Table 1.

Future Research Agenda on Videoconferencing and Potential Research questions.

Topic	Potential research questions
The good
Chat function	Are introverts more likely to participate using the chat function?
	Are meetings more efficient when participants use the chat function as opposed to speaking?
Polling	To what extent does the use of polling improve meeting process and outcome satisfaction?
Relationship building	To what extent does seeing coworkers’ home and/or family life improve relationships among coworkers? How might this be used to build culture and engagement?
Visibility	Does increased use of videoconferencing compensate for lack of visibility when it comes to a remote worker’s mentoring opportunities and career progression?
Organizational culture, trust, cohesion	How can videoconferencing best be used to instill corporate values, culture, trust and group cohesion?
The bad
Failing to mute	What is the best way to eliminate issues of poor microphone management during virtual meetings? Should the facilitator have sole control of who speaks?
Ineffective and/or inappropriate use of video camera	To what extent does camera angle, lighting, and not looking at the camera influence others’ impressions?
	What is the best way to eliminate these behaviors? Is training needed?
Poor planning and scheduling	How can scheduling virtual meetings be better managed to reduce the problem of back-to-back meetings with little or no opportunity for breaks?
	To what extent are unscheduled or impromptu virtual meetings seen as a challenge/interruption when compared to how these are viewed in the face-to-face work environment?
	To what extent is entering a virtual meeting early, and engaging in pre-meeting talk, important to meeting satisfaction and effectiveness?
	Is videoconferencing being overused? Under what circumstances is videoconferencing most appropriate?
Lurking	To what extent do lurkers impact the meeting satisfaction and engagement of others? Is lurking contagious?
	Are those who are highly self-conscious more distracted by their self-image and therefore less effective in video conferencing if their camera is on? Do they experience more stress?
	To what extent are those with their camera off not asked for their input or invited to participate?
	What would be employees’ reactions (perceptions of fairness/justice) to being told they must have their camera on?
	To what extent does having one’s camera off affect others’ perceptions of that individuals?
	Is personality or gender related to lurking?
Multi-tasking	What is the impact of multi-tasking on others’ perceptions, satisfaction, and engagement during virtual meetings? Is multi-tasking contagious?
	To what extent do meeting participants believe that others are multi-tasking when their cameras are turned off?
Gender inequity and exclusion	Are women interrupted or drowned out in conversation as much or more in virtual meetings as they are in face-to-face meetings?
	Do women experience lower meeting satisfaction and meeting effectiveness as compared to men?
Dominance	Compared to face to face meetings, are high status individuals less likely to dominate the discussion?
The ugly
Eating during meetings	Should all on-camera eating be banned from meetings?
	Does observing others eating during a virtual meeting lead to process loss? If everyone is eating on-camera, is it less irritating or distracting to meeting participants?
Participants’ background	How does seeing participants’ backgrounds (messy vs. tidy, real vs. fake or blurred, bedroom, kitchen vs. office) impact others’ meeting satisfaction and effectiveness?
	To what extent does having children or others appear in the background during virtual meetings impact the meeting satisfaction of others?