Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The layouts of the physical workspaces were seen as a challenge in many cases. While on the
move it was especially hard to find a place that supports quiet work or confidential
discussions. For these reasons, working with certain tasks with virtual applications was
considered difficult.
Also the decent ergonomics of the workplaces used was important. Many of the mobile
employees mentioned the fatigue of musculoskeletal organs due to bad work postures.
Inappropriate furniture and visual difficulties were the main causes for impairing working
postures. On the other hand, some virtual tools allow flexible changes not only in the
physical work position but also in bodily postures. According to the interview, the mobile
phone appeared to be the most flexible virtual tool from this point of view.
Fig. 2. The elements impacting the physical fit or misfit of virtual workplaces
4.2 Functional comfort and fit in the virtual workplace of a mobile employee
The leading themes of data included the connectivity and effective use of time (fig. 3). The
most important thing when considering the nice and smooth i.e. functional use of virtual
devices and applications seemed to be the availability, speed and functionality of the
internet connection. Most of the notes in the diaries were somehow related to the use of an
internet connection. Altogether, the internet connection, which was non-functional or
difficult to access, was regarded as the key hindrance of productive knowledge work in
virtual workplaces. There was a requirement that a quick and easily accessible internet
connection should be available everywhere. This also presents requirements for the
infrastructure of both virtual and physical places: they should guide you in getting
quickly connected.
Because the workdays of the employees seemed to be busy with many things to do, the
baseline assumption was that the use of virtual devices and applications is quick and
smooth. If not, the irritation on account of wasted time increased, e.g., when sending emails
took a few seconds instead of being instant. The interviewed subjects described the wasted
time as a time that was spent with virtual tools but which did not directly contribute to
completing the work related tasks and duties they were working with. An example of an
experience of wasted time is a laptop that took 10 minutes to turn on. Another example is a
Search WWH ::




Custom Search