Exploring the meaning and drivers of personal (Un-)Productivity of knowledge workers in mobile settings

Abstract

It is now recognised in travel behaviour research that travel time can be, and in fact is, used to undertake productive, work-related activities. The phenomenon, also referred to as travel-based multitasking, has in recent years been compounded by the proliferation and sophistication of mobile information and communication technologies (ICT). Accordingly, several research efforts have made attempts to measure and model the effectiveness of work activities during travel. Yet reliance of those studies on rather simple and proxy metrics has led to a limited understanding of mobile work productivity. This has been especially the case for knowledge workers, whose job involves handling or using information and is often characterized by intangible work outputs. To address this shortcoming, the current paper presents a systematic analysis of 22 semi-structured interviews of employees of a major IT company regarding their mobile work practices, use of ICT and perception of productivity with use of ICT. Analysis of the interviews led us to adopt an ‘inverse’ approach, i.e. discussing factors hampering productivity. This emerged from our observation that individuals experienced difficulties speaking about productivity and productive tasks while finding it easier to discuss what made them unproductive. With the lens of what we term ‘unproductivity’, we are able to provide a new perspective on how to characterize the impacts of journey, technology and individual factors on productivity during episodes of mobile work. In addition, we find a strong link between productive mobile work, planning of the journey and the working activities during the course of travel.