What will mobile and virtual work look like in the future?—Results of a Delphi-based study

Abstract

AbstractThis contribution to the journal “Group. Interaction. Organization.” (GIO) takes a closer look at the mobile work of the future. Mobile work as well as virtual collaboration is becoming more and more integrated into our everyday working lives—not least reinforced by the COVID-19 Pandemic. In a Delphi-based study, we investigated the question of what mobile and virtual work will look like in the future. For this purpose, 35 future scenarios were described or processed in four rounds with a total of 460 experts and their desirability and probability of occurrence were evaluated. Positive developments are expected for the organization in terms of technology (e.g., advances in virtuality and artificial intelligence), leadership (e.g., increase in shared leadership and participation) and the work-life integration of employees (e.g., more flexibility and self-management). Negative effects are seen for teamwork (e.g., it becomes more difficult to build and maintain team cohesion and social exchange). How the challenges can be dealt with in terms of work design is shown and discussed.