{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "@id": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meeting-the-pandemic-videoconferencing-fatigue-and-evolving-tensions-of-sociality-in-enterprise-video-meetings-during-covid-19.html#paper", "aboutThisFile": { "whatThisIs": "A research brief: a structured summary of one paper, prepared for seanrintel.com from the paper's full text.", "howItWasMade": "This brief was prepared with AI assistance and published by Sean Rintel. It is not the authors' published text.", "whatIsVerbatim": "Only 'quote' fields, figure captions and 'abstract' are the authors' own words. Research questions follow the paper's wording where it states them. Takeaway, summaries, answers, definitions and method are the site's plain-language paraphrase.", "howItIsChecked": "Before publication every quote is matched against the paper and every number in the brief is found in it. 'verified' is the date of the last check.", "howToUse": [ "For a quick answer, use 'takeaway' and 'questions'. For evidence, use 'findings' (each has a verbatim quote, its location in the paper and a 'url' anchored to that finding on the paper's page).", "Locations such as '§5.2, p. 9' refer to the version at 'pageNumbersReferTo'.", "For anything not covered here, read the paper itself: 'fullTextSources' lists free versions first.", "If 'researchOverview' is present, the paper is part of one of Sean Rintel's research overviews: it gives the overview's thesis, the claims this paper is evidence for and its role in each, and the other papers in the overview.", "To find other papers by Sean Rintel, use the catalogue at https://seanrintel.com/publications/index.json." ], "authorship": "Sean Rintel's role on each paper: lead author when he is first author, sole author when he is the only author, and otherwise senior author. Senior author here means the senior researcher on the team, whatever his position in the author list.", "howToCite": "Cite the paper, not this file: use 'citation' or the ready-made 'bibtex' (DOI where given) and name every author. Attribute paraphrase to the paper's findings, and use quotation marks only for 'quote' text." }, "name": "Meeting (the) Pandemic: Videoconferencing Fatigue and Evolving Tensions of Sociality in Enterprise Video Meetings During COVID-19", "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rachel Bergmann" }, { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://seanrintel.com/#sean-rintel", "name": "Sean Rintel", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/", "sameAs": [ "https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0840-0546", "https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xc25GRgAAAAJ", "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q102369654", "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/people/serintel/", "https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanrintel" ] }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nancy Baym" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "Advait Sarkar" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "Damian Borowiec" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "Priscilla Wong" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "Abigail Sellen" } ], "datePublished": "2022-11", "doi": "10.1007/s10606-022-09451-6", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meeting-the-pandemic-videoconferencing-fatigue-and-evolving-tensions-of-sociality-in-enterprise-video-meetings-during-covid-19.html", "citation": "Rachel Bergmann, Sean Rintel, Nancy Baym, Advait Sarkar, Damian Borowiec, Priscilla Wong, and Abigail Sellen. 2022. Meeting (the) Pandemic: Videoconferencing Fatigue and Evolving Tensions of Sociality in Enterprise Video Meetings During COVID-19. Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-022-09451-6", "bibtex": "@article{bergman2022meeting,\nauthor = {Bergmann, Rachel and Rintel, Sean and Baym, Nancy and Sarkar, Advait and Borowiec, Damian and Wong, Priscilla and Sellen, Abigail},\ntitle = {Meeting (the) Pandemic: Videoconferencing Fatigue and Evolving Tensions of Sociality in Enterprise Video Meetings During COVID-19},\nyear = {2022},\nmonth = {November},\nurl = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-022-09451-6},\njournal = {Computer-Supported Cooperative Work},\ndoi = {10.1007/s10606-022-09451-6},\n}", "abstract": "When COVID-19 led to mandatory working from home, significant blind spots in supporting the sociality of working life—in the moment and over time—were revealed in enterprise video meetings, and these were a key factor in reports about videoconferencing fatigue. Drawing on a large study (N = 849) of one global technology company’s employees’ experiences of all-remote video meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic, we use a dialectic method to explore the tensions expressed by employees around effectiveness and sociality, as well as their strategies to cope with these tensions. We argue that videoconferencing fatigue arose partly due to work practices and technologies designed with assumptions of steady states and taken-for-granted balances between task and social dimensions of work relationships. Our analysis offers a social lens on videoconferencing fatigue and suggests the need to reconceptualize ideas around designing technologies and practices to enable both effectiveness and sociality in the context of video meetings.", "fullTextSources": [ { "kind": "freeAccess", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-022-09451-6", "label": "DOI (Free Access)" }, { "kind": "freeAccess", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meeting-the-pandemic-videoconferencing-fatigue-and-evolving-tensions-of-sociality-in-enterprise-video-meetings-during-covid-19.pdf", "label": "Author's Copy" } ], "fullTextAvailable": true, "takeaway": "The dialectic tension between getting work done and staying connected is inherent and cannot be designed away. Videoconferencing fatigue arose partly because tools and practices assumed a steady balance, making 'the meeting' a container for everything. Systems should offer recognisably different encounters and let teams experiment with their own balance.", "researchOverview": { "name": "Better Meetings", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/better-meetings.html", "json": "https://seanrintel.com/overviews/better-meetings.json", "markdown": "https://seanrintel.com/overviews/better-meetings.md", "thesis": "A meeting's purpose should shape everything about it, yet many meetings run without one stated. Good help with meeting goals moves people from wherever they start, with depth that fits the meeting.", "claimsThisPaperFeeds": [ { "claim": "Meetings often run on purposes nobody has stated", "role": "supporting evidence", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/better-meetings.html#m1" }, { "claim": "AI that asks what a meeting is for gets people thinking it through themselves", "role": "supporting evidence", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/better-meetings.html#m2" }, { "claim": "Help with meeting goals should start where people are, and go deeper only for meetings that need it", "role": "qualifies the claim", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/better-meetings.html#m3" } ], "otherPapers": [ { "study": "Interviews: how people hold meeting goals", "title": "Mental Models of Meeting Goals: Supporting Intentionality in Meeting Technologies", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/mental-models-of-meeting-goals-supporting-intentionality-in-meeting-technologies.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/mental-models-of-meeting-goals-supporting-intentionality-in-meeting-technologies.json" }, { "study": "Probe study: AI-drafted meeting plans", "title": "The CoExplorer Technology Probe: A Generative AI-Powered Adaptive Interface to Support Intentionality in Planning and Running Video Meetings", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/the-coexplorer-technology-probe-a-generative-ai-powered-adaptive-interface-to-support-intentionality-in-planning-and-running-video-meetings.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/the-coexplorer-technology-probe-a-generative-ai-powered-adaptive-interface-to-support-intentionality-in-planning-and-running-video-meetings.json" }, { "study": "Coaching study: an AI coach before real meetings", "title": "What Does Success Look Like? Catalyzing Meeting Intentionality with AI-Assisted Prospective Reflection", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/what-does-success-look-like-catalyzing-meeting-intentionality-with-ai-assisted-prospective-reflection.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/what-does-success-look-like-catalyzing-meeting-intentionality-with-ai-assisted-prospective-reflection.json" }, { "study": "Probe study: goal check-ins during meetings", "title": "Are We On Track? AI-Assisted Active and Passive Goal Reflection During Meetings", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/are-we-on-track-ai-assisted-active-and-passive-goal-reflection-during-meetings.