Do you like working from home?

So because of COVID-19, you’re working from home these days. How’s it going?

Do you have the right tools at your disposal? Are you producing more than usual? Do you feel your employer supports you? Is your experience helping your organization innovate? If you’re asked to continue working from home in the future, would you accept?

These are all questions you’re invited to answer by participating in an international scientific study conducted by researchers at the BMO Chair in Diversity and Governance at Université de Montréal's School of Industrial Relations.

Developed in collaboration with researchers at Université Laval and the Toulouse Business School in France, the project is based on a bilingual questionnaire designed to collect data on the effects of telework imposed on workers and organizations by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Telework is not new, but we feel it is time to take a fresh look at it, analyze its repercussions during the crisis and identify lessons for the post-crisis period," said UdeM professor Tania Saba, holder of the BMO Chair.

“In the context of the pandemic,” she added, “we want to check how participants adapt and innovate and whether they hope to continue the experience beyond the period of containment."

Only 10 minutes to complete

It’s easy to contribute to the study. Go to the research team’s website, which explains the process and leads to the questionnaire, which takes only 10 minutes to complete.

To help track how your appreciation of telework evolves over time, the researchers suggest you return and complete the questionnaire every three weeks or so.

Rest assured that your participation is anonymous: participants cannot be identified and all information collected will remain strictly confidential and will be used solely for the purpose of advancing knowledge, the researchers say.

Once the results are known, a summary of the research will be available on the researchers' respective sites and disseminated on social networks.

This project has been approved by Université de Montréal's Committee on Research Ethics in Science and Health, which has deemed the study to meet the prescribed standards.

"We would like to warmly thank the members of the committee who, thanks to their diligence, allowed us to begin the study at the very beginning of the pandemic,” Saba said.

“On the basis of getting our ethics certificate, our international partners were able to launch the survey in their respective regions and countries without delay.”