Rensselaer is America’s oldest technological research university, offering bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in engineering, the sciences, information technology and web science, architecture, management, and the humanities, arts, and social sciences.

The university offers degrees from five schools: Engineering; Science; Architecture; Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences; and the Lally School of Management; as well as an interdisciplinary degree in Information Technology and Web Science.

Rensselaer offers more than 145 programs at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels. Students are encouraged to work in interdisciplinary programs that allow them to combine scholarly work from several departments or schools. The university provides rigorous, engaging, interactive learning environments and campus-wide opportunities for leadership, collaboration, and creativity.

Driven by talented, dedicated, and forward-thinking faculty, Rensselaer has dramatically expanded the research enterprise by leveraging our existing strengths and focusing on five signature research areas: biotechnology and the life sciences; energy and the environment; computational science and engineering; nanotechnology and advanced materials; and media, arts, science, and technology.

The Institute is especially well-known for its success in the transfer of technology from the laboratory to the marketplace so that new discoveries and inventions benefit human life, protect the environment, and strengthen economic development.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

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Telework and the Navigation of Work-Home Boundaries

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Timothy Golden’s research focuses on remote work, telework, telecommuting, and virtual interactions. He has conducted research in these areas for over 20 years, during which he has investigated a range of related topics, including performance, professional isolation, work-family conflict, the nature of job tasks, career success, exhaustion, coworker relationships, and knowledge sharing, to name a few. His research has appeared in leading academic journals, including the Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Academy of Management Perspectives, Human Relations, Leadership Quarterly, Journal of Managerial Issues, Journal of Business and Psychology, Psychological Science in the Public Interest, and New Technology, Work and Employment. Golden has received numerous distinctions for his research, including winning four Best Paper Awards. He has frequently been interviewed in the business press, appearing in hundreds of media outlets world-wide, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, CNN, MSNBC, U.S. News & World Report, Harvard Business Review’s Daily Stat, Reuters, The Washington Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Scientific American.
 
In addition to his research, Golden has served as an expert consultant to the United Nation’s International Labor Organization, the federal government, and to a number of large and small companies seeking advice based on his research. Additionally, he has served in numerous leadership roles in several national and international professional associations, including president of the Eastern Academy of Management, research adviser to the International Telework Association and Council, program chair of EAM, track chair at the Southern Management Association, and as chair of the Graduate Scholarship Awards for the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. He is an elected fellow of EAM, and is frequently sought after to speak at conferences and to professional business associations.
 
His teaching has been recognized with several awards, including the Outstanding Teacher Award voted upon by graduate students as well as the Best Exercise Award from the Experiential Learning Association. Prior to working in academia, Golden held several positions in the aerospace, IT, and medical industries, including program management, systems engineering, and space flight engineering working with NASA’s space shuttle program.

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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Faculty Profile

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The Future of Remote Work

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companies-big-and-small-can-benefit-from-a-clear-remote-work-strategy

Professor, Lally School of Management; Area Head of Enterprise Management and Organization

As remote work evolves into a regular work mode that satisfies employment needs for both employer and employee, it is important for businesses to have a well-thought-out remote work strategy, says Timothy Golden, professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Golden, who teaches in the Lally School of Management, believes that creating the right norms and expectations from the start provides an important boost for achieving success in remote work.

 
“If these norms — informal and often unspoken expectations for how people should act and behave — are not set correctly right from the start, then remote work can be much more challenging than it needs to be,” Golden said.

In many companies, creating a position of a Chief Remote Officer (CRO) — a position similar to a CFO or COO but with a focus on leading remote work programs — can be a step toward future stability. According to Golden, other aspects to consider range from methods of employee communication and performance assessments, to the compatibility of a combination of hybrid, in-person, and remote work modes in the framework of an organizational business model.

Remote work and telecommuting have been the focus of Golden’s body of research for more than 20 years. He is available to discuss remote work strategies and other aspects of working from home from the business perspective as well as the viewpoint of the remote workers.



Companies Big and Small Can Benefit From a Clear Remote Work Strategy

telecommuting-expert-predicts-permanent-changes-to-work-after-the-pandemic

With the sudden shift to remote work brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, many corporations have had to quickly assemble a patchwork of policies, procedures, and technologies. Timothy Golden, a professor in the Lally School of Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, foresees that many companies will adopt remote work on a permanent basis, and need to devote considerable attention and focus to systematically assessing the lessons they have learned. 

Golden is a leading expert in the field of telecommuting, telework, and the relationship between technology and managerial behavior. With more than 20 years of experience studying the impact of remote work on corporations and individuals, Golden’s insights about the future are rooted in a deep understanding of the history of remote work.

 
In the wake of the pandemic, Golden envisions companies adding a Chief Remote Work Officer, who is responsible for maintaining the effectiveness of the company’s remote work program, to their C-Suite. This person will likely be a boundary spanner who garners resources and support from across silos in the company to ensure remote work remains effective in its long-term implementation. With the continuing importance of remote work, the Chief Remote Work Officer will need a seat at the executive table to ensure it receives the attention it needs.

 
With remote work becoming even more firmly engrained in corporate cultures, Golden expects changes in the ways employees interact. With large numbers of employees continuing to work remotely, employees will expect support for this work mode in many forms —  from promotion opportunities and performance metrics, to mentoring and technology support.

 
Another implication of remote work going forward is that the demand for real estate will change, and companies will see real estate as platforms for collaborative work, rather than simply for work. With a significant permanent portion of the workforce likely to remain as remote workers, companies will be able to scale back their real estate yet also reallocate existing spaces to ones that are used for more collaborative interactions, rather than simply offices for individualized working. 

Golden is available to speak about these and other aspects of the future of remote work, as well as specific lessons he has learned through decades of studying this topic.



Telecommuting Expert Predicts Permanent Changes to Work After the Pandemic

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With unprecedented numbers of workers quarantined and working from home, a chief complaint being voiced by many is how to deal with its isolating effects. What can be done to minimize the feelings of isolation and to maintain work relationships during this crisis? 

Timothy Golden, a professor in the Lally School of Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is a leading expert on remote work, telework, telecommuting, and virtual teams. With dozens of published research articles during more than 20 years of research in this field, his most recent article on telecommuting was just published in the "Journal of Vocational Behavior."

“People working from home should be proactive if they want to avoid feeling isolated, so that they not only feel better but also maintain their work productivity. We know from research and experience that there are important activities that can be done to help solve remote work’s potential for isolation.”



Golden is available to discuss what steps workers can take to help avoid remote work’s isolating effects. 
 

How Should Remote Workers Cope with Isolation?

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