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/are-we-on-track-ai-assisted-active-and-passive-goal-reflection-during-meetings.json" }, { "study": "Recordings and design: looking back and ahead in meetings", "title": "Designing Interfaces that Support Temporal Work Across Meetings with Generative AI", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/designing-interfaces-that-support-temporal-work-across-meetings-with-generative-ai.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/designing-interfaces-that-support-temporal-work-across-meetings-with-generative-ai.json" }, { "study": "Field experiment: nudging attention to meeting goals", "title": "Nudging Attention to Workplace Meeting Goals: A Large-Scale, Preregistered Field Experiment", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/nudging-attention-to-workplace-meeting-goals-a-large-scale-preregistered-field-experiment.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/nudging-attention-to-workplace-meeting-goals-a-large-scale-preregistered-field-experiment.json" }, { "study": "Position paper: goals in human-AI work", "title": "Goals as First-Class Abstractions in Human-AI Collaboration", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/goals-as-first-class-abstractions-in-human-ai-collaboration.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/goals-as-first-class-abstractions-in-human-ai-collaboration.json" }, { "study": "System design: AI-mediated shared workspaces", "title": "Stund: Activity-Enriched Collaborative Workspaces Mediated by Artificial Intelligence", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/stund-activity-enriched-collaborative-workspaces-mediated-by-artificial-intelligence.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/stund-activity-enriched-collaborative-workspaces-mediated-by-artificial-intelligence.json" }, { "study": "Conversation analysis: designing for the meeting", "title": "(Re)Configuring Hybrid Meetings: Moving from User-Centered Design to Meeting-Centered Design", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/reconfiguring-hybrid-meetings-moving-from-user-centered-design-to-meeting-centered-design.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/reconfiguring-hybrid-meetings-moving-from-user-centered-design-to-meeting-centered-design.json" }, { "study": "Interviews and narration: what attention in video is for", "title": "Classification of Functional Attention in Video Meetings", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/classification-of-functional-attention-in-video-meetings.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/classification-of-functional-attention-in-video-meetings.json" }, { "study": "Interviews: low engagement as a choice", "title": "Low Engagement As a Deliberate Practice of Remote Participants in Video Meetings", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/low-engagement-as-a-deliberate-practice-of-remote-participants-in-video-meetings.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/low-engagement-as-a-deliberate-practice-of-remote-participants-in-video-meetings.json" }, { "study": "Research synthesis: collaboration and meetings", "title": "Collaboration and Meetings – Chapter 1 of the 2021 New Future of Work report", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/collaboration-and-meetings.html" }, { "study": "Telemetry and diaries: multitasking in remote meetings", "title": "Large Scale Analysis of Multitasking Behavior During Remote Meetings", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/large-scale-analysis-of-multitasking-behavior-during-remote-meetings.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/large-scale-analysis-of-multitasking-behavior-during-remote-meetings.json" }, { "study": "Survey and dashboard study: feedback on inclusive meetings", "title": "MeetingCoach: An Intelligent Dashboard for Supporting Effective and Inclusive Meetings", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meetingcoach-an-intelligent-dashboard-for-supporting-effective-inclusive-meetings.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meetingcoach-an-intelligent-dashboard-for-supporting-effective-inclusive-meetings.json" }, { "study": "Survey and diaries: chat alongside video meetings", "title": "The Promise and Peril of Parallel Chat in Video Meetings for Work", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/the-promise-and-peril-of-parallel-chat-in-video-meetings-for-work.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/the-promise-and-peril-of-parallel-chat-in-video-meetings-for-work.json" }, { "study": "Survey and telemetry: chat and voice in meetings", "title": "Virtual voices: Exploring individual differences in chat and verbal participation in virtual meetings", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/virtual-voices-exploring-individual-differences-in-chat-and-verbal-participation-in-virtual-meetings.