Understanding Working from Home Practical Changes and Adaptations During the COVID-19 Pandemic
This research addresses the practical challenges of remote work for employees and organizations during the pandemic, but it is incremental as it builds on existing studies of pandemic impacts.
The study investigated practical changes and adaptations in work-from-home settings during the COVID-19 pandemic by interviewing 46 participants, finding increased reliance on asynchronous communication that slowed efficiency and decreased initiative, along with environmental distractions and technology limitations.
While much work focuses on the impacts of the pandemic on people's psychological and physical health, it is still unclear about the practical changes and adaptations. In this work, we interviewed 46 participants who were forced to work from home. Results show that there is an increased reliance on asynchronous communication, which slowed communication efficiency and decreased initiative to communicate. The home environment causes distraction from households and lacked facilities but is embraced by a group of people. Many people had to passively adapt to the communication and environmental changes and accept the limitations of technology, a situation that is not sustainable in the long run. We pointed out how technology can potentially play a larger role in supporting communication and coping with environmental changes in the future.