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Poor work privacy represents a frequently reported issue in open office environments,
yet relatively little is known about its consequences. In addition, prior research has limitations
including weak operationalisations and measures of privacy. Therefore, this thesis developed
a new work privacy measure and examined the adverse effects of poor work...
Citations
... Workers attempt to achieve the best possible fit between their actual and desired levels of input/stimuli from their colleagues and output they make to their colleagues. As outlined in the privacy fit theory, work-and health-related outcomes can be maximised if environmental characteristics can be organised in a way that supports individual privacy needs (Weber, 2019;Weber et al., 2021). However, work privacy fit and its predictors during pandemic teleworking has been almost neglected. ...
Background
During national lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, previously office-based workers who transitioned to home-based teleworking faced additional demands (e.g., childcare, inadequate homeworking spaces) likely resulting in poor work privacy fit. Previous office research suggests poor work privacy fit is associated with lower wellbeing and higher work fatigue. Emerging evidence suggests a relationship between childcare duties during pandemic teleworking and work fatigue. In addition to psychosocial working conditions (job demand, job control, and job change management), which are acknowledged predictors of work fatigue, this poses a significant threat to occupational health during pandemic teleworking. However, the relative effects of aspects of the psychosocial environment (job demands and resources), the home office environment (including privacy fit), and the social environment (childcare) on work fatigue as well as their interactions are under-explored.
Objective
This study examined the relationships between the psychosocial, environmental, and social working conditions of teleworking during the first COVID-19 lockdown and work fatigue. Specifically, the study examined teleworkers’ physical work environment (e.g., if and how home office space is shared, crowding, and noise perceptions) as predictors of privacy fit and the relationship between privacy fit, childcare, psychosocial working conditions (job demand, job control, and job change management), and work fatigue. Work privacy fit was hypothesized to mediate the relationship between childcare and work fatigue.
Methods
An online cross-sectional survey was conducted with teleworkers (n = 300) during the first COVID-19 lockdown in April and May 2020; most participants were in Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Results
Path analysis was used to examine the hypothesized relationships. Privacy fit was lower for those reporting greater levels of noise in home-working spaces and those feeling crowded at home. Work fatigue was lower amongst those with greater privacy fit and higher amongst those with high levels of job demand. An indirect relationship was observed between childcare and work fatigue with privacy fit mediating this relationship.
Conclusion
The influence of privacy fit has so far been largely neglected in research on teleworking, especially during the pandemic. However, its contribution to workers’ wellbeing should be acknowledged in occupational health strategies.
... Visual and acoustic privacy have been differentiated in studies about offices. Weber (2018) described visual privacy as the ability to not be observed (surveillance) and/or to isolate from visual distractions. Acoustic privacy has been described as the ability to have conversations without neighbours overhearing these conversations (Weber, 2018). ...
... Weber (2018) described visual privacy as the ability to not be observed (surveillance) and/or to isolate from visual distractions. Acoustic privacy has been described as the ability to have conversations without neighbours overhearing these conversations (Weber, 2018). The need for privacy has been shown to play an important role in users' satisfaction in AFO environments (Brunia et al., 2016), productivity (Jahncke & Hallman, 2020) and creativity (Yekanialibeiglou et al., 2021). ...
Activity-based flexible offices (AFOs) provide a variety of workspaces to meet the need for social interactions and privacy at work. This study investigates the relationship between the design characteristics of AFOs and users’ perceptions of visual and acoustic privacy and social interactions. This case study is based on post-occupancy evaluations in three AFO layouts at a public service organization in Sweden. A mixed-method approach is adopted that combines questionnaires and layout analysis. In general, the results showed that while aesthetics received the highest satisfaction scores, office functionality, task support, storage and visual and acoustic privacy received the lowest ratings. Key design characteristics for AFOs were operationalized, observed and exemplified: zone diversity, proportion, readability, spatial enclosure, sharing ratios and functionality of furniture and tools. These insights may contribute to better-informed decisions about the design characteristics that influence privacy and social interactions in AFOs.
