Canadian HR Reporter

8 www.hrreporter.com N E W S Are people working longer or just working differently? WITH millions of people thrown into a lockdown this spring and suddenly working from home, the reliance on digital technology soared. But how exactly did people change their patterns of digital communication to compensate for the lack of face- to-face conversation they'd typically experience in a physical workspace? Researchers with the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Mass. decided to find out by looking at aggregated meeting and email meta- data from more than three million users in 16 large metropolitan areas in North America, Europe and the Middle East. They compared employee behaviour over two eight-week periods before and after COVID-19 lockdowns. And the results were mixed: While the average workday got longer — by 48.5 minutes or 8.2 per cent — and people were involved in more meetings — by 12.9 per cent — they also ended up spending less time in meetings each day — down 11.5 per cent. Longer workdays When it comes to the longer workday — defined by the first and last email sent or meeting attended in a 24-hour period — it's unclear if the actual amount of time has increased or if people are just working more irregular hours, says Evan DeFilippis, a PhD student in organiza- tional behaviour and psychology at Harvard Business School in Boston. "They could be working actually less but shifting the time that they do activities to later in the day… There's probably a combination of both." The other possibility is that people are allotting time to work in a way that is consistent with their preferences. For example, working a longer day to accommodate time interacting with a spouse or children, he says. In addition, the distinction between work and life has become increasingly blurred with the rise of remote work. "There might be this phenomenon happening whereby people just don't realize just how much time they're spending on work, because there isn't a clear demarcation between work and life anymore. And that would obviously be bad for employee burnout," says DeFilippis. Who's up for a meeting? What is surprising from the study results is the drop in time spent in meetings. With so many people isolated in their being in online discussions, it's possible meetings have had to become shorter, he says. Another factor behind the reduced time spent in meetings could be the increase in the number of attendees per meeting (by 13.5 per cent), says Michael Impink, a doctoral candidate at New York University Stern School of Business. "Even if you are meeting less frequently, you're meeting in a different way, you have more people that are joining the call. So, possibly, there's some time saving there." And, of course, with people managing their time differently when they're at home — with the pressures of family life and work life — it could be that people are choosing to be in more compact meetings because they want to "economize their time better," he says. Plus, there's an awkwardness to meetings held by video, with less chitchat and collegial interaction, says Impink. "Certainly, it's a different experience than meeting in person. And that could play into it as well." Attempts at team-bonding activities such as virtual happy hours have not been as successful, says DeFilippis. "It's just impossible to really emulate in-person camaraderie and interaction to a meaningful degree. And it's even harder to emulate serendipitous water- cooler conversations or just stopping by. And there's only so much that you can get with Microsoft Teams or Slack and those kinds of business communication platforms; it's just not the same. And I think people know that." But it remains to be seen whether this sizable reduction in meeting time per day is positive or negative, he says. "As much as people complain about meeting overload and having too many meetings, it's also the primary way that knowledge workers communicate agendas and share information and so on. So, maybe, having less time spent in meetings in the middle of a pandemic might not necessarily be a good thing. Or, of course, if people felt that meetings are largely unproductive and inefficient, maybe it's a good thing." CHRR In looking at how people are changing their digital communications working at home during a lockdown, U.S. researchers came up with mixed results that raise even more questions 8.2% Increase in the length of the average workday 12.9% Increase in the number of meetings per person per day 13.5% Increase in the average number of attendees per meeting 20.1% Decrease in the average duration of meetings Source: National Bureau of Economic Research homes and unable to talk in person, how do researchers explain this anomaly? "Anecdotally, it's felt like we've been spending more time in meetings," says DeFilippis. "[In reality], there are more meetings in terms of the actual quantity of meetings on people's calendar, on average, but those meetings are also shorter." Another possible reason for the reduced meeting time is the shorter attention span of employees. "We know from existing research, and it's also just obvious introspectively, that it's harder to keep people engaged virtually relative to in person. And, at the same time, people will be dealing with distractions with family and home life," says DeFilippis. Plus, with the whole trend of "Zoom fatigue," where people find it exhausting CHANGING WORK HABITS FOR GLOBAL REMOTE WORKERS "It remains to be seen whether this reduction in meeting time is a good or a bad thing." Evan DeFilippis, Harvard Business School

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