Designing SMART teamwork: How work design can boost performance in virtual teams

Are you still stuck in lockdown, working from home or coordinating most of your work "virtually" with other team members and wondered "What could my organisation or my manager do to make my life easier"?

Maybe our latest piece of advice may be of interest to you then?

We take a work design perspective which involves thinking about making changes in the organization of work tasks, in activities, and in managing relationships with others. First, we give a brief summary of the scientific literature which has shown that work design can make a key contribution in helping teams reaching optimal performance. Based on this, we give advice and provide strategies for managers and organisations to support their virtual teams. We really hope this article is of use. We acknowledge that some strategies are "generic solution" and that this may not apply to each context and case. However, we are really curious whether our advice is perceived as useful. We are curious if you (as a manager) and/or your organisations have worked out (work design) solutions to support you/staff in remote/working-from-home arrangements. Please comment below or contact us and share your insights!

Citation:

Klonek, F.E., & Parker, S. (2021). Designing SMART teamwork: How work design can boost performance in virtual teams. Organizational Dynamics.

Free publisher-copies available until April 11th 2021.

Changes in work during COVID-19 (and beyond) - Talk by Sharon Parker

As part of the Safe Work Month Short Talk series, Sharon Parker gave a talk on how work changed when people worked at home during COVID and how it might change in the future.

This session provided evidence-based practical steps to address some of the issues associated with COVID such as isolation, work stress, the need for good organisational support, and communication. With the lens firmly pointed on the importance of flexible work and good work design, Sharon talked through how to achieve your own SMART work design. Sharon discussed the role of work design in fostering healthy, safe, and productive work, both when working at home and in the office. She also explored the future of working from home - what new possibilities are being created and how our work will continue to be impacted.

Key takeaways

• People’s experiences of working from home during COVID are diverse, and depend on a number of factors.

• One important influence on people’s mental health and wellbeing is their work design.

• SMART work (Stimulating, Mastery-oriented, Agentic, Relational and Tolerable) is better for mental health and well-being.

• COVID can make work smarter (e.g., through greater agency over when and how people work) but also less smart (e.g. through reducing relational aspects of work).

• Crucially, managers and workers themselves, can take steps to improve work design when people are working from home.

Watch recording

When do job crafting interventions work?

New CTWD research on job crafting found job crafting interventions were effective in promoting job crafting behaviours.

Job crafting refers to self-initiated, proactive strategies to change aspects of work to meet personal needs, goals and desires, and is important for promoting well-being and performance at work.

CTWD Research Fellow and lead author of the study, Dr Caroline Knight says the research found that job crafting interventions to reduce hindering demands are best targeted at those experiencing high workloads, whereas interventions to increase job resources are best targeted towards those experiencing low workloads.

"High workload prior to the intervention promoted crafting to reduce hindrance demands, such as email or noise distractions," Dr Knight says.

"Whereas low workload promoted crafting to increase job resources, such as autonomy."

Researchers assessed the impact of initial workload on the effectiveness of two interventions:

1. A less intense, knowledge-reflection intervention which involved learning about job crafting and reflecting on it in relation to one’s own job

2. A more intense, knowledge-reflection-action intervention that involved learning and reflecting on job crafting as well as completing 'Job Crafting Boosts' - job crafting activities such as switching off email for 20 minutes to concentrate on a task, or asking a colleague for help - over four weeks

The study found participants who completed 'Job Crafting Boosts' experienced positive outcomes including insights into making positive changes at work, increased vigour and motivation, and increased productivity.

The paper titled ‘When do job crafting interventions work? The moderating roles of workload, intervention intensity, and participation’ can be found online here.