Survey

What People Think About Work From Home During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Process & Analysis

Photo by Christina on Unsplash

Contents:

  1. Process
  2. Analysis

My process

Context

When COVID-19 pandemic began, the professional landscape of many people changed.

The shift to work from home was an important adjustment that changed and created new behaviors, ways of working and mindsets.

To predict the long-term implications of today’s unforeseen is hard, but a few outcomes are possible for a greater understanding of how space influences the way we feel and work each day.

Survey Goals

I created the survey to understand about the shift to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, how people’s work from home experience looks so far, as well as to examine the trends.

My role

My role in this project was to take ownership of the survey: to create it, recruit the target audience and analyze the results.

How was the survey created?

The survey covers qualitative and quantitative questions related to: 

  • productivity;
  • motivation;
  • communication;
  • relationships between co-workers;
  • differences between the pace of working from home and working from the office;
  • how people would prefer to work in the future and why.

In order to gain a richer understanding of the participants’ answers, I also asked demographic questions like : housing, gender, age, marital and family status etc (for example: the number of children in the household and their age ranges can provide valuable information)

The survey was designed using Google Forms.

How were the participants recruited?

To have high data accuracy I targeted the audience through different online groups such as: Facebook/ Slack groups with topical relevance to the survey (e.g. parenting/ human resources/ tech-industry/ survey exchange/ cities etc), LinkedIn, Online Forums (Reddit), friends. 

How was the data analyzed?

The data was analyzed using Google Forms (built in analytics) and Google Sheets for custom reporting.

Challenges

Here are some challenges I encountered:

  • Avoid biased questions and answers.
    For this I:
  • framed the questions neutral and made them short and clear 
  • Avoided  “yes” or ”no questions 
  • Avoided leading questions
  • Paid attention to the answers:
    • I wanted to understand the topic better from several points of view, so I researched in detail each aspect. I went through a large amount of materials to make sure I’m in touch with different perspectives and the answers support every type of survey respondent.
    • For example, for the question “ Why would you prefer to work from home?” I read many articles, comments, forums, which allowed me to include multiple relevant variants of responses for the checkbox.
    • On top of that I also allowed the respondent to add his own answer if he felt the need.
      I focused to ensure that the process of answering is smooth and easy (with answer options) and at the same time giving the participant the freedom to add other options (free text).
  • Wrote multiple answers options for each question.
  • Make sure the survey reaches my target audience.
    To ensure this I:
  • carefully selected the platforms where I posted the survey
  • started the survey with the question: “Have you worked from home since the COVID-19 pandemic began”, to avoid skew results. If the participant answered no, then the survey ended.

Why was the research done via a survey?

The survey method allowed me to achieve the goals set(see above – “survey goals”). It provided a practical way to gain insights on employees’ current work experience.

Also, the survey was conducted online and this was a great fit for my target audience, as it was intended for employees who work remotely.

Another reason why I chose this method was because the respondents could fill out the survey anonymously and this helped to receive honest responses and get more accurate information.

What information helped me create the survey?

In order to create the survey I had to document both how to write a survey (any survey) but also the subject of the survey, namely work from home during the Covid-19 pandemic.

As a beginner in creating surveys, I tried to gather information from as many sources as possible.

Regarding how to write a survey I have:

  • read many specialized articles (NN/g, Interaction Design Foundation, UX Collective, UX Planet, medium, etc)
  • looked at how other surveys are done
  • listened to podcasts (UXPodcast etc)
  • Before launching it:
    • I asked the opinion of some friends
    • I asked the opinion of people that specialize in UXR

Regarding the topic of the survey and the creation of the most pertinent questions:

  • I read articles about work from home and their comments (The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR etc)
  • I joined different social media communities (Hoboken Parents, Parenting Tips, Work From Home etc)
  • I listened to podcasts related to work from home (The Daily, Productivity Game, Work from home related subjects etc)

Here is the survey.

Article – Survey analysis

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the professional landscape of many people has changed and many companies have opted for work from home to try to control the spread of coronavirus infection.

This was a moment that clearly highlighted the benefits that technology can offer and work from home turned in just a few days from “nice to have” to “must have”.

Many people could continue doing their jobs remotely and safely by adapting to a virtual reality that started to be reinvented right under our eyes.

The shift to work from home was an important adjustment that changed and created new behaviors, ways of working and mindsets.

But could this change influence the workflow? And what do employees think about it?

At its base, a virtual workplace includes many of the same elements as a physical one: space to communicate, collaborate, share ideas and achieve results – but there are other aspects that are acquired differently in one environment than another.

In the office we have a space of serendipity, dedicated to the blooming of ideas, sharing of experiences, creativity, connectivity, co-building; that acts as a catalyst for a wide range of meetings, like social connections, communities, networking and mentorship.

However, in a virtual office, the work being mediated through technology, brings more flexibility and no commute – which means savings, less pollution and more time for ourselves.

