Study analyzes impact of multiteaming on employee workload
Research from LMU Munich highlights how employees working across multiple concurrent projects modify their tasks to manage burnout, often impacting team collaboration.
Employees operating in multiple project teams simultaneously are increasingly restructuring their work independently to cope with rising demands. A study led by the LMU Munich School of Management identifies this phenomenon, termed 'multiteaming,' as a significant driver of workplace stress and fragmented productivity.
Researchers interviewed 81 employees from a European automotive company, finding that many juggle between two and ten concurrent projects. To manage this intensity, workers employ 'job crafting' strategies, such as discarding tasks or batching work to protect focus time. Professor Helene Tenzer notes that these actions are essential for mental health but create systemic issues.
These individual adjustments often shift the workload onto peers, causing friction within interdependent agile teams. The research, published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior, suggests that organizations need to rethink the volume of concurrent projects assigned to experts. The authors advise implementing formal processes to discuss workload priorities to prevent burnout before it occurs.