NordForsk: Leadership and work characteristics in remote work settings: Implications for work motivation, performance, and well-being

Project purpose and its objectives

The new home-office working life will become a more enduring practice after the Covid-19 pandemic. However, several key questions need to be answered to gain a better understanding of the features and experiences of such work arrangements, and the consequences of remote work for staffs and managers. In the project, we want to explore how individuals and organizations are affected, what new opportunities are created, and how staffs can be supported in a hybrid or remote work situation to secure staff well-being and performance. Thus, the overall aim of the present project is to increase understanding of the opportunities and challenges for staffs and managers in remote working arrangements to secure staffs’ and managers’ occupational health and continuing work performance over time. Our two focus areas will be 1) work characteristics of remote work; 2) management of remote workers. Accordingly, we have three research questions in the project:

RQ1: How do the various work characteristics of remote work relate to staffs’ motivation and, in turn, their work-related health and performance over time?

RQ2: How does remote leadership relate to staffs’ motivation and, in turn, their work-related health and performance over time?

RQ3: What are the main challenges, strategies, and opportunities for managers in remote work settings and what are their motivational implications?

To address these research questions, the project is organized into two main parts that are integrated across the three countries. Part 1–the staff perspective–includes a four-wave longitudinal panel study across a one-year work period that focuses on how remote work characteristics and remote leadership relate to staffs’ motivation, work-related health, and performance over time (RQ1, RQ2).

Part 2–the manager perspective–is a large-scale interview study with managers about their experiences of leadership in remote work settings (RQ3), which aims to highlight challenges and opportunities with leadership in remote work settings. For details on specific tasks and deliverables in Part 1 and Part 2, see Table 1.

Partners: Umea University (Sweden), University of South-Eastern Norway (Norway)

Project duration: 2023-2026

Grant amount: € 9,999,592

Contribution to ISM: € 99 686,96

ISM role: project partner

Principal ISM researcher: prof. Dr. Vita Akstinaitė

Funding: NordForsk Future Working Life Research Programme