Telework, productivity and wellbeing: an Australian perspective

Abstract

Developments in networking and collaboration technologies offer new opportunities for employees to telework. Even though studies indicate that teleworkers can be more productive when working away from the office, results are mostly self-reported. Additionally, no studies have yet explored telework in terms of productivity and wellbeing from both a managerial and employee perspective in Australia. We followed a qualitative research design to explore telework, productivity and wellbeing, as well as a quantitative component to measure daily experiences of workers on telework and non-telework days. Findings indicate that 1) productivity is a management concern and requires a different management approach to yield productive outcomes; 2) high-level IT support is required for workers to be more productive; and 3) the ability to telework fosters wellbeing, which in turn contributes to productivity.