Wladislaw Rivkin , Karin S. Moser , Stefan Diestel , Isaac Alshaikh
{"title":"Getting into flow during virtual meetings: How virtual meetings can benefit employee functioning in the work- and home domain","authors":"Wladislaw Rivkin , Karin S. Moser , Stefan Diestel , Isaac Alshaikh","doi":"10.1016/j.jvb.2024.103984","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>During the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of the global workforce turned to virtual meetings for work-related communication and continues to do so as part of the shift to hybrid work. This change in communication patterns has led to an increased scholarly emphasis on the costs of virtual meetings for employees. The present study adds to this emerging field of research by taking a theory-led approach to highlight that alongside costs there are benefits to spending time in virtual meetings for employee functioning. Specifically, we integrate the concept of flow experiences and the Conservation of Resources theory to expand our understanding of the psychological mechanisms that link daily time spent in virtual meetings to employees' functioning in the work (i.e., task performance and counterproductive work behavior) and home domains (i.e., work-family conflict and need for recovery). More specifically, we argue that the benefits of virtual meetings manifest through flow experiences and associated reduced within-day changes in cognitive depletion. Furthermore, we identify low emotional dissonance as a contingency in virtual meetings that can strengthen the benefits of this mode of computer mediated communication. Results from two daily diary studies largely support the hypothesized relationships. Our findings have important theoretical and practical implications for employee functioning in the ‘new normal’ of hybrid work.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51344,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Vocational Behavior","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001879124000253/pdfft?md5=bec6134e6064944bfd4802258694ef7b&pid=1-s2.0-S0001879124000253-main.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Vocational Behavior","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001879124000253","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, APPLIED","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of the global workforce turned to virtual meetings for work-related communication and continues to do so as part of the shift to hybrid work. This change in communication patterns has led to an increased scholarly emphasis on the costs of virtual meetings for employees. The present study adds to this emerging field of research by taking a theory-led approach to highlight that alongside costs there are benefits to spending time in virtual meetings for employee functioning. Specifically, we integrate the concept of flow experiences and the Conservation of Resources theory to expand our understanding of the psychological mechanisms that link daily time spent in virtual meetings to employees' functioning in the work (i.e., task performance and counterproductive work behavior) and home domains (i.e., work-family conflict and need for recovery). More specifically, we argue that the benefits of virtual meetings manifest through flow experiences and associated reduced within-day changes in cognitive depletion. Furthermore, we identify low emotional dissonance as a contingency in virtual meetings that can strengthen the benefits of this mode of computer mediated communication. Results from two daily diary studies largely support the hypothesized relationships. Our findings have important theoretical and practical implications for employee functioning in the ‘new normal’ of hybrid work.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Vocational Behavior publishes original empirical and theoretical articles offering unique insights into the realms of career choice, career development, and work adjustment across the lifespan. These contributions are not only valuable for academic exploration but also find applications in counseling and career development programs across diverse sectors such as colleges, universities, business, industry, government, and the military.
The primary focus of the journal centers on individual decision-making regarding work and careers, prioritizing investigations into personal career choices rather than organizational or employer-level variables. Example topics encompass a broad range, from initial career choices (e.g., choice of major, initial work or organization selection, organizational attraction) to the development of a career, work transitions, work-family management, and attitudes within the workplace (such as work commitment, multiple role management, and turnover).