If most corporate employees could make a list of their pet peeves at work, chances are good that virtual meetings would rank near the top for a majority of respondents. While in-person meetings may be few people’s favorite task, virtual meetings are generally considered worse. Video meetings often suffer from technological problems, from missing audio to delayed video, frozen screens and the asynchronous shouting required to be heard by all participants.
Luckily, some of these problems can be eliminated with better technology. According to new research conducted at the London School of Economics (LSE) Behavioural Lab and commissioned by audio and video solutions provider Jabra that sought to understand the behavioral dynamics of meetings and the impact of technology, meeting members were more engaged (56 percent) during face-to-face collaboration. But in instances where hybrid meetings are required, meeting room participants saw an 84 percent increase in engagement from remote participants when using an optimized professional meeting-room headset and video camera.
The research, titled, “Meeting Great Expectations: Behavior, Emotion and Trust,” found that meeting participants reported much greater levels of overall trust and clarity when utilizing and experiencing professional technology. There was a 27 percent increase in technology clarity, leading to 16 percent more trust, 35 percent greater expressiveness, and a 47 percent perceived improvement in the quality of input.
Additionally, remote users collaborating with other remote participants who also used professional video led to noticeably better trust ratings (22 percent) than those using the built-in audio and video on their laptops. This demonstrates that not only do collaboration tools such as video enhance participants' collaboration experience substantially, but also that psychological and behavioral changes are inextricably linked to technology. Organizations must therefore recognize how vital professional technology is for enhancing employee engagement and productivity in hybrid meetings.
"We believe the findings in this report will be helpful in driving awareness between the interconnected relationships of trust, diversity, and technology in meetings and to level the playing field for employees over time,” said Sean Rooney, Scientific Officer and Head of Laboratory Innovation at LSE Behavioural Lab. “Leaders need to understand how important meeting equity is for employee development and satisfaction."
Edited by
Greg Tavarez
