| 1. |
- Backlander, Gisela, et al.
(author)
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Development and Validation of a Multi-Dimensional Measure of Activity-Based Working Behaviors
- 2021
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In: Frontiers in Psychology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-1078. ; 12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Most work on activity-based working centers on the physical environment and digital technologies enabling flexible working. While important, we believe the key components for implementing activity-based working are employee and manager behaviors. To measure the degree of enactment of activity-based work, based on workshops with experienced practitioners as well as previous literature, we have developed and validated a behavior-focused measure of activity-based working behaviors. In our initial sample (Sample 1, N = 234), three subscales were identified: task - environment crafting, workday planning, and social needs prioritization. In the replication sample (Sample 2, N = 434), this model also showed adequate fit. Moreover, task - environment crafting was related to general health and lower stress in sample 1 (multi-organization sample), but not in the single-organization sample (sample 2). Workday planning was associated with higher concentration in both samples and in the second sample with general health and work engagement; the latter was also related to social needs prioritization.
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| 2. |
- Bodin Danielsson, Christina, 1969-, et al.
(author)
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Health-Supportive Office Design-It Is Chafing Somewhere : Where and Why?
- 2022
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In: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 14:19, s. 12504-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This explorative case study investigates health-promoting office design from an experience and meaning-making perspective in an activity-based flex-office (A-FO) in a headquarter building. This small case study (n = 11) builds using qualitative data (walk-through and focus group interviews). A reflexive thematic analysis (RTA) of the experience of design approach was performed on this from a health and sustainability perspective, including the physical, mental, and social dimensions of health defined by WHO. Results show a wide range in participants' experiences and meaning-making of the health-promoting office design of their office building. The control aspect plays a central role in participants' experiences, including factors such as surveillance and obeyance, related to status and power, in turn associated with experiences of pleasantness, symbolism, and inclusiveness. Three main themes are identified in participants' experiences: (1) comfort-non-comfort, (2) outsider-insider, and (3) symbolism. The major finding of the study is the ambiguity among participants about the health-supportive office design of the office building per se and its various environments. There is a sense that it is chafing, due to dissonance between the intention of the office and the applied design.
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| 3. |
- Bäcklander, Gisela, 1983-
(author)
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Doing Complexity Leadership Theory : How agile coaches at Spotify practice enabling leadership
- 2019
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In: Creativity and Innovation Management. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0963-1690 .- 1467-8691. ; 28:1, s. 42-60
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Complexity leadership theory (CLT) is about balancing formal and informal organisation to leverage dynamics of Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) and produce learning, creativity, and adaptation in organisations. Based on interviews with sixteen agile coaches (AC) at Spotify, this study examines how AC practice enabling leadership, a key balancing force in complexity leadership. Coaches practice enabling leadership by increasing the context-sensitivity of others, supporting other leaders, establishing and reinforcing simple principles, observing group dynamics, surfacing conflict and facilitating and encouraging constructive dialogue. The AC as complexity leader values being present,observing and reacting in the moment. Findings suggest flexible structure provided by an attentive coach may prove a fruitful way to navigate and balance autonomy and alignment in organisations.
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| 4. |
- Bäcklander, Gisela, et al.
(author)
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Managing Intensity in Knowledge Work : Self-Leadership Practices among Danish Management Consultants
- 2021
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In: Journal of Management and Organization. - : Cambridge University Press (CUP). - 1833-3672 .- 1839-3527. ; 27:2, s. 342-360
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper examines the sources of knowledge workers’ work intensity and the self-leading strategies they apply to deal with it. The paper is based on focus group interviews with management consultants in a Danish management consultancy firm. Work intensity was identified as resulting from a combination of: (1) a results-only focus, (2) vagueness, (3) boundaryless work, and (4) low control of the quantitative load. A framework for self-leading strategies is developed based on the dimensions of reactive/proactive and self-focused/externally-focused strategies in different combinations. The results indicate that while consultants expressed a belief in internal self-discipline strategies of a more reactive nature, in fact, external and proactive strategies were the most effective in practice. In conclusion, the paper contributes to an extension of self-leadership theory to better account for current research on self-control.
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| 5. |
- Bäcklander, Gisela, 1983-, et al.
