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Videoconferencing More Stressful Than In-Person Meetings, Study Finds

by Tim Stevens on October 31, 2008 at 12:41 PM

Study Finds Videoconferencing Distorts Perceptions, Influences Participants

Given the choice between spending a week away to attend some boring seminar or staying home and attending it remotely via videoconference, most professionals would prefer the latter (if only to avoid the security lines at the airports). Videoconferencing has been perceived as not only a cost-effective way to avoid travel but, in these eco-friendly days, a more environmentally-friendly alternative to jumping on a jet liner every week.

The bad news? Researchers from Boston University and Pennsylvania State University published the results of a recent study in the journal 'Management Science,' and they found that videoconferences are not only less effective than meeting in person, but can be potentially misleading, too.

Participants were found to be more stressed out by the experience of attending a conference via video compared to being in person, which left less cognitive ability for actually paying attention to the speaker. Interestingly, this meant that people were more trusting of the speaker himself or herself, even if they didn't quite understand what he or she was saying as much as those who attended in-person.

The findings have some intriguing (and disturbing) potential implications, especially in the medical industry, where a person's seminar presentation can make or break whatever service or technique they're pitching. Regardless of your business, it's something to consider before you decide to attend that next meeting at home in your slippers. [From: USA Today]

Tags: business, remote meeting, RemoteMeeting, research, studies, videoconference, videoconferencing, workplace

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