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Remote Work Study

In our first 2020 Digital Etiquette study of 2800+ global workers, we explored the trends and attitudes towards digital communication in the COVID-19 world.

digital etiquette report

What were the trends and challenges of digital communication for remote workers in 2020? The sudden shift to remote work raised many previously unanswered questions about digital communication and how we behave when working online.

Are workers more productive from home? Has communication anxiety increased? Are we trained on how to use digital channels effectively? Our 2020 Digital Etiquette study examined the technical, emotional, and practical benefits and challenges of digital communication.

"Many people are now discovering what numerous software organisations have known for decades; that if you struggled to get work done when co-located, going remote only exacerbates and exaggerates the problems."
Jon Kern
Agile Transformation Consultant and co-author of the Agile Manifesto

Highlights from the 2020 study

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    Workers felt more productive from home

    82 percent of respondents to our report said they were equally (47 percent), if not more productive (35 percent) working from home. Unsurprisingly, the same percentage wanted to work from home at least part-time in the future.

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    Communication anxiety was a daily struggle for many

    While over half of workers agreed that company-wide communication had improved, 38 percent of people admitted to worrying at least once a day about how they communicate online. 

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    Inefficient use of digital channels was threatening productivity

    On average workers spent 45 minutes a day searching for information they needed to do their jobs. To make matters worse, less than half had received any training on how to use digital channels efficiently—stifling productivity and innovation.

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    The need to be 'always-on' caused extra stress

    For 42 percent of workers the need to be ‘always on’ was the greatest source of stress in work-related communication. On top of that, 26 percent found it hard to switch off from work due to their own temptations to keep working.

Check out the latest 2021 report today