Managing time-spatial flexibility in organizations

The prevalence of employees time-spatial flexibility has recently increased due to COVID-19 measures. Thus, more and more teams are so-called flexible teams (i.e., where team members have time-spatial flexibility). However, time-spatial flexibility is considered as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, having more autonomy about when and where to work is positive, but on the other hand, blurred boundaries between work and private life is likely. This leads to being available outside working hours which might lead to stress and impairs employees mental health. Thus, it is important that companies and society at large know how mental health can be fostered in flexible teams. To investigate the tension between employees individual use of time-spatial flexibility and team demands, we take a team perspective and develop a team-based rules intervention following justice principles. This intervention aims to reduce uncertainty about the scope and boundaries of flexibility (e.g., availability outside work hours) within flexible teams. We assume that the positive effects of individual use of time-spatial flexibility also depend on team alignment and suggest that needs of individual team members should be nourished within the boundaries of collective team demands. The team intervention takes into account both individual and team needs and encourages flexible teams to define rules for flexibly working together. We test the team intervention in two complementary contexts at four measuring points: student teams across universities and flexible work teams within a German automobile company. Our analyses will be based on several data sources (i.e., employee and supervisor survey data, HR systems data, instructor performance ratings of student assignments as well as trainer impressions of workshop processes and results) and target mental health as a central outcome variable. In addition to the team perspective, we particularly examine the leaders role since leaders have a considerable impact for the success of this team-based rules intervention.