Meeting structures

What the publications show

1. A Finnish survey of 1,910 employees (Tampere University) finds that good time management goes together with greater satisfaction and less meeting load. The link varies by role, with distinct patterns for managers, regular chairs and remote workers.

   Tampere University, 2026 (opens in a new window)

2. Several studies place the quality of meetings with the chair. The University of Arizona sees the chair’s meeting style helping to shape how online meetings go, and a practitioner article from UTHealth Houston points to chairs who take on the role without any preparation.

   University of Arizona, 2025 (opens in a new window) · The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 2025 (opens in a new window) · Mälardalen University, 2026 (opens in a new window)

3. Online meetings require work of their own. Mälardalen University sees chairs managing speaking turns, video and atmosphere all at once, and employees with hearing loss tell Linköping University of high listening effort, which captions and clear turn-taking ease.

   Mälardalen University, 2026 (opens in a new window) · Linköping University, 2025 (opens in a new window)

4. Interviews with 34 employees (North Dakota State University) show that behaviour in meetings stems from the person and the organisation together. A packed meeting schedule, for example, forces participants to choose how much time is left for preparation.

   North Dakota State University, 2026 (opens in a new window)

5. Two University of Helsinki studies look at participation in meetings. A colleague can make room for someone working in a second language, and in long-term care managers switch between gathering opinions and seeking confirmation of a proposal.

   University of Helsinki, 2026 (opens in a new window) · University of Helsinki, 2025 (opens in a new window)

Topics within meeting structures

This list shows what the publications on this theme are about, with the number for each topic. Open a topic to see its publications; if a topic has a briefing, the link is underneath.

• Meeting quality2 publications

  • Meeting quality and employee well-being: determinants of meeting satisfaction, engagement and strain · Tampere University, 2026
  • An investigation on how individual and organizational factors influence the use of counterproductive meeting behaviors · North Dakota State University, 2026
• The chair3 publications

  • From agenda to action: The role of the meeting leader · The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 2025
  • Verbal, visual and affective work when chairing digital meetings: a micro-ethnographic study · Mälardalen University, 2026
  • Doing meetings online · University of Arizona, 2025
• Online meetings3 publications

  • Verbal, visual and affective work when chairing digital meetings: a micro-ethnographic study · Mälardalen University, 2026
  • Doing meetings online · University of Arizona, 2025
  • The digital workplace and meeting accessibility: A qualitative study on listening effort in video meetings for employees with hearing loss · Linköping University, 2025
• Participation in meetings3 publications

  • An L2 speaker’s developing participation as a joint achievement: Proposal sequences in workplace meeting interaction · University of Helsinki, 2026
  • Striving for different opinions or seeking verification: the storylines of collaborative decision-making in workplace meetings in long-term care · University of Helsinki, 2025
  • The digital workplace and meeting accessibility: A qualitative study on listening effort in video meetings for employees with hearing loss · Linköping University, 2025