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/virtual-voices-exploring-individual-differences-in-chat-and-verbal-participation-in-virtual-meetings.json" } ] }, "whyItMatters": { "stateOfTheArt": { "summary": "Videoconferencing has long been assumed to be the next best thing to being there, so when offices closed, meetings moved online and more were added to make up for lost social contact. Research on video had in fact shown mixed results.", "quote": "Given videoconferencing's sensorial richness, it was expected that it could adequately substitute for in-person interaction", "location": "§2.2, pp. 4–5" }, "contribution": { "summary": "Rather than modelling fatigue as inputs and outputs, the authors read a large diary study through relational dialectics, which treats competing pulls in relationships as permanent rather than as problems to solve.", "quote": "To our knowledge, the dialectic approach has not been brought to bear on video meetings.", "location": "§3.3, p. 9" }, "whoCares": { "summary": "Researchers and developers of videoconferencing and collaboration technology first, and through them the users and organisations that run remote and hybrid work.", "quote": "These changes in mindsets are initially intended for researchers and developers-the likely readers of this work-but meant ultimately to propagate across to users and organizations too.", "location": "§5.3, p. 23" } }, "researchQuestions": [ "RQ1: What tensions regarding social connection in work relationships did employees describe as resulting from using video meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic?", "RQ2: To the extent that employees described tensions, what strategies did they describe using to manage them?", "RQ3: What do these tensions and strategies reveal about videoconferencing fatigue?", "RQ4: What does videoconferencing fatigue reveal about the need for either/both practice-based or technological changes in work, workplaces, and videoconferencing technologies?" ], "concepts": [ { "term": "Videoconferencing fatigue", "definition": "Riedl's synthetic definition, which the authors adopt:", "quote": "somatic and cognitive exhaustion that is caused by the intensive and/or inappropriate use of videoconferencing tools", "location": "§2.3, p. 5" }, { "term": "Relational dialectics", "definition": "An analytic lens that treats competing pulls in relationships as inevitable and ongoing, rather than assuming steady states.", "quote": "An analysis drawing on relational dialectics puts the focus on 'dilemmas and tensions that inhere in relating'", "location": "§3.3, p. 9" }, { "term": "The core tension", "definition": "The single tension running through the diaries:", "quote": "one nuanced but overarching tension between two poles of social encounters, marked by spontaneity and informality and task-oriented encounters, characterized as agenda-bound and formal", "location": "§4.2, p. 11" }, { "term": "Pole switching", "definition": "The most common strategy employees described, within a meeting, across meetings, across relationships or across media:", "quote": "switching between the 'poles' of sociality (maintaining personal connection) and effectiveness (getting tasks accomplished)", "location": "§4.3, p. 13" }, { "term": "The myth of video-as-co-presence", "definition": "The assumption behind Molnar's 1969 promise of 'the next best thing to being there':", "quote": "the myth of video-as-co-presence: that videoconferencing simulates in-person communication", "location": "§2.1, p. 3" } ], "method": { "design": "Diary and poll study, analysed qualitatively with a dialectical approach.", "setting": "Employees of a single large global technology company during mandatory working from home in the COVID-19 pandemic, recruited through internal mailing lists from almost all regions, groups and roles.", "sample": "849 participants completed onboarding. The analysis draws on diary data and poll verbatims from a subset of 372 participants who mentioned at least one issue relevant to the research questions. Three polls had n = 198, n = 123 and n = 116.", "n": 849, "duration": "Rolling recruitment between mid-April and mid-August 2020. Participants were asked to author up to 24 diary entries in three cycles of eight guided topics, plus 10 short polls.", "analysis": "Iterative qualitative coding of the diaries to identify the tensions employees described and how they managed them, assessed against Baxter and Montgomery's hierarchy of strategies. Descriptive statistics from three polls." }, "findings": [ { "headline": "Connection thinned, but not for everyone.", "summary": "Employees