Supporting mobile worker networks: components for effective workplaces

Purpose – To better understand mobile work and the lives of mobile workers from the employee perspective and to identify aspects of mobile work that are working well or could be improved. Design/methodology/approach – A survey of 557 respondents involved in mobile work, including managers and workers. Questions focused on how mobile workers identify roles and communicate socially/professionally; how they use space, technology, and collaborative tools; and how they feel about mobile working. Findings – Identifies the workplace needs of mobile workers. Gaps in mobile workers' stated activities and work patterns are revealed in relation to current thinking about workspace utilisation. Considerable employee disenchantment suggests that office design is not supporting the new roles mobile workers are asked to fulfill. Research limitations/implications – This report summarises the findings of the first phase of a multi‐year research study which included 557 mobile worker respondents representing 84 world‐wide organisations. Practical implications – Demonstrates the need to reconfigure physical infrastructure to support the rapid changes in business practices, such as mobile, flexible, and collaborative work. Results are useful to managers under pressure to make better use of existing resources, free up space, or grow without adding space. Originality/value – The first multi‐year study of global mobile workers. Research has rarely examined the roles mobile workers play, the professional interactions they need to conduct, and differences in their output. Recent applications of network analysis in organisational settings have revealed that different roles can have very different needs for support of mobile work. Providing the necessary infrastructure by evaluating mobile worker roles creates new business opportunities and transforms the provision of space and services.