Adaptation of Flexible Working System to Support Team Productivity in Pandemic-Changing Situations

This research aims to study the adaptation of a flexible working system and what supports team productivity in pandemic-changing situations. It uses qualitative research by performing in-depth interviews and focuses on the interviews of eight managers of four supporting functions: IT, Finance, HR


INTRODUCTION
The world is currently entering a new phase: peace with Covid-19. Barriers to entry for most countries have been lifted, which keeps the wheels of the economy moving and gives hope to sectors impacted by this long global problem that has forced the world to slow down. The COVID-19 pandemic-related economic and health catastrophe has demonstrated to us how vital it is for organizations to foster creativity and innovation if they are to survive and expand. (Tønnessen et al., 2021). The world is never the same compared to before Covid-19; it's changing. One of the changes it brings is the way people communicate with each other. Connected anywhere, social networking, internet advertising, virtual reality, and teleconferencing are no longer optional but a must. COVID-19 also plays an essential role as a trigger, uncovering positive, negative, and inadequate factors associated with the work system (Williamson et al., 2022). This is how vital the work from anywhere (WFA) or home (work from home) system ensures the company's sustainability.
The company and its employees have learned to adapt, develop, improve, and optimize the new working system concept. Several other terms are related to the concept of work from home. For example, (di Martino & Wirth, 1990) define work as telework or flexible work arrangements where workers work on location, away from the head office or production facilities, without personal contact with colleagues, but with the ability to communicate with co-workers-using information and communication technology.
There are many other terms, but basically, there is a trend of work systems where time and place restrictions are more flexible, including place, time, and way of Work. In the UK, the trend of work from home is booming. (Felstead & Reuschke, 2021) said the amount of homework in the UK during the pandemic increased dramatically. Before 2020, it took nearly 40 years for homework to grow by three percentage points, but its prevalence grew eightfold almost overnight as people were ordered to work from home if they could because of the pandemic. A study by (Straus et al., 2022) revealed that remote working has becoming more acceptable due to the changing work environment. It also suggests employers to review their conventional work policies and practices to effectively facilitate remote working. Despite conflicting theories and predictions, employees report that their productivity is not affected. There is an increasing proportion of employees reporting an increase in their productivity. A study from work from home and productivity stated that white-collar employees found that the workfrom-home method made their productivity drop initially. However, the decline in productivity reversed after a few months.
The study also found that work from home employees found themselves working 10 to 20% longer hours on average How is the work system in the world's giant companies? Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook has chosen to adopt this new work system or work from anywhere (WFA) permanently because he thinks this way of working is compatible with Facebook (Conger, 2020). Meanwhile, Elon Musk has just made a controversial statement that WFA is not allowed in his company (Wayt, 2022).
We know that many types of research were made to analyse remote working systems and team productivity or the factors that affect productivity in this changing situation.  There are studies and research that of course found positive and negative opinions regarding work from home. According to (Sutarto et al., 2021) work from home provides advantages including better worklife balance, reduced commuting time, more flexibility, increased perceived autonomy, lower turnover intention, increased job satisfaction, improved productivity, and lower occupational stress. On the other side, it meets some challenges, such as the necessities of multitasking, the feeling of social isolation, decreased work motivation, some additional cost, distraction, and limited communication.
Research from (Angelici & Profeta, 2020) described that remote working at least working one day a week from home, would increase the productivity and well-being of workmen in a traditional Italian company.
Another study by (Birkinshaw et al., 2020)) also found that productivity was up mainly because employees spent less time in meetings and more time with customers and partners, while non-essential activities were down by 25%. A survey by (Price Waterhouse Cooper, 2020) found that managers and employees have a different view on productivity. It stated that 44% of managers expressed that employee productivity had increased, although only 28% of the employee's self-report stated an increase in their productivity. Despite theories and predictions to the contrary, employees reported that their productivity was not adversely affected. Seven out of ten employees said that they were able to get as much done while working at home in June 2020 as they were able to do six months earlier, however by September 2020, this proportion had risen to 85%. Meanwhile, another study by (Farooq & Sultana, 2021) found the opposite result, where remote working has decreased work productivity. So, we will explore more about how remote work affects work productivity in opposite results. Are there any factors affecting the success of remote working team productivity?

