What is it about?
We drew on existing reviews, meta-analyses, and theory articles pertaining to the topic of remote work that spanned 2016 to 2022. The evidence spanned three primary remote work clusters: telecommuting, computer-mediated work, and virtual teams. After reviewing the existing evidence, we derived four major conclusions: (1) remote work tends to be cost-effective for the organization, but the cost-effectiveness can vary based on context; (2) remote work comes with trade-offs for most employees, and not all employees will thrive in remote work settings; (3) remote work can vary in terms of how much virtual work is involved, and this variation is likely an important moderator, regardless of the outcomes of interest; and (4) there is a lot we do not know about what leads to effective remote work or how to ensure a reasonable likelihood it will produce the intended benefits.
Featured Image
Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Much of the coverage remote work has received in the media since the start of the COVID pandemic has been based on polling data, consulting-firm white papers, and practitioner testimonials. There have been few attempts to better understand the degree to which various claims about remote work made in the media align with systematic scholarly research on this topic. The present paper sought to close that gap.
Perspectives
One of the biggest takeaways from this article is that remote work can be quite effective (especially cost-effective) for organizations when it comes to some types of work and for some types of employees. The idea, though, that most people would thrive in a remote work environment is unsupported by the existing evidence. Various characteristics of workers, the organization, and the type of work being performed have the potential to affect the overall effectiveness of remote work. Perhaps even more strikingly, we currently have little understanding of how leadership effectiveness varies between a traditional work environment and a remote work environment.
Matthew Grawitch
Saint Louis University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Remote work: More nuance and unknowns than broad generalizations., Consulting Psychology Journal Practice and Research, August 2023, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/cpb0000257.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
