Perspectives on a New Way of Working: The Introduction of Remote Collaboration in the Oil Industry

This empirical study adds to the fields of work design and change management. It argues that the acceptance of workplace innovations and organisational change in general can be enhanced by participation of the affected people during planning and introduction. Meaningful and constructive communication is crucial for the success of participation and is hampered, when the involved groups hold different perspectives on the issue under discussion. The present study investigated subjective perspectives on a new work setting that had been developed to enable remotely supported operations in the offshore drilling industry. A card sorting technique was employed to picture the controversy surrounding the change. The quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data revealed three distinct perspectives, two of which generally supported the new way of working and were held by designers as well as some affected employees. The third perspective was a more critical one, emphasising the possible risks and disadvantages of the change. Implications for future work designs of this kind are drawn and the meaning of the results for wider theory and practice are discussed.