... According to this, flexible offices should provide the preconditions for distinct and positive user experiences, but flexible offices are often based on open-plan layouts (Bodin Danielsson et al., 2014). Despite the possibility to choose among different settings, this means that users in flexible offices can also experience exposure to excessive visual and auditory stimuli or the lack of privacy (Brunia et al., 2016;Forooraghi et al., 2021;Gorgievski et al., 2010) usually attributed to open-plan offices (Haynes et al., 2017;Kim & de Dear, 2013;Weber, 2019). ...
... Further, Weber (2019 ) put forward a redevelopment of Altman's privacy framework and applied it to work privacy. In addition to postulating the use of Altman's transactional understanding of privacy fit, she proposed that the conceptualisation and assessment of work privacy fit ought to incorporate an individual's subjective priority of privacy desires ( Weber, 2019 ). This postulation is grounded in Kahana's (1982 ) empirical P-E work, which informed the assumption that not all aspects of (privacy) desires are equally important within the range of desires and between indi viduals. ...
... Design features that support privacy fit are rooms or stand-alone environmental barriers such as single walls, partitions, planters, and columns ( Duvall-Early & Benedict, 1992 ;Johnson, 1991 ;Leder, Newsham, Veitch, Mancini, & Charles, 2016 ;Sundstrom, 1986 ). Although postulated to be of key importance to privacy fit, findings on numbers of partitions enclosing a work space are conflicting ( Weber, 2019 ). Single findings concern atmospheric properties (light levels, Goodrich, 1982 ; olfactory elements, Davis, 1990 ;calmness, Weber, 2019 ), the symbolic value of spatial elements that suggest privacy ( Johnson, 1991 ), the shape of rooms ( Zeisel, 1984 ), lines of sight ( Mehrabian, 1977 ), spatial density ( Oldham, 1988 ), workstation size ( Leder et al., 2016 ), and seating arrangements (workspaces located away from the main traffic flow, Johnson, 1991 ;Weber, 2019 ). ...
... Although postulated to be of key importance to privacy fit, findings on numbers of partitions enclosing a work space are conflicting ( Weber, 2019 ). Single findings concern atmospheric properties (light levels, Goodrich, 1982 ; olfactory elements, Davis, 1990 ;calmness, Weber, 2019 ), the symbolic value of spatial elements that suggest privacy ( Johnson, 1991 ), the shape of rooms ( Zeisel, 1984 ), lines of sight ( Mehrabian, 1977 ), spatial density ( Oldham, 1988 ), workstation size ( Leder et al., 2016 ), and seating arrangements (workspaces located away from the main traffic flow, Johnson, 1991 ;Weber, 2019 ). ...
An extensive literature consistently identifies a lack of privacy as the key source of dissatisfaction among workers, particularly for those occupying open office structures. However, theoretical perspectives on work privacy vary greatly, and there is little agreement on what work privacy constitutes. As a result, the available evidence lacks comparability and undermines the ability to draw conclusions that could serve as a guide to workplace design and management.
This chapter gives an overview on different conceptualisations of work privacy, highlighting inconsistencies, and introduces a new multidimensional conceptualisation and corresponding measure of work privacy fit. To highlight the relevance of the work privacy theory and its applicability to workplace research, the chapter discusses environmental and social predictors of privacy fit and privacy desires as well as health- and work-related consequences of poor privacy fit. Further, the chapter gives an overview on quantitative and qualitative methods to study work privacy, such as the new measure of privacy fit (PAW). Theoretical and methodological limitations are pointed out, and avenues of future research are suggested. The relevance of work privacy theory to practice is discussed.
... item coping appraisal scale and adapted for this study; two items from the original scale were excluded as they were not considered relevant or unspecific (cf. Weber, 2019). As the majority of the four items reflected 'uncontrollable situations' (Peacock & Wong, 1990, p. 232) and only one item reflected 'controllability by oneself' (p. ...
Introduction
Privacy fit is a frequently reported issue in open office environments, yet its context predictors and its consequences remain understudied.
Theory
To investigate these points, this study builds on Altman’s (1975) privacy regulation model and the cognitive appraisal theory (Folkman & Lazarus, 1985) as a transactional model of stress. It focuses on the fit between workers’ desired and achieved levels of privacy and on the appraisal of privacy fit and its stressful nature.
