How did trust, communication and control impact the performance of remote Irish workers during the COVID-19 pandemic?
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2022-07-22
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en
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The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the practice of workplaces and organisations and it has transformed how people work virtually. In the literature, trust, communication, and control are all crucial variables that impact the performance of virtual teams. Using adaptive structuration theory (AST), this thesis intends to examine how these variables impacted the performance of remote workers in Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic through 10 semi structured interviews with members of a social enterprise organization aimed at promoting remote work. From the interviews, we conclude that all variables impact the performance of remote workers in Ireland in different capacities. The results particularly highlight the need for competent workers who can communicate task information in an accurate and effective manner. Forming interpersonal bonds and communicating relational information to colleagues can impact performance but to a lesser extent. Self-directed control is a priority for remote workers in Ireland. While most of the interviewee did have challenging and attainable formal individual and team targets to aim for, some did not. Therefore, employers should stimulate setting goals as they positively impact organizational performance (Hardin et al., 2013). The operationalisation of the variables can also be used to investigate these variables in another context.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen