- Project number: F 2553
- Institution: Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA)
- Status: Completed Project
Description:
Hybrid and mobile working models are now an integral part of everyday working life for many teams. Video conferences can enable people to collaborate regardless of their location and offer significant time and cost savings. However, they differ from face-to-face meetings, particularly with regard to social interaction, workload and group dynamics.
Therefore, this project systematically compared video, hybrid and face-to-face meetings to derive design recommendations, focusing specifically on the influence of technical equipment.
Four experiments were conducted with teams of three to six people aged between 18 and 65, based on focus groups with experts from research, public authorities, accident insurance and industry. In addition to team performance, the subjective assessments of satisfaction, activation, tension, cognitive load and preferences were examined. There was a particular focus on the influence of the hardware configuration used.
The results showed that video and hybrid formats were associated with higher cognitive and visual strain, particularly when laptops were used exclusively without an additional keyboard, mouse or external monitor. Although coordination problems were more frequent in the virtual formats, they remained at a low level overall. Furthermore, it was found that team performance in virtual formats is not necessarily lower, even when interaction dynamics are limited and processing demands are higher.
Overall, the project illustrates that the choice of meeting format should be specific to the context and individuals involved. Video conferences can be an efficient alternative, offering flexibility. However, they require suitable technical equipment that is both ergonomic and cognitively appropriate. With regard to safe and healthy work design, the exclusive use of laptops without additional peripheral devices is questionable.