(author)
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Navigating the Activity Based Working Environment – Relationships of Self-Leadership, Autonomy and Information Richness with Cognitive Stress and Performance
- 2019
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In: Scandinavian Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology. - Stockholm : Stockholm University Press. - 2002-2867.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In Activity Based Working Environment (ABWE) offices, employees are allowed increased autonomy and are expected to choose where, when, with whom, and to some degree with what, to work; in other words, employees are expected to self-lead to a higher degree and to coordinate and align with colleagues. Effects of these expectations on employees’ cognitive stress and performance are understudied. In the present study, Swedish ABWE workers (N = 416) are compared with workers in cell offices (N = 30) and landscape offices (N = 64), and relationships of self-leadership, information richness, and autonomy with cognitive stress and performance were examined using regression analysis. Results show no relationship between office type and outcomes. For cognitive stress, information richness had the largest negative relationship, followed by self-leadership: goal-setting and autonomy. For performance, self-leadership: goal-setting had the largest positive relationship, followed by information richness. This suggests that when organizational situations cannot be strongly structured – for example because the best work process is not known, or innovation or different collaboration constellations are needed – they need instead to be enriched so that employee orientation and coordination do not become too much of a burden on the individual employee, disrupting cognitive functioning and performance.
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| 6. |
- Bäcklander, Gisela, 1983-
(author)
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To see or not to see: Importance of sensemaking in employee self-direction
- 2019
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In: Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies. - Aalborg : Det Kgl. Bibliotek/Royal Danish Library. - 2245-0157. ; 9:2, s. 25-45
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Being self-directed is one of the most sought-after employee attributes. The present study examines managers’ approaches to and conceptualization of employee self-directedness through semi-structured interviews with 13 managers from five companies in the Stockholm area. Analysis suggests two different emphases in trying to increase self-direction, with differing underlying assumptions: an evaluation emphasis where self-direction is conceptualized as an inherent property of the individual, and a cultivation emphasis suggesting a more interactionist perspective of self-direction as an emergent behavior based on the interaction of individual and situational characteristics. Further, a “seeing work”-skill emerged in all interviews, implicating situational judgment and attention as core to what is ultimately seen as successful self-direction. Managers with a cultivation emphasis mentioned as viable tactics those focused on supporting sensemaking and thus enriching the working situation to enable better discretionary situational judgements.
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| 7. |
- Crommert, Martin Eriksson, 1974-, et al.
(author)
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Trunk muscle activation at the initiation and braking of bilateral shoulder flexion movements of different amplitudes
- 2015
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In: PLOS ONE. - : PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE. - 1932-6203. ; 10:11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim of this study was to investigate if trunk muscle activation patterns during rapid bilateral shoulder flexions are affected by movement amplitude. Eleven healthy males performed shoulder flexion movements starting from a position with arms along sides (0°) to either 45°, 90° or 180°. EMG was measured bilaterally from transversus abdominis (TrA), obliquus internus (OI) with intra-muscular electrodes, and from rectus abdominis (RA), erector spinae (ES) and deltoideus with surface electrodes. 3D kinematics was recorded and inverse dynamics was used to calculate the reactive linear forces and torque about the shoulders and the linear and angular impulses. The sequencing of trunk muscle onsets at the initiation of arm movements was the same across movement amplitudes with ES as the first muscle activated, followed by TrA, RA and OI. All arm movements induced a flexion angular impulse about the shoulders during acceleration that was reversed during deceleration. Increased movement amplitude led to shortened onset latencies of the abdominal muscles and increased level of activation in TrA and ES. The activation magnitude of TrA was similar in acceleration and deceleration where the other muscles were specific to acceleration or deceleration. The findings show that arm movements need to be standardized when used as a method to evaluate trunk muscle activation patterns and that inclusion of the deceleration of the arms in the analysis allow the study of the relationship between trunk muscle activation and direction of perturbing torque during one and the same arm movement.
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| 8. |
- Ding, Lijie, et al.
(author)
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Smoking, heavy drinking, physical inactivity, and obesity among middle-aged and older adults in China : cross-sectional findings from the baseline survey of CHARLS 2011-2012.
- 2020
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In: BMC Public Health. - : BioMed Central. - 1471-2458. ; 20:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Prevention and control of cardiometabolic conditions and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in China may contribute to sustainable CVD reduction globally, given the fact that one-fifth of the worldwide population is in China. Knowing the distribution of behavioral risk factors (e.g., smoking and physical inactivity), especially at a national level in China, would be extremely relevant to the field of public health and CVD prevention. The objectives of this study were to investigate the nationwide prevalence of obesity, smoking, heavy drinking, and physical inactivity in Chinese adults, and further explore whether cardiometabolic conditions would modify the distribution of behavioral risk factors.METHODS: This population-based study is based on the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2011-2012), including 17,302 adults (≥45 years, mean age 59.67 years, female 51.66%) from 25 provinces in China. Data on demographics, lifestyle factors, health status and history of diseases were collected via structured interviews and laboratory tests. Smoking, heavy drinking, obesity, and physical inactivity were defined following standard guidelines. We performed descriptive analysis and logistic regressions in this study.RESULTS: The overall prevalence of heavy drinking, obesity, current smoking, and physical inactivity among middle-aged and older adults was 7.23% (95% confidence interval 6.53-7.29%), 11.53% (10.43-12.62%), 27.46% (26.30-28.62%), and 44.06% (41.19-46.92%), respectively. The prevalence varied between rural and urban areas as well as among geographic areas, with higher prevalence in the Northern and Northeastern regions. Heavy drinking and obesity were significantly associated with incident hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol; while current smoking was significantly associated with incident hypertension. Compared with healthy individuals, participants who self-reported a diagnosis of hypertension, high cholesterol, or diabetes were less likely to smoke currently and drink alcohol heavily, but more likely to be physically inactive and obese.CONCLUSIONS: Among Chinese middle-aged and older adults, the prevalence of behavioral risk factors varies by geographic region. Further effort is required to improve physical activity and fitness for Chinese adults, especially those with cardiometabolic conditions.
