RAPID: Coordinating Remote Work for Social Distancing to Stem the Spread of COVID-19

为了应对新冠肺炎的危险传播，包括高等院校在内的组织要求在更长一段时间内保持社交距离，而不是面对面的聚会。作为应对流行病的一种工具，疾控中心建议将远程工作作为社交距离。之前的研究表明，在一种情况下插入技术是不够的。个人和组织需要设计成适合或适应实际工作实践的技术。有弹性的组织必须动态适应。这项研究项目将提供证据，说明组织和不同的人如何通过过渡到远程工作而转变。它将为雇用和/或服务数以万计的利益相关者的大型组织提供重要的指导，指导他们如何准备、实施、调整和协调远程工作。该指南将用于快速告知和教育不同的组织、利益相关者团体和公民，了解在过渡到远程工作以应对正在展开的危机期间，共同努力满足工作社区的实际、社会和情感需求的最佳实践。研究团队将通过大学、社交媒体和新闻传播渠道促进公众对这一指导的广泛参与。该项目以西雅图华盛顿大学(UW)为期一年的定性研究为中心。西雅图是美国首个新冠肺炎震中。威斯康星大学是第一所转向远程学习和工作的大学。数据收集将包括访谈、观察、有针对性的档案研究和调查。这项研究将涉及个人、团体、网络和部门，以便从多层次和多尺度的角度看待有效支持有弹性的组织和工作社区的各种活动。将使用定性数据分析，包括迭代编码和备忘录，以发现并阐述反复出现的主题。调查的基础是这样一种理解，即组织复原力的概念隐含地与合作工作有关。这项分析将以一种新颖的方式应用计算机支持的协作工作(CSCW)概念工具，例如衔接工作的类型以及它们如何增强组织的复原力。预计这将产生关于在紧迫的时间压力下协调不同规模的远程工作的经验贡献。它还有望创造关于复杂组织如何根据不断变化的危机的社会和实践现实协调和支持远程工作的理论知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In response to the dangerous spread of COVID-19, organizations, including institutions of higher learning, are requiring social distancing, in lieu of in-person gatherings, for an extended period. As one tool in response to pandemics, the CDC has recommended remote work for social distancing. Previous research has shown that it is not enough to insert technology into a situation. People and organizations need technologies designed to fit or be adapted to actual work practices. Resilient organizations must dynamically adapt. This research project will develop evidence about how organizations and diverse people are transformed by transitioning to remote work. It will develop vital guidance for large organizations—which employ and/or serve tens of thousands of stakeholders—about how to prepare for, enact, adjust to, and coordinate remote work. The guidance will be used to quickly inform and educate diverse organizations, stakeholder groups, and citizens about best practices for working together to meet the practical, social, and emotional needs of work communities during a transition to remote working in response to an unfolding crisis. The research team will promote broad public engagement with this guidance through university, social media, and news communications channels.This project is centered on a 1-year qualitative research study at the University of Washington (UW), in Seattle. Seattle was the first US COVID-19 epicenter. UW was the first university to switch to remote learning and work. Data collection will include interviews, observations, targeted archival research, and surveys. The study will involve individuals, groups, networks, and departments, in order to get multi-level and multi-scale perspectives on a full range of activities that effectively support resilient organizations and work communities. Qualitative data analysis, including iterative coding and memoing, will be used to discover and then elaborate on recurring themes. Underlying the investigation is an understanding that conceptions of organizational resilience are implicitly about cooperative work. The analysis will apply computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) conceptual tools—such as the types of articulation work and how they can amplify organizational resilience—in a novel way. This is expected to yield empirical contributions about the coordination of remote work at different scales, under intense time pressure. It is also expected to create theoretical knowledge on how complex organizations coordinate and support remote work in relation to the social and practical realities of an evolving crisis.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.