Understanding the Interpersonal Space of Online Meetings: An Exploratory Study of “We-ness”

Abstract

The covid-19 pandemic has severely limited the possibility for people to meet physically, which forced many individuals and organizations to employ online meetings as their predominant mode of communication. A potential problem with the unprecedentedly central role of online meetings in a wide range of everyday activities is the disruption it may cause to intersubjective experiences, an intuitive mutual understanding of the participants and their thinking of themselves as a group, a "we". To address this problem, about half a year into the pandemic we conducted an exploratory study, in which the informants (N=36) completed a survey, comprising a set of Likert scales and open-ended questions focusing on "team spirit", moment-to-moment coordination, emotions, and the sense of presence in online and physical meetings. The results indicate that online meetings may present particular challenges regarding the experience of "we-ness", and different types of online meetings can be experienced differently. Implications of the results for further research are discussed. CCS CONCEPTS• Human-centered computing → Collaborative and social computing; Empirical studies in collaborative and social computing.

Valuable unintended learning outcomes when practicum for student teachers in kindergartens is carried out online

“…Having their practicum teacher play a very direct role in helping during their projects shapes these interactions. Supporting and preparing for interpersonal connectedness, "team experience", and the sense of being "we" in online meetings is central (Kaptelinin et al, 2021).…”

“…In line with our experience with online practicums, they claim that this is not always the case. Kaptelinin et al, (2021) indicated that "the current massive transition from physical to online meetings may mean that complete "team lifecycles", from emergence to dissipation, will increasingly involve little or no physical meetings". This trend is also evident within kindergarten education, as the use of online meetings is becoming a part of normal practice.…”

“…There are also changes in the contextual premises, as student teachers interact with the staff through online platforms. Kaptelinin et al, (2021) highlighted a potential problem with the unprecedentedly central role of online meetings, as the pandemic severely limited the possibility of meeting physically. They addressed some concerns regarding the extensive use of online activities, including the disruption it may cause to intersubjective experiences and the participants' thinking of themselves as a group.…”

Circle Back Next Week: The Effect of Meeting-Free Weeks on Distributed Workers’ Unstructured Time and Attention Negotiation

“…By traditional definitions of communication richness [28], video or audio conferencing would be considered a rich communication mechanism as it conveys information in many forms (i.e., through body language and tone). Despite this, this virtual mechanism still has its drawbacks: Kaptelinin et al [48] found that online meetings have lower overall experience scores than in-person meetings, and it is harder to coordinate and share ideas.…”

“…As of October 2023, 12% of full-time American employees were working remotely, and 30% were hybrid [5], with these numbers expected to increase [8]. For decades, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researchers have studied distributed teams, identifying current challenges [14,48,86], and designing technical solutions to overcome them [64,79,97]. One well-documented challenge in distributed collaboration is a loss of awareness of colleagues' work [4,31].…”