Also, other fundamental components like motivation, discipline, productivity and social life are felt differently depending on each person’s personality and experience.

Now that people have come in contact with on-site work and work from home, many employees created their own rhythm and had the chance to find out which approach suits them best, whether it is the previous status quo of office work, remote work or a hybrid alternative capturing pieces of both environments.

To predict the long-term implications of today’s unforeseen is hard, but a few outcomes are possible for a greater understanding of how space influences the way we feel and work each day. 

Knowing employees’ needs and desires not only can help design a better experience for them, but also creates a ripple effect that can positively impact the organization as a whole.

To understand this, I developed a survey to determine how people feel and think about work from home during the pandemic. Therefore, I asked online employees about it. 

Who participated?

The survey was filled out by 150 employees, from around the world and from a range of industries, who have started working from home since the pandemic began.

Here are some high level facts about the respondents:

  • 60% were from United States, 40% were from countries like UK, Romania, India, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Kenya, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, South Africa and Canada;
  • their median age is 35 years old;
  • 80% are women;
  • 50% are living with their spouse/partner and their children;
  • 70% of them have their spouse/partner work full time;
  • 67% of them have children aged 0-5 years old.

Findings and key insights from the survey

48% of respondents feel as motivated at home as they do at the office.

50% believe they spend more time working than before the pandemic.

38% rated the efficiency of communication with their co-workers as the same at home as in the office.

32% maintain their relationship with their co-workers as before the pandemic.

Regarding productivity: 

  • 37% said their productivity has decreased since they started working from home;
  • 34% said their productivity has improved since they started working from home;
  • 29% said their productivity is the same at home as in the office.

 Here are the most common reasons why people say their productivity has improved while working from home:

  • less distractions (not spending time talking with co-workers, no last-moment onsite meetings);
  • more energy because of no commute;
  • feel the pressure to show how much you can get done and the general feeling of needing to get things done during a high-stakes situation;
  • being thankful for their job;
  • better able to manage home responsibilities. Also the flexibility to run an errand or to do a chore while working helps keep the mind on work and not thinking about to-dos home list;
  • better working conditions;
  • fewer breaks became more work;
  • more discipline.

Additional information:

  • Parents seem to have experienced 2 different situations:
    1. For some parents having kids around them made them extremely efficient because of the limited time.

    2. Other parents said that they were not so efficient, being hard to parent and work at the same time and do both at a high level.
  • Some people said that commute time turned into staying connected longer for work and that led to more productivity; Also employees said that they don’t have to commute, but they have more meetings because everyone tries to work hard to go against the idea that you might be slacking off while working from home.

The most common reasons why people say their productivity has decreased while working from home are:

  • the lack of social interaction, in-person communication;
  • childcare, homeschooling;
  • no difference between workspace and personal space;
  • increased workload that led to exhaustion and turned into low productivity;
  • lack of cohesive team environment;
  • feeling the need to do household activities;
  • too much time wasted over calls;
  • distractions;
  • lack of motivation and not having the feeling of being anchored to the organizational mission.

Additional information:

Some respondents said that simple things that they normally would have reached easily, just by wheeling the chair over a co-worker’s desk to ask a question or to work together, now they have to think about which mode of communication would work best/ what are they likely to respond to. It feels more official to set up a meeting/video call and they are more stuck on a problem because this has become something rare.

Reasons why people think their productivity is the same at home as in the office:

  • productivity wise, becoming more alert;
  • the ability to choose working hours based on personal schedule and conditions;
  • motivated to keep their job.

58% of participants prefer to be able to work sometimes from home, sometimes from the office once the offices are reopened safely.

Respondents who prefer to continue working from home, once everything is safe, say that the most important reasons for choosing so are:

  • to avoid wasting time on commuting;
  • flexibility;
  • more time for personal things & getting more done at home.

When it comes to reasons why employees prefer to work in the office, once they are reopened safely, the most important reasons for choosing so are:

  • social interaction;
  • easier to collaborate with colleagues;
  • to separate work time and personal time.

Generally, any crisis brings changes on many levels, as well as opportunities and here is a good chance to rebuild fresh and rethink how we work.

While we can agree that this is a time of shifting sands, with plenty of questions about what the future will look like, knowing people’s current opinions – from unique and differentiated circumstances – we learn valuable lessons that could help us open up more opportunities to thrive and fulfil our work in a more enjoyable and functional scenario. 

Arrangements and ways of working centered around the employee experience have also direct results on customer experience. A right employee experience leads to higher levels of productivity, enthusiasm and well-being.

COVID-19 pandemic could change the way we work and could provide work places alternatives for better outcomes. Future circumstances can be with more employees hurrying to return to the office, workers that would want the workweek split between home and the office, workers fully remote, more modern tools or smart offices.

Over time a new normal will emerge and, with an adaptable thinking, profitable opportunities will arise, making the experience even more about people.

My role was to analyze the survey results and write the article.

The article was posted here.