of a global technology company, keeping diaries while working from home in 2020, often reported losing social connection with colleagues, especially with those who had joined the team remotely. Some, though, welcomed working without watercooler chat.", "quote": "it seems like it is taking longer to get to know them because we only meet during scheduled meetings", "location": "§4.1, p. 10", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meeting-the-pandemic-videoconferencing-fatigue-and-evolving-tensions-of-sociality-in-enterprise-video-meetings-during-covid-19.html#at-s4-1-p-10", "cite": "Rachel Bergmann, Sean Rintel, Nancy Baym, Advait Sarkar, Damian Borowiec, Priscilla Wong, and Abigail Sellen. 2022. Meeting (the) Pandemic: Videoconferencing Fatigue and Evolving Tensions of Sociality in Enterprise Video Meetings During COVID-19. Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-022-09451-6 (§4.1, p. 10)" }, { "headline": "Work versus sociality.", "summary": "Diarists described one overarching pull between spontaneous, informal social encounters and agenda-bound, task-oriented ones. Patchy technology, the lack of models for socialising remotely, and framing every encounter as a meeting made it worse:", "quote": "meetings were treated as containers for any and most social action, likely as a symptom of the rush to do something, anything, without good means for thinking through what might work best", "location": "§4.2, pp. 11–12", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meeting-the-pandemic-videoconferencing-fatigue-and-evolving-tensions-of-sociality-in-enterprise-video-meetings-during-covid-19.html#at-s4-2-pp-11-12", "cite": "Rachel Bergmann, Sean Rintel, Nancy Baym, Advait Sarkar, Damian Borowiec, Priscilla Wong, and Abigail Sellen. 2022. Meeting (the) Pandemic: Videoconferencing Fatigue and Evolving Tensions of Sociality in Enterprise Video Meetings During COVID-19. Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-022-09451-6 (§4.2, pp. 11–12)" }, { "headline": "Taking turns between work and social time.", "summary": "The most common strategy was switching between the two. Examples were small talk at the start of a meeting, separate social meetings, socialising with some colleagues but not others, or moving social chat to other media. These helped some, but enthusiasm faded, partly because the social activity was still a videoconference:", "quote": "The \"quarantine happy hours\" are a thing of the distant past (March)", "location": "§4.3.1, p. 16", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meeting-the-pandemic-videoconferencing-fatigue-and-evolving-tensions-of-sociality-in-enterprise-video-meetings-during-covid-19.html#at-s4-3-1-p-16", "cite": "Rachel Bergmann, Sean Rintel, Nancy Baym, Advait Sarkar, Damian Borowiec, Priscilla Wong, and Abigail Sellen. 2022. Meeting (the) Pandemic: Videoconferencing Fatigue and Evolving Tensions of Sociality in Enterprise Video Meetings During COVID-19. Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-022-09451-6 (§4.3.1, p. 16)" }, { "headline": "Many let the social side go.", "summary": "Over time, many settled on getting the work done at the expense of social connection. Some preferred meetings without small talk. Others felt more productive but increasingly disconnected, and some became resigned to isolation.", "quote": "While I do feel more productive, I feel less and less connected to people in my team since we're removing casual chats from the meetings slowly", "location": "§4.3.2, p. 18", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meeting-the-pandemic-videoconferencing-fatigue-and-evolving-tensions-of-sociality-in-enterprise-video-meetings-during-covid-19.html#at-s4-3-2-p-18", "cite": "Rachel Bergmann, Sean Rintel, Nancy Baym, Advait Sarkar, Damian Borowiec, Priscilla Wong, and Abigail Sellen. 2022. Meeting (the) Pandemic: Videoconferencing Fatigue and Evolving Tensions of Sociality in Enterprise Video Meetings During COVID-19. Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-022-09451-6 (§4.3.2, p. 18)" }, { "headline": "Holding both together was rare.", "summary": "Attending to work and sociality at the same time, as complementary rather than competing, was the rarest strategy, and some diarists described it as a wish rather than what actually happened. One praised a team that managed", "quote": "lighthearted, spontaneous interactions without compromising productivity", "location": "§4.3.3, pp. 18–19", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meeting-the-pandemic-videoconferencing-fatigue-and-evolving-tensions-of-sociality-in-enterprise-video-meetings-during-covid-19.html#at-s4-3-3-pp-18-19", "cite": "Rachel Bergmann, Sean Rintel, Nancy Baym, Advait Sarkar, Damian Borowiec, Priscilla Wong, and Abigail Sellen. 