SMARTS – Sustainable Motivation and Remote Team Success

With continually evolving digital technologies, the advance of globalization, growing concerns about climate change and unnecessary commuting, the many documented benefits for employees, and the unprecedented ways the COVID-19 pandemic transformed work, it is clear that remote and hybrid work is here to stay. New knowledge is urgently needed on how to develop, design, and implement the best practices for hybrid work in organizations that reflect today’s reality. This need for information is addressed in the SMARTS research project. 

The aim of the SMARTS research project is to provide new knowledge on effective, functional, and sustainable hybrid work through top-tier international research, and to implement this knowledge in organizations through interventions and workshops. More specifically, the focus will be on how to effectively manage and lead hybrid work and teams, and thereby promote work motivation and well-being, collaboration, psychological safety and ultimately, productivity in hybrid work.

The SMARTS project is conducted in collaboration with Tampere University and the University of Jyväskylä. The research involves several participating organizations from different industries that embrace and are interested in developing hybrid work models.

The project is conducted in collaboration with Tampere University, with research group Behaviour Change and Wellbeing, led by Professor Nelli Hankonen. At University of Jyväskylä, the project is led by Professor Anu Sivunen, and CoCoDigi members Ward van Zoonen, Rasa Jämsen, Anniina Huusko and Iida Rekonen are working on the project. Several international collaborators are also participating in the project.

The project is funded by Business Finland for the years 2025–2028

Read a press release about the project here (in Finnish).