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Contribution Details

Type Master's Thesis
Scope Discipline-based scholarship
Title Fostering Productivity and Wellbeing in Team Settings; A holistic approach for supporting software developers.
Organization Unit
Authors
  • Anastasia Ruvimova
Supervisors
  • Thomas Fritz
Language
  • English
Institution University of Zurich
Faculty Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics
Date 2021
Abstract Text The modern workplace demands more of its employees than ever before as technology assumes a larger role. In this context, the productivity and wellbeing of the individual as well as the team and the overall organizations is increasingly important, yet more research is needed to understand them and their relation. In a set of two research studies, we explored the productivity and wellbeing of software developers in team dynamics. We first examined the effects of virtual and traditional work environments on knowledge workers while performing work-related tasks. The qualitative and exploratory quantitative results show that the closed office and the beach VR are similarly good according to users’ ranking in reducing distractions and inducing flow, and that these two environments are preferred over the non-VR open office and VR open office environments. Overall, these results indicate the potential that VR environments have to help knowledge workers achieve flow and stay calm and focused even in loud open office work settings. Second, we designed and piloted a multi-month field study in which participants regularly respond to a series of productivity and wellbeing questionnaires throughout their workday. The multi-tiered data collection includes hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, and one-time surveys for a better understanding of the fine- and coarse-grained factors which affect the productivity and wellbeing of software teams. The broader vision of our research is to better understand productivity and wellbeing on an individual and team level, and to develop approaches that support professionals in spending their time well at work. By taking a more holistic approach and incorporating developer wellbeing, we can design more effective strategies for an upwards cycle of productivity and wellbeing.
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