Neeley Professor Releases Study on Communication Technology and Workplace Happiness
Recent advances in communication technology have made it possible for humans to be connected at all times, with family, friends, and companies. These developments are often lauded, but there is a negative side to the increase in connectivity.
William Becker, an assistant professor of management, entrepreneurship, and leadership at Texas Christian University’s Neeley School of Business, researches the connection between communication technology and job happiness. He asserts that being connected to the workplace at all times can have a detrimental effect between work and one’s personal life in a new publication he titled “Hot Buttons and Time Sinks: The Effects of Electronic Communication During Nonwork Time on Emotions and Work-Nonwork Conflict.”
“Being in constant connection is a necessary evil many employees have accepted,” said Becker, “but those sending the texts and emails can stop to think about the tone of their message and how intrusive that communication may be to the recipient’s life outside of work, which then affects performance on the job.”
Becker and his fellow researchers found that receiving emails that required significant time to answer or had a negative tone made employees feel angry about the disruption to their home life that receiving/responding to the email caused. Perhaps unsurprisingly, participants in the study expressed more anger over the interruptions to their home life when the emails came from abrasive bosses.
Becker proposed a solution for companies to keep employee morale high: “Organizations should establish guidelines for post-work emails dealing with proper communication style, acceptable hours of use and which topics should be discussed face-to-face.”
