The growth of the internet combined with the proliferation of portable electronic devices has caused an increased use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at the workplace. Also in meetings, which present an important tool to communicate and interact within the team, the use of portable electronic devices is common. Individuals frequently use their smartphones and laptops while attending a meeting for meeting-related or -unrelated activities. This behaviour is defined as electronic multitasking. Literature indicates that there are both positive and negative effects of electronic multitasking that might improve the process of a meeting or impair the interaction during a meeting. Since it is the meeting leader’s responsibility to conduct effective and efficient meetings she has to manage potential effects of electronic multitasking. Hence, the meeting leader should make use of positive effects and in this case encourage Electronic Multitasking. On the other hand, if electronic multitasking has negative effects on the meeting, the leader has to limit this behaviour. Considering the entrance of younger generations into the workforce who are more confident in ICT use and view their devices as an important part of their life, the rising relevance of discussing and investigating the management of electronic multitasking in more depth is evident. However, there are only limited empirically developed approaches available to manage the effects of electronic multitasking. By conducting a multiple case study, this major gap was addressed.The case study has been carried out in November 2015 in Umeå, Sweden. Through seven semi-structured interviews with experienced meeting leaders, rich qualitative data has been collected. To analyse this data, a tool called Thematic Network Analysis has been used. Our results encompass several management approaches for meeting leaders to both enhance and limit the effects of electronic multitasking. The identified approaches serve as a toolbox from which a leader has to choose the appropriate approach according to the context that is shaped by the participants, meeting situation and organisation. Leaders can set strict rules at the beginning of a meeting, for example by banning devices. To improve the enforcement of rules, they should be negotiated and respected by the leader as well. Electronic multitasking can be limited by actively confronting multitasking participants during or after the meeting with their inappropriate behaviour. The leader can also make jokes to catch participants’ attention or encourage interaction. Similarly to confronting people with inappropriate electronic multitasking, the leader can encourage the behaviour in case it is useful. For example, one person can be assigned to take notes from the meeting or phases in which all meeting participants engage in electronic multitasking can be announced. Furthermore, the meeting leader can set up meetings by using features such as agenda, breaks, goals, length, size and topics to influence the amount of electronic multitasking. Finally, the company culture or guidelines regarding the use of portable electronic devices can be shaped and applied by meeting leaders. Hence, practical implications have been made to a large extent. Furthermore, this study provides theoretical contributions in the areas of meeting leadership and electronic multitasking.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many companies have been forced to make their employees work from home, fully distributed. One of the work aspects affected by this change is meetings. The purpose of this study is to investigate what effects the fully distributed context have on meetings, meeting participants, and meeting leaders. To achieve this purpose, a qualitative single-case study was conducted. The empirical data were gathered from 15 interviews with employees at a large information and communications technology company in Linköping, Sweden. The theoretical framework including the fully distributed context, leadership, motivation, and attitudes, behaviors, and norms is the foundation for the analytical model used to analyze the empirical data. For meetings, it was found that the number of meetings has increased, meetings without fixed end times get longer, meetings need clear agendas and structures, and that meetings are booked in a tighter sequence without room for breaks. Using cameras during meetings increases participation but not if there are many meeting participants or when someone starts sharing their screen. It was found that inter-office meetings work better in the fully distributed context. Discussions are fewer and less lively in fully distributed meetings, but virtual fika1 is a kind of informal meeting that can help employees feel more connected and maintain interpersonal relations. For meeting participants, it was found that the fully distributed context has enabled participants to not be seen during meetings, to multitask more, to go on walks during meetings, and to attend more meetings. Fully distributed meetings offer participants more flexibility in meeting attendance but are also more difficult for participants to stay focused during. The perceived social pressure from the surrounding often determines how participants behave in meetings, for example if participants turn on their cameras or not. For meeting leaders, it was found that, contrary to the literature, meeting participants’ behavior affect the motivation of the meeting leader. Meeting participants' multitasking during meetings is considered positive for productivity but makes meeting leaders feel insecure as participants seem to listen less. Cameras can offer supportive feedback as the meeting leader can see the participants reactions, but it only works in smaller meetings. Fully distributed meetings demand more of meeting leaders who need to work harder to structure the meetings, force discussions, aim questions, and keep participants active. The results implicate that meeting leaders should set agendas for and structure meetings, implement breaks between meetings, and start meetings with some informal conversations. Moreover, meeting leaders should turn on their cameras in smaller meetings without screen sharing and aim questions at specific participants instead of posing open questions. At the end of this report, a number of suggestions for future studies on the topic of fully distributed meetings are proposed. 1Fika is Swedish for taking a break and sharing a cup of coffee or tea with friends or colleagues possibly, but not necessarily, with a little something to eat.