Effects of shifting from in-person to distributed work on routine, creative, and social collaboration

Rotter Šešok, Sara (author), Uršič, Dejan (author), Lamovšek, Amadeja (author), Svetina Nabergoj, Anja (author)

This study explores how the transition to distributed work environments has impacted collaboration processes, team dynamics and overall productivity in Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Salesforce, all global technology companies included in the Fortune 500 top US companies list. It also examines the role of corporate culture, leadership, social and psychological factor, technological infrastructure, and individual customization in shaping these outcomes. In addition, it discusses strategies for optimizing collaboration in distributed forms of work that balance technological advances with the need for interpersonal interaction. This study contributes to the growing discourse on distributed work and provides valuable insights for organizations navigating this evolving work landscape. The research uses a qualitative approach that enables a deep investigation of the impact that distributed work has had on different types of employee collaboration (i.e., routine, creative and social) and the key factors contributing to a successful transition to distributed work. The findings reveal a differentiated landscape in which distributed work offers flexibility and potential individual productivity gains, but also presents challenges in maintaining effective team cohesion and spontaneous communication.

• Language: English
• Keywords: distributed work, routine collaboration, creative collaboration, social collaboration, collaboration tools
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: EF - School of Economics and Business
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2024
• Number of pages: Str. 85-104
• Numbering: Vol. 13, iss. 1
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-169957
• UDC: 658.3
• ISSN on article: 2232-5867
• DOI: 10.17708/DRMJ.2024.v13n01a06
• COBISS.SI-ID: 197330179
• Publication date in RUL: 26.06.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Dynamic relationships management journal
• Publisher: Slovenian academy of management
• ISSN: 2232-5867
• COBISS.SI-ID: 262077952

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: kadri, kadrovski management, timsko delo, prenos znanja, personnel, teamwork, knowledge transfer