Interruption Value Type and Source Matter in Different Phases of an Interruption Process: Emotional/Cognitive Impact and Neural Evidence

OBJECTIVE

To examine the effect of interruption value type (utilitarian, hedonic) and source (external, internal) in different phases of an interruption process.

BACKGROUND

Prior studies on interruption mostly focused on the cognitive outcomes of utilitarian interruptions. Hedonic interruptions are common in life; however, they are not sufficiently explored through research. Hedonic value is closely associated with emotional experiences, and, in turn, influences behaviors. Moreover, the way the effect of values is moderated by interruptions initiated by intrinsic motives is worth exploring.

METHOD

A 2 × 2 mixed design experiment was conducted with 48 participants who were asked to respond to instant messages during the writing task. The interruption value was induced by work or non-work tasks. The interruption source was manipulated by providing an alert. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy, behavioral data, and subjective measurements were collected and analyzed.

RESULTS

Hedonic interruptions increased emotional valence, while utilitarian interruptions decreased it. These effects were strengthened by internal interruptions. The effect of interruption value type on work exhaustion was also moderated by the source. Interruption value type and source influenced the attention allocation before an interruption occurred. Hedonic interruptions led to longer resumption lags, whereas utilitarian interruptions required longer interruption durations. Internal interruptions led to improved performance in the resumed task.

CONCLUSION

Interruption source modulate the effect of interruption value type, especially on emotional experience and attention allocation before an interruption occurs.

APPLICATION

Self-initiated hedonic interruptions have emotional benefits, while alerts for utilitarian interruptions will improve attention on the main task before interruptions.

Work interruptions of office workers: The influence of the complexity of primary work tasks on the perception of interruptions

BACKGROUND

Research demonstrates that work interruptions are considered one of the most common work stressors. Understanding the mechanisms of work interruptions is therefore vital to reducing worker stress and maintaining performance.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this research is to investigate the influence of the frequency of work interruptions on subjective workload in the context of office work. Specifically, the mediating influence of interruption perception as well as the moderating influence of the complexity of the primary task are examined.

METHOD

The work interruptions of 492 office workers in Germany were collected by means of a one-day diary study. A mediation model and a conditional indirect effect model were calculated to examine the influence of interruption frequency on subjective workload, mediated by the individual perception of these interruptions as well as moderated by the complexity of the primary work tasks.

RESULTS

The analyses indicated a significant mediation and moderation. This implies that, on the one hand, the perception of work interruptions significantly mediates the relationship between the frequency of work interruptions and subjective workload. On the other hand, more complex primary work tasks seem to strengthen the positive relationship between interruption frequency and perceived interruption overload.

CONCLUSION

The study underlines that work interruptions need to be considered in a much more differentiated way than is currently the case. Both in research and in terms of intervention measures in the work context, the various influencing factors need to be identified for an assessment of the effects on the working person to be possible.

A Lack of Focus, Not Task Avoidance, Makes the Difference: Work Routines in Procrastinators and Non-Procrastinators

Procrastination may be seen as the outcome of a learning history of delaying the onset of task execution and its completion, both in terms of time and effort. In this study, we examined the performance of 55 university students who carried out two writing tasks consisting of summarizing two academic papers, each within a different time slot (i.e., five vs. three days to complete). The two assignments were part of the class activity and were perceived by participants as homogeneous in terms of text appreciation and difficulty, therefore making the two conditions comparable. The Pure Procrastination Scale was used to categorize subjects as high and low procrastinators, and to compare their performances. Results show that students who report more procrastination behaviors tend to increase their productivity as the deadline approaches, while low procrastinators are more productive throughout the time at their disposal, with peak activity during the intermediate day. Such a strategy was consistent across two deadlines (five vs. three days), and the difference between the two subgroups can be ascribed to the task-oriented coping style, which seems to be lacking in high-procrastinators.

