Managing the Crisis: How COVID‐19 Demands Interact with Agile Project Management in Predicting Employee Exhaustion

Abstract

As a global pandemic, COVID‐19 impacts work‐related processes, placing strain upon many employees in project teams. Identifying process variables and potential organizational resources can play an important role in addressing employee mental health, both for the current pandemic and future crises. Based on an extension of the job demands–resources model, this paper introduces COVID‐19 demands as distal job demands, examining their influence on emotional exhaustion through proximal unfinished tasks. Furthermore, we suggest that agile project management acts as a buffering job resource in this relationship. In two studies, we drew samples from Germany (N = 168) and the USA (N = 292). Across studies, COVID‐19 demands had an indirect effect on emotional exhaustion, mediated by unfinished tasks. Furthermore, agile project management acts as a buffering job resource for individuals in Germany, attenuating the relationship between COVID‐19 demands, unfinished tasks and subsequent feelings of emotional exhaustion. In contrast, findings from Study 2 revealed that COVID‐19 demands were more strongly related to unfinished tasks and subsequent feelings of emotional exhaustion in the USA when individuals reported higher levels of agile project management. Taken together, our results indicate that project work under COVID‐19 fosters feelings of emotional exhaustion through the accumulation of unfinished tasks.

Managerial Responses to the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Healthcare Organizations Project Management

“…Organizations which are capable of rapidly adapting to the changes occurring in the environment by operating based on agile methodologies deal better with the current crisis than companies operating based on traditional patterns [42]. The use of agile project management methodologies also alleviates feelings of emotional exhaustion resulting from the pressure of work on project teams during the COVID-19 pandemic [43] and supports the development of Industry 4.0, and thus Healthcare 4.0 [44]. In the healthcare sector agility, plays a vital role in COVID-19 care to enhance the operational performance to meet the dynamic demand of COVID-19 hospitals [45].…”

Work-Related Mental Health Under COVID-19 Restrictions: A Mini Literature Review

“…Scholars report psychological symptoms induced by remote working during the pandemic ranging from stress, emotional distress, emotional exhaustion, and anxiety to depression ( 4 , 32 , 34 ). Employees' mental health issues are associated with their perceptions of the pros and cons of telework.…”

“…On top of that, the strict management control and monitor ( 32 ), deteriorated work engagement ( 37 ), and excessive job demand ( 34 ) can aggravate employees' mental health psychological symptoms during remote working. Also, employees in developed countries (i.e., Italy, Finland, Germany, U.S., Canada, Norway, U.K., and Australia) report similar positive (4/11 articles) and negative (3/11 articles) psychological impacts.…”

“…In contrast, clear and comprehensive workplace guidelines can reduce employees' psychological distress ( 22 ). Similarly, strict management control and excessive job demand during teleworking can lead to emotional exhaustion ( 34 ) and stress ( 32 ). Also, reduced work engagement during teleworking can cause employees' psychological distress ( 37 ).…”

Relationships between Agile Work Practices and Occupational Well-Being: The Role of Job Demands and Resources

“…After all, 20.8% of the study participants stated that their ability to work is strongly affected and 13.8% agreed that they are worried about their job because of the Corona crisis. However, research has shown that agile project management acted as a buffering job resource in the relationship between COVID-19 demands and emotional exhaustion [95]. From this, it can be assumed that the pandemic situation has strengthened the effects rather than weakened them.…”