diary phase, and to the interview last. Most of the interaction situations took place completely remotely. Face-to-face interaction situations were reported the least. Bayesian multilevel modelling (data from interaction situations) and structural equation modelling (survey data) were used as methods for analysing the quantitative data. For the analysis of the qualitative data, data-driven content analysis and typological analysis were used.
In general, hybrid situations (part face-to-face, part remote) were perceived as the most challenging of the types and participants considered that, at their weakest, hybrid situations combine the disadvantages of both remote and face-to-face interaction. Hybrid situations had the lowest scores for autonomy and relatedness satisfaction, competence development, and goal fulfilment, and had the highest levels for physiological arousal compared to face-to-face and fully remote situations. In hybrid situations, face-to-face participants experienced more activating emotions and higher physiological arousal compared to remote participants. Experiences of participants attending hybrid situations remotely differed from participants attending onsite. Onsite (face-to-face) attending employees had more activating emotions, higher physiological arousal, and more positive emotions related to goal fulfilment compared to remote attendees. Remotely attending participants had more frequent feelings of being left out.
The more remote workdays an employee did, the lower was their relatedness satisfaction. Although remote work allows online learning and training independent of time and place, remote interaction was perceived to hinder learning by, among other things, narrowing networks. Model learning (learning by observing) and asking advice from colleagues was perceived more difficult in remote settings. Remote meetings are an effective form of encounter for routine, repetitive encounters and simple situations. They were also found to be good for interactions between two people or small groups where trust is already established, and when participants are expected to be listeners, as in briefings.
More enthusiasm was reported in face-to-face encounters compared to other forms of encounters, and emotions related to the interaction situation were mostly activating in face-to-face settings. Emotions related to goal fulfilment were dominated by anticipatory joy. Face-to-face encounters were associated with slightly higher levels of competence development and autonomy and relatedness satisfaction: people are more likely to share their personal issues face-to-face, which increases trust and relatedness between employees. Especially creative work, complex issues, unstructured problem situations, getting to know each other, building trust, situations requiring collaborative discussion and dealing with issues involving emotions benefit from face-to-face encounters.
Overall, the satisfaction of autonomy and relatedness in work interaction situations and at work in general is important. The satisfaction of these needs is strongly linked to well-being at work and supports employees’ learning. Experiencing autonomy, relatedness, and positive emotions also leads to a better fulfilment of the goals set for work interactions.
Goal fulfilment and relatedness in interaction situations nourished positive emotions, whereas activating emotions were reported more frequently when autonomy and competence development were experienced. Respectively, positive emotions, autonomy and relatedness promoted goal fulfilment of the situations. Competence development was experienced more when autonomy and relatedness were satisfied and in the presence of activating emotional state, but less when more participants were online (hybrid or online).
Previous studies have shown remote working having a positive impact on many individual and organisational outcomes. This research focused more specifically on interaction situations in work. Several practical implications for interaction situations of hybrid expert work emerged from the study: 1) when organising hybrid meetings, it is important to assess the benefits and disadvantages of the format. Hybrid situations are perceived as challenging, and the factors related to well-being and learning were lowest in hybrid situations compared to face-to-face and completely remote encounters. 2) Casual encounters at work are of great importance from the perspectives of community and competence development. Face-to-face, informal encounters are important for everyone, but especially for new employees. 3) Certain types of situations work well online, while others benefit particularly from face-to-face interaction. First meetings, where people get to know each other and build trust, and creative work sessions need face-to-face interaction. More routine and structured situations, on the other hand, can often be handled well online, as long as they are well planned and organised. 4) Online and hybrid situations are particularly challenging in terms of relatedness and competence development. Enabling a sense of community and relatedness, as well as informal knowledge sharing, by organising and supporting face-to-face situations is important for the organisations utilising remote work.
| Translated title of the contribution | Hybrid work of experts |
|---|---|
| Original language | Finnish |
| Publisher | Tampereen yliopisto |
| Number of pages | 91 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-952-03-3248-8 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-952-03-3247-1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2023 |
| Publication type | D4 Published development or research report or study |
Keywords
- Remote work
- hybrid work
- Telework
- Workplace learning
- Well-being
- Emotions
- electrodermal activity (EDA)
- Basic psychological need satisfaction