Student-faculty duo research the virtual workplace
As 2023 Edgren Scholar award winners, Triston Thomas ’23 and Professor of Communication Studies Peggy Kendall teamed up to research how remote workers really feel in the virtual workplace and what assumptions managers can’t make. Their partnership is Bethel’s transformational academics in action.
By Heather Schnese S’12, content specialist
February 13, 2024 | Noon
As 2023 Edgren Scholar award winners, Triston Thomas ’23 and Professor of Communication Studies Peggy Kendall teamed up to research virtual workplace dynamics.
Using an Edgren Scholarship, Triston Thomas ’23, a communication studies major, and Professor of Communication Studies Peggy Kendall teamed up this past summer to research how remote workers really feel in the virtual workplace and what assumptions their managers can’t make anymore. Their research provided insightful findings—and leaves opportunities for further study—but the two say working together as a student-professor team is equally as beneficial.
“Just the constant guidance and connections she has provided for me has been a blessing,” Thomas says of Kendall. “Also, the conversations we have had just about life itself have been fun as we become closer to each other.” Having him as a student, Kendall appreciated Thomas’ ability to think deeply, ask good questions, and see things from different perspectives. Those skills really came to light during their research. “Triston saw patterns I totally missed. He used phrases and titles to describe themes that suddenly brought everything together,” Kendall says. “It was fun to have a thought partner as we analyzed our data.”
Such student-faculty research projects exemplify Bethel’s transformational academics, and recent national survey data shows Bethel students are more likely than other college students to conduct research with faculty members. Thanks to the Edgren Scholars Program, two research partnerships are funded each year to encourage the study of creative and innovative emerging issues and approaches.
For Thomas and Kendall, that was looking at some of the productivity issues in the virtual workplace as more and more employees have moved there in recent years. In fact, by 2025, it’s expected that 36.2 million employees will work remotely. However, a quarter of all managers report their teams are less creative after moving to remote work. Kendall and Thomas wanted to know why. They developed questions, found a diverse pool of participants, conducted and transcribed interviews, and then reduced and coded the data. What they discovered among remote employees was a common perceived sense of “busyness”—feeling as though their managers or coworkers are too busy for their questions, ideas, or concerns. “When employees feel like their manager is too busy for them, they are left to fend for themselves, and psychological safety is reduced,” Kendall says. “That, in turn, reduces things like job satisfaction, commitment to the organization, innovation, all sorts of things.”
Despite a lack of psychological safety, everyone they spoke with said they do love remote work. “So, that means we have to be better managers if we want successful, creative teams,” Thomas says. This can translate into things like being more intentional, paying attention to non-verbals, checking assumptions, listening better, and being more flexible. “Check in with remote workers on a regular basis,” Kendall says. “You can build psychological safety, but it takes time and intentionality.”
“Just the constant guidance and connections she has provided for me has been a blessing,” Thomas says of Kendall. “Also, the conversations we have had just about life itself have been fun as we become closer to each other.” Having him as a student, Kendall appreciated Thomas’ ability to think deeply, ask good questions, and see things from different perspectives. Those skills really came to light during their research. “Triston saw patterns I totally missed. He used phrases and titles to describe themes that suddenly brought everything together,” Kendall says. “It was fun to have a thought partner as we analyzed our data.”
Such student-faculty research projects exemplify Bethel’s transformational academics, and recent national survey data shows Bethel students are more likely than other college students to conduct research with faculty members. Thanks to the Edgren Scholars Program, two research partnerships are funded each year to encourage the study of creative and innovative emerging issues and approaches.
For Thomas and Kendall, that was looking at some of the productivity issues in the virtual workplace as more and more employees have moved there in recent years. In fact, by 2025, it’s expected that 36.2 million employees will work remotely. However, a quarter of all managers report their teams are less creative after moving to remote work. Kendall and Thomas wanted to know why. They developed questions, found a diverse pool of participants, conducted and transcribed interviews, and then reduced and coded the data. What they discovered among remote employees was a common perceived sense of “busyness”—feeling as though their managers or coworkers are too busy for their questions, ideas, or concerns. “When employees feel like their manager is too busy for them, they are left to fend for themselves, and psychological safety is reduced,” Kendall says. “That, in turn, reduces things like job satisfaction, commitment to the organization, innovation, all sorts of things.”
Despite a lack of psychological safety, everyone they spoke with said they do love remote work. “So, that means we have to be better managers if we want successful, creative teams,” Thomas says. This can translate into things like being more intentional, paying attention to non-verbals, checking assumptions, listening better, and being more flexible. “Check in with remote workers on a regular basis,” Kendall says. “You can build psychological safety, but it takes time and intentionality.”
"I would tell Bethel students interested in being an Edgren Scholar—it’s a life-changing opportunity. Take full advantage of it! Not only do you get to research real-world conflicts but it teaches you different things such as setting up interviews, conducting interviews, public speaking, and building accurate data in PowerPoint."
— Triston Thomas ’23
Kendall is hoping to use the results of their study—“Don’t Assume Everything is OK: Creating Psychological Safety in the Virtual Workplace”— and newly formed perspectives to create management-related articles, training videos, and maybe even a book related to building a successful online team. As for Thomas, he values the experience he gained through the Edgren Scholars Program, and he encourages other students to pursue the opportunity. The program provides students hands-on experience in their field while providing opportunities to practice things like public speaking, interviews, and data collection. “I would tell Bethel students interested in being an Edgren Scholar—it’s a life-changing opportunity,” Thomas says. “Take full advantage of it!”
Research with a professor
In addition to the Edgren Scholars program, which was designed to raise the level of scholarship and discussion in the world of ideas at Bethel University, many academic departments have collaborative research opportunities for students and faculty. Also, Mayo Clinic Venture and Minnesota Private Colleges partner to offer the Mayo Innovation Scholars Program.Learn More