Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College London, Weston Education Centre, London, SE5 9RJ, UK.
Behavioural Science and Insights Unit, Emergency Response Department Science and Technology, UK Health Security Agency, Porton Down, Salisbury, SP4 0JG, UK.
BMC Psychol. 2022 Nov 17;10(1):272. doi: 10.1186/s40359-022-00970-x.
Many employees had to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Literature suggests there are both challenges and benefits to remote working and that remote working can have detrimental effects on mental health. This study aimed to explore diplomatic personnel's perceptions and experiences of working from home during the pandemic.
Twenty-five employees of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office took part in semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was carried out to extract recurring themes from the data.
Seven main themes emerged from the data: impact of the pandemic on work; relationships with colleagues; benefits of working from home; challenges of working from home; family; moving posts during the pandemic; and perceptions and predictions of post-pandemic work. Participants provided mixed views on how remote working had affected productivity and relationships with colleagues. Benefits of working from home included greater freedom and flexibility; new opportunities; and inclusivity of remote meetings. Challenges included being in different time zones to the countries they were working for; unsuitable home ergonomics; technological issues; and difficulties finding appropriate work-life balance. Those with young children reported difficulties juggling work and childcare. Adjusting to new posts at a time when staff were working remotely appeared particularly challenging. However, most did not want or expect to return to entirely office-based work. They predicted a hybrid model of working in the future, involving both office work and remote work; they stressed the importance of flexibility and suggested there would not be a one-size-fits-all approach to returning to face-to-face work.
Remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the ways in which employees work, showing them that they do not have to be in the office to successfully achieve their work goals and leaving many wanting flexibility to make their own decisions about working from home (or not). There are both benefits and challenges to remote working; managers can take steps to reduce some of the challenges by being available to support their employees, organising regular remote meetings and allowing employees autonomy in terms of when and where they work.
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，许多员工不得不远程工作。文献表明，远程工作既有挑战也有好处，而且远程工作可能对心理健康产生不利影响。本研究旨在探讨外交人员在大流行期间在家工作的看法和经验。
25 名外交、联邦和发展办公室员工参加了半结构化访谈。采用主题分析从数据中提取反复出现的主题。
数据中出现了七个主要主题：大流行对工作的影响；与同事的关系；在家工作的好处；在家工作的挑战；家庭；大流行期间的岗位调动；以及对大流行后工作的看法和预测。参与者对远程工作如何影响生产力和与同事的关系提供了混合看法。在家工作的好处包括更大的自由和灵活性；新机会；远程会议的包容性。挑战包括与他们工作的国家处于不同的时区；不适合家庭人体工程学；技术问题；以及难以找到适当的工作与生活平衡。有年幼子女的人报告说，在兼顾工作和育儿方面存在困难。在员工远程工作的情况下适应新岗位似乎特别具有挑战性。然而，大多数人不希望或期望完全回到基于办公室的工作。他们预测未来将采用混合工作模式，包括办公室工作和远程工作；他们强调灵活性的重要性，并暗示返回面对面工作不会有一刀切的方法。
COVID-19 大流行期间的远程工作改变了员工的工作方式，让他们认识到，不必在办公室就能成功实现工作目标，这让许多人希望灵活自主地决定是否在家工作（或不工作）。远程工作既有好处也有挑战；管理者可以通过提供支持、定期组织远程会议以及允许员工在工作时间和地点方面自主来减少一些挑战。
