Applied Human-AI Research | Future of Work and Accessibility | Postdoc @ UC, Irvine
Scarcely a day goes by without seeing another post about an RTO push and the pushback from employees. The motivation sounds positive: we want work to be collaborative, and collaboration happens in person. But decades of research and the past five years of lived experiences show that even the most complex, collaborative work can be done remotely. So what gives? Our #CSCW2025 paper argues that RTO discussions should move beyond “where should we work” towards “how can we work better when we’re distributed”. My co-authors Diego Gomez-Zara, Dr. Liz Gerber, Darren Gergle, Noshir Contractor, Michael Massimi, and I explored what enables and hinders effective remote and hybrid work in post-pandemic workplaces. We designed and deployed a theoretically-informed survey to 1,526 U.S.-based knowledge workers, built upon decades of research in CSCW, organization science, management science, and network science. Here are five key insights for how to make the best of remote work: 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀 Workers didn’t need to know their teammates on a personal level, but did need a strong sense of belonging on the team, which newer teams struggled with. 𝙄𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣: encourage new members to actively participate, ask questions, and share obstacles their teammates can help with. Occasional off-sites to build rapport and team belonging may help. 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 Managers value observability; workers value autonomy. 𝙄𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣: encourage active discussion on these differences between managers and workers, and work practices that foster trust and information sharing. 𝗛𝘆𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗩𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 Managing multiple modalities introduces friction to collaborative work, especially when norms for how to work aren't clear. 𝙄𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣: hybrid teams need explicit norm setting and shared values so team members can be equal participants across modalities, even if some compromise is needed. 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 Routine inconveniences when collaborating (e.g., microphone off, missing document access) derail collaboration. 𝙄𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣: teams should set clear norms for tool use (e.g., one shared folder for all team documents) as companies become increasingly dependent on cloud-based tools. 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 Highly collaborative work requires norm setting, which newly-formed teams may lack and larger teams may outgrow. 𝙄𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣: norms should be established early, such as for when people are available and how often to share updates, and revisited as teams grow. If you’d like to learn more: 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿: https://lnkd.in/g_-GjkYk 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸: https://lnkd.in/gGXRMtrX
Dr. Upol E.
2w
Is it ironic that we, as a community, don't seem to listen to the research we are doing? The RTO push isn't just in corporations but also in Universities and Conferences. For instance, conferences like CHI has banned hybrid or virtual means of engagement this year. Also, love the paper. Great work and congrats to the team!
Gobi Dasu
2w
These points intuitively feel spot on! Thank you for concretizing this so well.
Applied Human-AI Research | Future of Work and Accessibility | Postdoc @ UC, Irvine
2wThis research was done during a summer internship with Slack’s Research and Analytics team, whom I’d like to thank for all the feedback and support during the project. Special shout out to Lucas Puente and Eliza Sarasohn for guidance on the research plan; Christina Janzer, Sharon Ferguson, Ph.D., Kevin Chow and Emilio Lehoucq, PhD for feedback on the survey design; and Dylan Wiwad for advice on analysis methods. Thank you all!