Adapting to Working from home as a Software Business Project Manager during the COVID-19 pandemic

Working from home (WFH) was the only option of operation for many businesses and organisations during the COVID-19 pandemic where social distancing measures were introduced by governments worldwide. In an attempt to adapt to WFH, businesses, organisations and professionals of all backgrounds had to modify their previously established practices as well as adopt new practices and tools to enable remote working. To date, no previous study has explored how project managers of UK software businesses adapted to WFH during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this mixed-methods study was to explore how project managers adapted to WFH during the COVID-19 pandemic. 16 experienced project managers (11.3±8.8 years of experience), ranging from junior to senior level, took part in this study. For the quantitative part of this study, 16 project managers took part in a 22-item survey and answered questions in relation to their experience with WFH during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the qualitative part of the study, 5 project managers took part in semi-structured interviews with questions relating to being a project manager and WFH during the COVID-19 pandemic. The triangulation of the results from the survey and semi-structured interviews showed that WFH had a neutral to positive impact on the project management (PM) practices of software businesses with some of the challenges that emerged from WFH relating to delays in project time delivery and communication. Overall, new communication tools and practices were adopted by project managers as a result of WFH and project managers felt that WFH had a neutral effect on their position within their respective businesses.