Intervention(s)
In this research, we initiate a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in a Belgian public administration to assess the impact of nudges targeting and managing digital communication overload. Specifically, the intervention involves proposing a concrete set of “best” organisational practices to managers and employees, aimed at reducing/managing the volume of emails and meetings, as well as alleviating workplace connectivity pressure. The nudges align closely with the administration’s best practice guide. They focus on the use of (digital) communication tools such as emails, chats, and telephone, as well as the organization of meetings and methods for disconnecting from the workplace.
Between April and June, individuals will receive six brief well-being surveys to gauge general job satisfaction and wellbeing at work. Upon completing a survey, individuals will encounter one of six different nudges. Subsequently, a few days after the short well-being surveys, another email containing a permanent link to the nudges will be sent. Following the intervention, a longer well-being survey will be administered.
The information intervention is randomly assigned to teams of employees at the lowest hierarchical level within the organization, along with a subset of their direct managers. Managers who are simultaneously overseeing such a team and leading direct managers of other teams are excluded from this phase of the experiment to avoid information spillover from their subordinate managers, as some could potentially be assigned to the treatment group. Similarly, managers and teams directly managed by individuals informed about the experiment are also excluded. This leaves us with 216 teams comprising 1,200 employees and a subset of 130 direct managers of the 216 teams included in the experiment.