Remote Work: Advantageous or Detrimental Behavioral Dynamics?

The subject of behavioral dynamics has been an important topic to understand the role of elements, which underpin human behavior in contextual settings. The world of work as we knew it has taken a dramatic shift over the last few years as organizations developed rapid responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in order to survive this turbulent period and remain sustainable. One of these responses, the shift to remote and hybrid working models, is yet one pursuit for organizations to adapt and develop capacity in areas of sustainability and resilience. The main purpose of this research was to understand what emergent behavioral dynamics exist between team-oriented individuals in remote and hybrid working contexts. To explore this situation of concern, this study adopts the qualitative methodological approach of hermeneutic phenomenology and uses the snowball sampling method to interview 25 professionals working in remote and hybrid settings by conducting semi-structured interviews to record these experiences and collect the data. The outcome of the study revealed new emergent behavioral dynamics in themes expressing the role of communication between team members in remote settings particularly frustration in communication, the role of empathy and connectedness, through social communication tools and choosing the appropriate communication tools in remote communication. The role of trust is discussed and how individuals view and value a new work-life balance has also shifted the transition to remote working as well as the newfound value of freedom and independence as employees reflect in their remote environments and reposition their value in career, personal and family life. The contributions of this study are of particular importance to organizations who seek to understand these remote and hybrid working behavioral dynamics in the management and welfare of employees in a post-pandemic era.