Gender Differences and Lost Flexibility in Online Freelancing During the COVID-19 Pandemic

We report findings from an ongoing panel study of 68 U.S.-based online freelancers, focusing here on their experiences both pre- and in-pandemic. We see online freelancing as providing a window into one future of work: collaborative knowledge work that is paid by the project and mediated by a digital labor platform. The study's purposive sampling provides for both empirical and conceptual insights into the occupational differences and career plans of freelance workers. The timing of the 2020 data collection provides insight into household changes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings make clear these workers are facing diminished work flexibility and increased earning uncertainty. And, data show women are more likely than men to reduce working hours to help absorb the increased share of caregiving and other domestic responsibilities. This raises questions of online freelancing as a viable career path or sustainable source of work.

Six Key Advantages and Disadvantages of Working from Home in Europe during COVID-19

The number of people working from home (WFH) increased radically during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate people's experiences of WFH during the pandemic and to identify the main factors of advantages and disadvantages of WFH. Data from 29 European countries on the experiences of knowledge workers (N = 5748) WFH during the early stages of lockdown (11 March to 8 May 2020) were collected. A factor analysis showed the overall distribution of people's experiences and how the advantages and disadvantages of WFH during the early weeks of the pandemic can be grouped into six key factors. The results indicated that most people had a more positive rather than negative experience of WFH during lockdown. Three factors represent the main advantages of WFH: (i) work-life balance, (ii) improved work efficiency and (iii) greater work control. The main disadvantages were (iv) home office constraints, (v) work uncertainties and (vi) inadequate tools. Comparing gender, number of children at home, age and managers versus employees in relation to these factors provided insights into the differential impact of WFH on people's lives. The factors help organisations understand where action is most needed to safeguard both performance and well-being. As the data were collected amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, we recommend further studies to validate the six factors and investigate their importance for well-being and performance in knowledge work.

Mobile knowledge workers and traditional mobile workers: Assessing the prevalence of multi-locational work in Europe

This article contributes to the discussion on flexible working by assessing empirically the prevalence of mobile, multi-locational work in Europe (EU-28, Norway and Switzerland). Drawing on data from the Sixth European Working Conditions Survey, the prevalence of multi-locational work across Europe is examined in terms of the knowledge intensity of the work. Knowledge-intensive occupations are characterised by a high level of individual skills, typically acquired through tertiary-level education, and a high degree of autonomy combined with frequent use of ICT. According to the results, working on mobile sites - a practice that augments working in the primary workplace - is most common in northern European countries, where the proportion of knowledge-intensive occupations is high. However, even in the Nordic region, knowledge workers predominantly work at their employers' premises. This finding is in marked contrast with the hyperbole and expectations which assume that ICT allows knowledge workers to work free from the constraints of time and space. Agriculture, construction and transport workers still represent the largest proportion of the mobile workforce. Knowledge-intensive job features, however, predict the adoption of working at home. The analysis adds to the literature on flexible working by taking into account both traditional and knowledge-intensive forms of multi-locational work as well as providing a cross-national comparison.

How Knowledge Worker Teams Deal Effectively with Task Uncertainty: The Impact of Transformational Leadership and Group Development

The purpose of this paper is to clarify how leadership is able to improve team effectiveness, by means of its influence on group processes (i.e., increasing group development) and on the group task (i.e., decreasing task uncertainty). Four hundred and eight members of 107 teams in a German research and development (R&D) organization completed a web-based survey; they provided measures of transformational leadership, group development, 2 aspects of task uncertainty, task interdependence, and team effectiveness. In 54 of these teams, the leaders answered a web-based survey on team effectiveness. We tested the model with the data from team members, using structural equations modeling. Group development and a task uncertainty measurement that refers to unstable demands from outside the team partially mediate the effect of transformational leadership on team effectiveness in R&D organizations (p < 0.05). Although transformational leaders reduce unclarity of goals (p < 0.05), this seems not to contribute to team effectiveness. The data provided by the leaders was used to assess common source bias, which did not affect the interpretability of the results. Limitations include cross-sectional data and a lower than expected variance of task uncertainty across different job types. This paper contributes to understanding how knowledge worker teams deal effectively with task uncertainty and confirms the importance of group development in this context. This is the first study to examine the effects of transformational leadership and team processes on team effectiveness considering the task characteristics uncertainty and interdependence.