Distansarbetets påverkan på ledarskap inom en kunskapsintensiv verksamhet

Abstract

It is no secret that the amount of remote work, also known as teleworking, that is taking place within organisations all over the world is experiencing growth. Many organisations had already initiated the implementation of remote work and the process was accelerated beyond belief both due to technical progress and of course due to the ongoing pandemic. Teleworking is now the main way of working within many organisations. The conversion to remote work brings many new challenges and even though there are theories and perceptions on how to go through with this kind of change there are few studies regarding how the change is perceived by both leaders and employees within the organisation. The purpose of this essay is to make an attempt to close a small part of this information gap by examining the experience of change in leadership as a consequence of the implementation of remote work. Within the framework of this essay the experienced change in leadership, as a consequence of implementing remote work, has been examined. This has been done by collecting empirical material through structured interviews in the form of questionnaires at an organisation that converted almost all of their operations to teleworking during 2020. The empirical material has been compiled to examine differences in the socially integrated leadership with a special focus on communication, responsibility, freedom and goal-oriented work. The conclusion is that the experienced change in leadership varies within the organisation with both positive and negative aspects being brought up. The effects of freedom and responsibilities are experienced as positive as the employees perceive a gain in trust from the organisation. The effects of communication, goal-oriented work and organisational culture are at the same time experienced as lacking and the need for new ways of working in these areas are seen as imperative.