Page 93 - WHERE WE WORK - Schlegelmilch

Reconfiguring workplaces
Turban, 2018; Khazanchi et al., 2018; Sundstrom et al., 1994). Studies have found that increased privacy enables conversations where confidential and personal information can be safely shared (Carlopio & Gardner, 1992; Sundstrom, 1986), which facilitates positive relationships. Regarding proximity, researchers are divided whether it enables (e.g., Reagans, 2011) or hinders (e.g., Ayoko & Härtel, 2003; Kiesler & Cummings, 2002) relational efforts. Furthermore, co-located settings generally facilitate serendipitous encounters – which play a central role in relationship building at work – through mere proximity to each other, but employees have also been found to actively engage in strategies to avoid such chance encounters (Irving et al., 2019). In support, a recent study found that coworker’s face-to-face interactions decreased by 70% (Bernstein & Turban, 2018) in an open office (high proximity, low privacy).
Distributed work and relationships. As described earlier, contemporary workers often conduct work across multiple locations and across distances (Hislop & Axtell, 2009). For example, working in co- working spaces (Spinuzzi, 2012) or coffee bars (Kossek et al., 2015) has become increasingly popular next to more traditional locations, such as the home (Bailey & Kurland, 2002), at the corporate office (Brennan et al., 2002) or at a client’s office. This literature on virtual or distributed workers and deals with issues around distance and proximity (MacDuffie, 2007). While there are different types of distance – cultural, administrative/political, geographic, and economic (Ghemawat, 2001; MacDuffie, 2007) – geographic distance has received much attention (Wilson et al., 2008). Being remote from colleagues requires the workers to rely on digital technology to conduct their work (Leonardi et al., 2010; Rockmann & Pratt, 2015). Besides emails, other technologies for file storage (e.g., Dropbox), writing documents simultaneously (e.g., Google Drive), and networking (e.g., Yammer) enable workers to connect and collaborate with their colleagues despite the geographical distance (Leonardi et al., 2013; Oostervink et al., 2016). Typically, studies showed that remote work increases employees’ autonomy and flexibility (Baruch, 2001) because they have more discretion over their location, time, and way of working
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