Problem Posing—Research Project Proposal

1. For my communication research project, I intend on learning more about communicating the needs for irregular or flexible schedules. During the pandemic, the work-life balance was changed. Many people were working from home, away from the office, and learning to tackle their jobs and home life at the same time. While working at their own pace and in their own environment, employees were given the taste of flexibility. This gives the potential for the elimination of work-place burnout, encouragement of creativity, family freedom, and all around happiness. With further research, I hope to find out if providing the option of flexible schedules allows for a better workplace environment and strong mental health.

2. For further research, I found a scholarly article, ‘Flexible work arrangements: exploring the linkages between perceived usability of flexible work schedules and work/life balance’ to help set the groundwork for my research. Within the article, many different companies are looked at to see if their employees have the option for a flexible schedule and the repercussions behind that choice, both good and bad. In the article, research showed that a direct linkage was found between perceived usability of flexible work schedules and the three dimensions of work/life balance; work interference with personal life, personal life interference with work, and work/personal life enhancement, (Hayman, 2009). In an article by Jessica Howington, one of the top six benefits for flexible schedules is the improvement in diversity. If you’re limiting your candidate pool to a single location (or even a few locations), you’ll have a narrower group of candidates, (Howington, 2022). When discussing the benefits, many just look at what the employees get outside of work, especially for working parents. But within the company, opening up the geographic scale means a higher rate of inclusivity making someone feel more comfortable with who they might work with. The first article gave me a good research baseline comparing two different companies and their schedules while the second article lists many different benefits to a flexible schedule.

3. I find this topic specifically interesting as it has the potential to solve the many different issues as people head back into the workforce post-covid. Being a working mother has always been an issue to some as they feel it is important to have a career but also not miss moments with their kids. On top of workplace burnout and the mental health side of problems arising, the freedom to work at your own pace towards a deadline can be important. The problem doesn’t seem to lie within the work goals but the time leading up to it and how it is accomplished. Does it drain a person and suck all of their personal time away or are they happy about completing their task?

4. Through my research on this topic so far, I see a lot of back and forth on opinions regarding a flexible schedule. Some employers fail to see any benefits and only see the lack of human connection from not seeing your coworkers as often. There are a lot of companies that turn around and disagree. Especially with technology the way it is, the release of working parents, the mental health load that is taken off, and the sense of diversity that can be brought from varying locations takes precedence. I hope to find more research on the mental health aspect of flexible schedules and to tie it in further with my course content.

Hayman, J. (2009, July 13). Flexible work arrangements: Exploring the linkages between perceived usability of flexible work schedules and work/life balance.

Taylor & Francis. Retrieved October 14, 2022, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13668800902966331