The study examined how teleworkers\u2019 use of various forms of communication was related to their feelings of closeness to others as well as to feelings of stress due to interruptions. The study also tested how these outcomes of communication were associated with teleworkers\u2019 sense of identity as part of their organization.<\/p>\n Findings indicated that more communication does not equal more organizational identification for teleworkers<\/strong>. In fact, the opposite was true, says Kathryn Fonner, UWM assistant professor of communication.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is often assumed that teleworkers need a lot of communication and contact with the organization in order to diminish their sense of distance and to develop a sense of belonging,\u201d says Fonner. \u201cBut we found that the more teleworkers communicated with others, the more stressed they felt due to interruptions, and this was negatively associated with their identification with the organization<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n The study, co-authored with Michael Roloff, professor of communication studies at Northwestern University, appears in the June issue of Communication Monographs<\/em>, published by the National Communication Association.<\/p>\n Although feeling a sense of closeness with others during workplace interactions was associated with positive organizational identification, the study found that the negative relationship between stress from interruptions and organizational identification was stronger.<\/strong><\/p>\n One possible reason<\/strong>, says Fonner, is that teleworkers consider fewer interruptions as being one of the perks of their remote work arrangement<\/strong>. \u201cWhen teleworkers feel they are constantly interrupted, this may decrease the value of organizational membership for them, and diminish their attachment to the organization,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n The study evaluated differences between teleworkers and office workers. Teleworkers regularly worked at least three days a week from a location other than the office, and office workers worked at least three days a week in an office or shared workspace alongside their colleagues. Each set of employees used various modes of communication, including face-to-face, phone or email contact, instant messaging and videoconferencing.<\/p>\n Other outcomes of the study:<\/p>\n \u2022 The benefits of frequent communication with others were minimal and not significantly related to teleworkers\u2019 or office workers\u2019 sense of closeness with others in workplace interactions, regardless of the communication mode used. Fonner says the study findings emphasize a need to address the stress and time pressure associated with the constant barrage of workplace communication for everyone.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cTeleworkers should strategically manage their connectivity in order to balance the benefits and drawbacks of communicating with others<\/strong>,\u201d says Fonner, \u201cwhile organizations should focus on streamlining communication<\/strong>. This may include limiting mass emails, diminishing the number of weekly meetings, creating information stores and fostering an environment where employees can schedule uninterrupted time to work.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee press release by Laura L. Hunt via Physorg: The assumption that employees who regularly telecommute will feel less attached to the organization they work for… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,8],"tags":[192,13,59,58,143,12,102],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3172"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3172"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3194,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3172\/revisions\/3194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/images\/blogpics\/HomeOffice.jpg\" "\\"telecommuter\\"")
The assumption that employees who regularly telecommute will feel less attached to the organization they work for due to feeling isolated and disconnected is a myth<\/strong>, according to a study led by a communication researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM).<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Office workers reported significantly greater levels of stress due to interruptions compared to teleworkers, but their organizational identification was not affected by this stress.
\n\u2022 For teleworkers, stress from interruptions was associated with increased face-to-face communication, email, instant messaging and videoconferencing. For office workers, stress was only related to increased face-to-face and email communication. Results indicate, however, that phone communication generally did not induce the same degree of stress as the other modes.<\/p>\n