Difficulties experienced by managers in the coordination of teams working from home: an exploratory study considering the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Purpose

This research aims to analyse difficulties experienced by Brazilian managers in coordinating teams working from home during the coronavirus disease (2019) COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodological strategy used was a survey with 39 managers who led teams working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Seven difficulties indicated by current literature were analysed using a fuzzy scale. First, a hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) approach was used to group managers according to managers' similarities and capacity to infer the difficulties. Responses of each group identified were weighted considering the capacity to assess the theme. In the sequence, data were analysed via frequencies and the fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) approach and difficulties were ordered.

Findings

Comparatively, the main difficulties evidenced are (1) to reconcile personal and professional life tasks in the same place; (2) to motivate collaborators in a period when social isolation affect employee's mental health and (3) to keep team members integrated and working within the activities scope in a virtual environment.

Originality/value

The findings present in this paper contribute to theory and practice. For theory, this article contributes to the knowledge on WFH and leadership, evidencing in a comparatively way the difficulties that are experienced by managers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers in future studies can better analyse these difficulties. For practice, managers who conduct managers' teams remotely can use the information to analyse teams' practices and improve performance critically. This was an atypical moment of humanity, and different aspects need to be considered by managers compared with previous periods.