Teletrabalho: desafios e perspectivas, segundo a percepção dos gestores do Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do RN

Abstract

Telecommuting, a flexible work modality, emerged as an option for a working regime in a process of increasing dissemination and acceleration in several countries, including Brazil, due to the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, decreed by the WHO (World Health Organization). in early 2020, which imposed measures to prevent contagion, one of the main ones being social distancing. Thus, the objective of this research is to analyze the perception of the managers of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN) about the experience in the telework regime, adopted due to the Covid-19 pandemic, seeking to highlight the challenges experienced and perspectives on the permanent implementation of this modality. The research, of an applied nature, with a quali-quantitative approach, is classified as descriptive and exploratory, constituting a case study. Electronic questionnaires were applied to the population of the institute's managers, with simple probabilistic sampling, and interviews were carried out, with intentional sampling. In line with the defined approach, the analysis of the collected data was carried out through descriptive statistics and content analysis, and 77 meaning cores (codes) were found, grouped into three major categories: Telework Management, Telework and Personal Life, and Perspectives for the future. The results pointed out, in general terms, the portrait of a difficult, but challenging experience and with great learning acquired during the isolation in the Covid-19 pandemic. Difficulties in time management, reconciling work and personal life, managing remote teams and communicating with peers were some of the main challenges reported by IFRN managers. Some positive aspects highlighted in the study were the improvement of (individual) productivity, the strengthening of family ties and increased motivation. The prospects for the future are optimistic: most believe that it will be a positive change for the institute, are betting on the hybrid model, and defend the constant need for training aimed not only at the team in telework, but also specific training for team managers from a distance. In summary, it is concluded that difficult experiences, but with positive results, were uncovered through this research, and can serve as inspiration for the new challenges that are emerging during the process of permanent implementation of telework at IFRN. And it is hoped that the results of this study will serve as a basis for consulting and fostering new discussions on telework within the scope of educational institutions, which are still experiencing an initial moment in the process of dissemination and popularization of telework, in addition to recording this experience in a such a challenging and unique scenario that was the pandemic period of Covid19.