2022. Meeting (the) Pandemic: Videoconferencing Fatigue and Evolving Tensions of Sociality in Enterprise Video Meetings During COVID-19. Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-022-09451-6 (§4.3.3, pp. 18–19)" }, { "headline": "Two assumptions behind the fatigue.", "summary": "The authors argue that these struggles expose two linked assumptions at the heart of videoconferencing fatigue:", "quote": "the assumption that videoconferencing simulates in-person communication, and that, as a result, the assumption that video meetings are static and knowable containers of any and all kinds of communication", "location": "§5.2, p. 22", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meeting-the-pandemic-videoconferencing-fatigue-and-evolving-tensions-of-sociality-in-enterprise-video-meetings-during-covid-19.html#at-s5-2-p-22", "cite": "Rachel Bergmann, Sean Rintel, Nancy Baym, Advait Sarkar, Damian Borowiec, Priscilla Wong, and Abigail Sellen. 2022. Meeting (the) Pandemic: Videoconferencing Fatigue and Evolving Tensions of Sociality in Enterprise Video Meetings During COVID-19. Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-022-09451-6 (§5.2, p. 22)" } ], "questions": [ { "question": "Why did video meetings during the pandemic feel so draining?", "answer": "Partly for social reasons, the authors argue. Work practices and tools assumed that video could stand in for being together, and that one meeting format could hold every kind of encounter. As a result, social and task needs ended up competing for the same scheduled slots.", "source": "Rachel Bergmann, Sean Rintel, Nancy Baym, Advait Sarkar, Damian Borowiec, Priscilla Wong, and Abigail Sellen. 2022. Meeting (the) Pandemic: Videoconferencing Fatigue and Evolving Tensions of Sociality in Enterprise Video Meetings During COVID-19. Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-022-09451-6", "basedOn": [ { "location": "§4.2, pp. 11–12", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meeting-the-pandemic-videoconferencing-fatigue-and-evolving-tensions-of-sociality-in-enterprise-video-meetings-during-covid-19.html#at-s4-2-pp-11-12" }, { "location": "§5.2, p. 22", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meeting-the-pandemic-videoconferencing-fatigue-and-evolving-tensions-of-sociality-in-enterprise-video-meetings-during-covid-19.html#at-s5-2-p-22" } ] }, { "question": "Did everyone miss socialising with colleagues while working from home?", "answer": "No. Many employees of a global technology company, working from home in 2020, reported a loss of social connection, but not all saw it as a problem. In a poll of 198 of them, 79% said spontaneous interaction mattered, yet 53% felt their needs were met and 37% did not.", "source": "Rachel Bergmann, Sean Rintel, Nancy Baym, Advait Sarkar, Damian Borowiec, Priscilla Wong, and Abigail Sellen. 2022. Meeting (the) Pandemic: Videoconferencing Fatigue and Evolving Tensions of Sociality in Enterprise Video Meetings During COVID-19. Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-022-09451-6", "basedOn": [ { "location": "§4.1, p. 10", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meeting-the-pandemic-videoconferencing-fatigue-and-evolving-tensions-of-sociality-in-enterprise-video-meetings-during-covid-19.html#at-s4-1-p-10" } ] }, { "question": "Does cutting small talk make meetings more productive?", "answer": "For some, it felt that way, and a few preferred meetings without it. Others felt increasingly disconnected from their team as casual chat disappeared, and one employee found efficiency-focused meetings more draining than social ones because they felt impersonal.", "source": "Rachel Bergmann, Sean Rintel, Nancy Baym, Advait Sarkar, Damian Borowiec, Priscilla Wong, and Abigail Sellen. 2022. Meeting (the) Pandemic: Videoconferencing Fatigue and Evolving Tensions of Sociality in Enterprise Video Meetings During COVID-19. Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-022-09451-6", "basedOn": [ { "location": "§4.3.2, p. 18", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meeting-the-pandemic-videoconferencing-fatigue-and-evolving-tensions-of-sociality-in-enterprise-video-meetings-during-covid-19.html#at-s4-3-2-p-18" }, { "location": "§4.3.3, pp. 18–19", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meeting-the-pandemic-videoconferencing-fatigue-and-evolving-tensions-of-sociality-in-enterprise-video-meetings-during-covid-19.html#at-s4-3-3-pp-18-19" } ] }, { "question": "Is there a right balance between getting work done and socialising?", "answer": "Not a fixed one, from a dialectical view. The pull between the task and social sides of work relationships is permanent and differs by person, team and moment, so it cannot be designed away. It has to be managed continually, ideally by teams together rather than by individuals alone.", "source": "Rachel Bergmann, Sean Rintel, Nancy Baym, Advait Sarkar, Damian Borowiec, Priscilla Wong, and Abigail Sellen. 