Factors influencing the remote working system
Many studies have been performed on how an organization determines the proper working system, especially in the changing situation as happened in recent years, and what factors influence these decisions. A study by (Williamson et al., 2022) shows that some factors influencing the manager's decision to perform remote working system are as follow: Another study by (Patanjali & Bhatta, 2022)

Research methodology
Positively oriented qualitative research will need larger samples than in-depth qualitative research in order to obtain a representative image of the entire community under consideration (Boddy, 2016). As an exploratory study, we did an in-depth interview method for data collection. We designed a semi- names by ascribing letters to them.

Data analysis
Overall, all the researchers generated a semistructured guide, recorded and transcribed interviews, and developed a systematic coding frame. The data analysis produces themes and sub-themes that are considered factors of each source's opinion. In detail, the data analysis process was divided into three steps.
The first step; was transcribing interview data, which was done by a professional transcriber.
In the second step; researchers coded the transcripts and grouped them into sections. In the last step; researchers analysed the coded transcripts and discussed them based on the research purpose.

RESUlTS anD DiScUSSion
Our study finds that all participants prefer a However, it is mentioned that there are some essential factors to be considered to perform the flexible working system which influences work productivity. These factors will be discussed afterward.

adaptation of working System
From the interviews we conducted, the participants perceived how they adapt working systems during pandemic until now. This experience will influence their perception of factors needed to formulate the new working system to support employee productivity.

Pre-Pandemic situation
Before the pandemic, companies we studied used a direct interaction working system -

During Pandemic Situation
Based on research by (Andriani, 2020), Starting in June 2020, the government has implemented transitional PSBB in some red zone areas, including the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta and East Java province. PSBB enables regional governments to limit the movement of people and supressed the spread of Covid 19 . This includes that companies had to stop operating on the premises and employees were not allowed to work in the offices. This situation does not last for days or weeks but for months; therefore, companies must adapt the work system to maintain team productivity.
At that time, none of the companies were ready.
They experienced a hard-landing situation but must quickly adjust. This is where the support of the IT and technology team in a company plays an important role.
Although not yet ready, the current digital system is essential to run the company's operations during the transition period. However, changing the way things work suddenly from offline to full online is not easy.

Key Factors influencing adaptation of new working system organizational Factors
From the data we found, several key factors influence the adaptation of new ways of working, namely as follows:

Facility & Technology Support
Our study finds that the company's ability

-Office boy, Cleaning Services and
Security.
-IT Help desk for any issues regarding hardware.
-IT Network function. -There is a tracking system for attendance, location, and approval.
-There is a supporting storage system (e.g.: data center and cloud system) -Online document and online approval are accessible.
-Communication to customer support is available.
-The digital signature has been legally verified. We advise that during remote working, the organization and its managers need to invest more in ensuring constant and effective communication. Without further approach, misunderstanding on a message or task would likely happen.

Work Environment
Our study finds that the work environment is one of the essential factors in the working system to support work productivity which is aligned with a study conducted by (Appel- These findings are aligned with a research by  that concluded the five factors with more capacity to influence productivity, which are 1) Availability of adequate equipment and peripherals to develop the work activities; 2) leadership support; 3) The adequate place to develop work activities; 4) Internet and electricity supply stability; and 5) Clarity from the collaborator regarding their role in the company, responsibilities and activities to be developed.

Working System
The Expected impact of new Working

System to Productivity
Our participants mostly said that the remote working system increases the productivity level, due to the working time constraint.
According to research by (Darja et al., 2022), certain employees are more concentrated when doing their work because they are more "inside the work zone" when completing tasks. A study by (Xiao et al., 2021)

conclUSion anD FURTHER RESEaRcH
During pandemic, none of the companies were ready. They had a hard landing experienced situation but must adjust immediately.  et al., 2021). In the post-pandemic situation, our participants agree that companies need to formulate a new work system by adopting some ways of working, such as in a pandemic.
Some digital transformations that have been running can still be used to support work effectiveness and productivity.
Based on the data coded and analysed from the interviews, we found that there are some factors supporting the working system.