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| 9. |
- Ekstedt, Mirjam, et al.
(author)
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Sleep, physical activity and BMI in six to ten-year-old children measured by accelerometry: a cross-sectional study.
- 2013
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In: International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1479-5868. ; 22:10, s. 82-89
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND:The aim of this study is to describe the relationship between objective measures of sleep, physical activity and BMI in Swedish pre-adolescents. The day-to-day association between physical activity and sleep quality as well as week-day and weekend pattern of sleep is also described.METHOD:We conducted a cross sectional study consisted of a cohort of 1.231 children aged six to ten years within the Stockholm county area. Sleep and physical activity were measured by accelerometry during seven consecutive days. Outcome measures are total sleep time, sleep efficiency, sleep start and sleep end; physical activity intensity divided into: sedentary (<1.5 METS), light (1.5 to 3 METS) and moderate-to-vigorous (> 3 METS); and Body Mass Index standard deviations score, BMIsds.RESULTS:Total sleep time decreased with increasing age, and was shorter in boys than girls on both weekdays and weekends. Late bedtime but consistent wake-up time during weekends made total sleep time shorter on weekends than on weekdays. Day-to-day within-subject analysis revealed that moderate-to-vigorous intense physical activity promoted an increased sleep efficiency the following night (CI < 0.001 to 0.047), while total sleep time was not affected (CI -0.003 to 0.043). Neither sleep duration (CI -0.024 to 0.022) nor sleep efficiency (CI -0.019 to 0.028) affected mean physical activity level the subsequent day. The between-subject analysis indicates that the sleep of children characterized by high moderate-to-vigorous physical activity during the day was frequently interrupted (SE = -.23, P < .01). A negative association between BMIsds and sleep duration was found (-.10, p < .01).CONCLUSIONS:Short sleep duration was associated with high BMI in six to ten year old children. This study underscores the importance of consistent bedtimes throughout the week for promoting sleep duration in preadolescents. Furthermore, this study suggests that a large proportion of intensive physical activity during the day might promote good sleep quality.
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| 10. |
- Elmgren Frykberg, Gunilla, 1957-, et al.
(author)
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Temporal coordination of the sit-to-walk task in subjects with stroke and in controls
- 2009
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In: Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. - : Elsevier BV. - 0003-9993 .- 1532-821X. ; 90:6, s. 1009-1017
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objectives: To explore events and describe phases for temporal coordination of the sit-to-walk (STW) task, within a semistandardized set up, in subjects with stroke and matched controls. In addition, to assess variability of STW phase duration and to compare the relative duration of STW phases between the 2 groups.Design: Cross-sectional.Setting: Research laboratory.Participants: A convenience sample of persons with hemiparesis (n=10; age 50–67y), more than 6 months after stroke and 10 controls matched for sex, age, height, and body mass index.Interventions: Not applicable.Main Outcome Measures: Relative duration of STW phases, SE of measurement in percentage of the mean, and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs).Results: Four STW phases were defined: rise preparation, transition, primary gait initiation, and secondary gait initiation. The subjects with stroke needed 54% more time to complete the STW task than the controls did. ICCs ranged from .38 to .66 and .22 to .57 in the stroke and control groups, respectively. SEs of measurement in percentage of the mean values were high, particularly in the transition phase: 54.1% (stroke) and 50.4% (controls). The generalized linear model demonstrated that the relative duration of the transition phase was significantly longer in the stroke group.Conclusions: The present results extend existing knowledge by presenting 4 new phases of temporal coordination of STW, within a semistandardized set-up, in persons with stroke and in controls. The high degree of variability regarding relative STW phase duration was probably a result of both the semistandardized set up and biological variability. The significant difference in the transition phase across the 2 groups requires further study.
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