2022. Meeting (the) Pandemic: Videoconferencing Fatigue and Evolving Tensions of Sociality in Enterprise Video Meetings During COVID-19. Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-022-09451-6", "basedOn": [ { "location": "§4.3.3, pp. 18–19", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meeting-the-pandemic-videoconferencing-fatigue-and-evolving-tensions-of-sociality-in-enterprise-video-meetings-during-covid-19.html#at-s4-3-3-pp-18-19" }, { "location": "§5.2, p. 22", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meeting-the-pandemic-videoconferencing-fatigue-and-evolving-tensions-of-sociality-in-enterprise-video-meetings-during-covid-19.html#at-s5-2-p-22" } ] } ], "cites": [ { "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/bridging-social-distance-during-social-distancing-exploring-social-talk-and-remote-collegiality-in-video-conferencing.html", "title": "Bridging social distance during social distancing: Exploring social talk and remote collegiality in video conferencing", "location": "p. 33" }, { "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/conversational-management-of-network-trouble-perturbations-in-personal-videoconferencing.html", "title": "Conversational management of network trouble perturbations in personal videoconferencing", "location": "p. 36" }, { "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/low-engagement-as-a-deliberate-practice-of-remote-participants-in-video-meetings.html", "title": "Low Engagement As a Deliberate Practice of Remote Participants in Video Meetings", "location": "p. 34" }, { "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/omnirelevance-in-technologised-interaction-couples-coping-with-video-calling-distortions.html", "title": "Omnirelevance in Technologised Interaction: Couples Coping with Video Calling Distortions", "location": "p. 36" }, { "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/the-new-future-of-work-research-from-microsoft-into-the-pandemics-impact-on-work-practices.html", "title": "The New Future of Work: Research from Microsoft into the Pandemic’s Impact on Work Practices", "location": "p. 37" }, { "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meetingcoach-an-intelligent-dashboard-for-supporting-effective-inclusive-meetings.html", "title": "MeetingCoach: An Intelligent Dashboard for Supporting Effective and Inclusive Meetings", "location": "p. 36" } ], "quantitative": [ { "measure": "Participants who completed onboarding; subset whose diaries and poll verbatims were analysed", "value": "849; 372", "location": "§3.1, pp. 7–8" }, { "measure": "Spontaneous interaction poll (n = 198): spontaneous interaction mattered to them", "value": "79%", "location": "§4.1, pp. 10–11" }, { "measure": "Spontaneous interaction poll: needs not being met vs being met", "value": "37% not met; 53% met", "location": "§4.1, pp. 10–11" }, { "measure": "Connections poll (n = 123): indirect connections the same or weaker than before", "value": "76%", "location": "§4.1, pp. 10–11" }, { "measure": "Connections poll: direct connections stronger vs weaker", "value": "41% stronger; 36% weaker", "location": "§4.1, pp. 10–11" }, { "measure": "Meeting types poll (n = 116): remote one-on-one and group socialising rated less effective than in person", "value": "60% and 62%", "location": "§4.1, pp. 10–11" } ], "implications": [ { "summary": "Think beyond 'meetings' and design for a range of recognisable encounters, from small talk and hanging out to decision-making, that look, sound and feel different.", "quote": "we would advocate for the end of one-size-fits-all 'meeting' systems", "location": "§5.3.1, p. 25" }, { "summary": "Think beyond guidelines and let people and teams experiment with their own encounters rather than assume the authors know what should be done.", "quote": "the next generation of technology should be designed with the principle of enabling people and teams to experiment with their own encounters", "location": "§5.3.2, p. 29" }, { "summary": "Guidelines for remote and hybrid meetings should explicitly consider sociality, not only productivity.", "quote": "Our findings suggest the importance of ensuring that sociality is explicitly considered in these guidelines.", "location": "§5.3.2, p. 