Methods
This research was designed to examine context predictors of change in privacy fit and coping appraisal, as well as changes in the consequences of privacy fit during an office move. Data was collected over two points of measurement from 61 office workers who moved from a standard open-plan office to an office that is activity-based. The first questionnaire was distributed six weeks prior to the office move and the follow-up questionnaire approximately eight months after. With its longitudinal design, this study extends past research by demonstrating the changing nature of privacy fit and revealing predictors of change in privacy fit and coping appraisal.
Results
Cross-lagged autoregression analysis of change confirmed suggested predictors such as increase in variety of settings and in adherence of others to protocols that positively influenced post-move privacy fit. Further, change in coping appraisal post-move was predicted by an increase in perceived environmental and behavioural flexibility. Changes in privacy fit and appraisal were associated with increases in job and workplace satisfaction and decreases in emotional and mental work fatigue post-move.
Originality/Value
Results could inform physical workplace design as well as cultural interventions in organisations. To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the psychological process of privacy experience by using a transactional model of stress.
... childcare, shared homeworking spaces) and often in the absence of adequate ergonomic equipment, such as adjustable height display screen equipment, supportive chairs, and appropriate desk space that enables workers to sit comfortably for prolonged periods. Previous research suggests poor privacy fit at work (privacy needs not being met) is associated with lower wellbeing and greater work fatigue and burnout (Laurence et al., 2013;Weber, 2019). It is also widely acknowledged that poor ergonomics of office furniture can result in musculoskeletal pain, especially if equipment is not easily adjustable or optimally set up for an individual's needs (Derjani et al., 1999;Sauter et al., 1991). ...
... childcare, shared homeworking spaces) and often in the absence of adequate ergonomic equipment, such as adjustable height display screen equipment, supportive chairs, and appropriate desk space that enables workers to sit comfortably for prolonged periods. Previous research suggests poor privacy fit at work (privacy needs not being met) is associated with lower wellbeing and greater work fatigue and burnout (Laurence et al., 2013;Weber, 2019). It is also widely acknowledged that poor ergonomics of office furniture can result in musculoskeletal pain, especially if equipment is not easily adjustable or optimally set up for an individual's needs (Derjani et al., 1999;Sauter et al., 1991). ...
In response to the outbreak of Covid-19,
governments around the world have published
their guidelines including rigorous hand
washing, respiratory etiquette, social distancing
and restrictions in movements and gatherings (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, 2020). Songs have been
used to share key advice since the start of the
outbreak in many countries (Hui, 2020).
Organisations have implemented intensive home-based teleworking in response to global COVID-19 lockdowns and other pandemic-related restrictions. Financial pressures are driving organisations to continue intensive teleworking after the pandemic. Understanding employees’ teleworking inclinations post COVID-19, and how these inclinations are influenced by different factors, is important to ensure any future, more permanent changes to teleworking policies are sustainable for both employees and organisations. This study, therefore, investigated the relationships between the context of home-based teleworking during the pandemic (pandemic-teleworking conditions), productivity perceptions during home-based teleworking, and employees’ future teleworking inclinations (FTI) beyond the pandemic. Specifically, the study examined whether pandemic-teleworking conditions related to the job, and the physical and social environments at home, influenced employees’ FTI, and if perceptions of improved or reduced productivity mediated these relationships. Data were collected during April and May 2020 with a cross-sectional online survey of teleworkers (n = 184) in Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and other countries during the first COVID-19 lockdowns. Reported FTI were mixed. Most participants (61%) reported wanting to telework more post-pandemic compared to before the pandemic; however, 18% wanted to telework less. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that some teleworking conditions (job demands and work privacy fit) were positively associated with FTI. Other teleworking conditions (specifically, job change, job control, home office adequacy, and childcare) were not associated with FTI. Perceived changes in productivity mediated the relationship between work privacy fit and FTI. Findings highlight the role of work privacy fit and job demands in influencing pandemic productivity perceptions and teleworking inclinations post-pandemic. Results raise questions about the suitability and sustainability of home-based teleworking for all staff. As organisations plan to increase the proportion of teleworking post-pandemic, this study suggests there is a need to support employees who perceived their productivity to be poor while home-working during the pandemic.