28" } ], "limitations": [ { "summary": "Data came from one company, which may limit generalisability, especially since company culture likely affects social support.", "quote": "the choice to limit data collection to one company does risk limiting generalizability", "location": "§6, pp. 29–30" }, { "summary": "The effectiveness of the strategies was not measured.", "quote": "we did not measure the effectiveness of the strategies that we found", "location": "§5.2, pp. 20–21" } ], "figures": [], "pageNumbersReferTo": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meeting-the-pandemic-videoconferencing-fatigue-and-evolving-tensions-of-sociality-in-enterprise-video-meetings-during-covid-19.pdf", "verified": "2026-10-25", "studyFigure": { "about": "The opening figure on this paper's page, made for the site with AI assistance from this verified brief. It is not the paper's own figure. Evidence entries index this file's quantitative, findings and limitations arrays.", "study": { "kind": "single", "summary": "Diary and poll study with 849 employees of a global technology company, working from home between mid-April and mid-August 2020. The analysis draws on diaries and poll comments from 372 who raised relevant issues.", "steps": [ { "label": "849 employees", "detail": "Recruited from almost all regions, groups and roles of one company, during mandatory working from home." }, { "label": "Diaries and polls", "detail": "Each was asked for up to 24 guided diary entries in three cycles, plus 10 short polls." }, { "label": "372 analysed", "detail": "The analysis used the 372 participants who mentioned at least one issue relevant to the study." }, { "label": "Coding tensions", "detail": "Diaries were coded for the tensions employees described and the strategies used to manage them." } ] }, "findings": { "legend": null, "stages": [ { "title": "Connection at work", "sub": "what poll respondents and diarists reported", "items": [ { "dir": "none", "text": "Of 198 poll respondents, 79% said spontaneous interaction mattered to them.", "detail": "Self-reported. 37% said these needs were not being met, and 53% said they were.", "evidence": [ "quantitative[1]", "quantitative[2]" ] }, { "dir": "none", "text": "Of 123 poll respondents, 76% said indirect connections were the same or weaker than before.", "detail": "Self-reported. For direct connections, 41% said stronger and 36% said weaker.", "evidence": [ "quantitative[3]", "quantitative[4]" ] }, { "dir": "none", "text": "Diarists often reported losing connection, especially with colleagues who joined remotely.", "detail": "Some diarists welcomed working without watercooler chat.", "evidence": [ "findings[0]" ] } ] }, { "title": "Work versus sociality", "sub": "the main tension diarists described, and how they managed it", "items": [ { "dir": "none", "text": "Diarists described a pull between informal social encounters and task-focused meetings.", "detail": "Patchy technology, few models for socialising remotely and treating every encounter as a meeting made the tension worse.", "evidence": [ "findings[1]" ] }, { "dir": "none", "text": "Switching between work and social time was the most common strategy diarists described.", "detail": "Examples were small talk at the start of meetings and separate social meetings. Enthusiasm faded, partly because the social time was still a video call.", "evidence": [ "findings[2]" ] }, { "dir": "none", "text": "Over time, many diarists described letting the social side go to get work done.", "detail": "Some preferred meetings without small talk. Others said they felt more productive but less connected, and some became resigned to isolation.", "evidence": [ "findings[3]" ] }, { "dir": "none", "text": "Holding work and sociality together was the rarest strategy diarists described.", "detail": "Some described it as a wish rather than what happened. The study did not measure how well any strategy worked.", "evidence": [ "findings[4]", "limitations[1]" ] } ] }, { "title": "What the paper argues", "sub": "about videoconferencing fatigue", "items": [ { "dir": "none", "text": "The paper argues fatigue rests on assuming video meetings simulate meeting in person.", "detail": "From that follows a second assumption, that a video meeting is a fixed container for any kind of communication.", "evidence": [ "findings[5]" ] } ] } ] }, "keyTerm": [ "videoconferencing fatigue", "dialectic tension" ], "takeaway": "Video tools may ease videoconferencing fatigue by treating work and social connection as a dialectic tension that teams keep rebalancing. Varied encounters can serve this better than one meeting format for everything." } }