This paper started by asking the core question of why trust-building is hard in virtual meetings. Theories about "what is trust?" are drawn from the literature on interpersonal trust and trust in the business and marketing academic field.   The sales meeting is the main observation object of this paper because it is a type of meeting that is more purpose-driven and certainly expected for economic relative output, compared with the other less-emergent daily meeting kinds. When many offline meetups are forced to be held online due to pandemic restrictions, the core of how to generate sales and manage customer relationships does not change much for a salesperson. It is commonly agreed by business meeting attendees that online trust-building is harder than it is in offline meetings. But what is missing from trust-building?   This study uses user experience researching methods to identify the missed cues of essential trust elements both online and offline. Compare the similarities and differences of key cues of trust-building between attendees in their virtual sales meeting experience and face-to-face sales meeting experience. Finally, a few subtle aiding tools are designed for compensating for what is missed in the online meeting.   This paper finds that it is not easy for attendees in virtual meeting being conscious and precise about which moment increases or decreases their trusting level towards counterparts. To trust a salesperson through online meeting requires a long and step by step process of building the trust, this process must expose a salesperson’s vulnerability and authenticity so can gradually trigger the happening in terms of trust. Design of applying visual cues can bring about the result of delivering eye gaze and listening status feedback in online meeting.   The method is using qualitative study process includes organizing observations online and on-site for sales meetings. Analyze the user experience through studying on the recordings of the meetings. The theories and empirical findings are combined to produce logical conjectures, which leads to ideation and design work. / <p>Examensarbetet är utfört vid Institutionen för teknik och naturvetenskap (ITN) vid Tekniska fakulteten, Linköpings universitet</p>

The purpose of this thesis was to contribute with new information within the research area, due to the low amount of secondary research regarding it. This thesis was conducted with a desire to gather primary data contributing to deeper knowledge and understanding of the gap between virtual meetings and technostress in relation to work-life balance, psychological well-being, and effectiveness. In order to conduct this research, a research design was developed in accordance with the field of research chosen to further investigate. A descriptive design with a deductive quantitative approach and the usage of an online survey sent out to a sample, with 107 valid responses, has enabled the completion of this thesis. For the analysis of the primary data collected for this study, the tool SPSS was used in order to investigate the correlations. This research concludes that a majority of the hypotheses are accurate and that technostress, in these hypotheses, does impact employees through virtual meetings in a negative way. The respondents felt that virtual meetings do in fact decrease their ability to obtain a healthy work-life balance, psychological well-being, and an effective standard. Therefore, the conclusion becomes highly recognizable as it contributes to fulfilling the distinguished gap.

Sales is one of the oldest professions and is still a vital part of any business. It keeps evolving because of digitalization and from the impact of covid-19. The covid-19 outbreak has had tremendous influence on multiple levels in organizations and for business all over the world. Consequently, there is also an opportunity in a crisis. Furthermore, the firms have rapidly picked themselves up and continue pursuing for survival. Today, management has started restructuring their business models and including hybrid work models for their employees. In this study, the authors will investigate how this old profession is functioning in a modern and evolving business environment. Digitalization has accelerated at an alarming rate during the pandemic. It benefits and challenges many professions on a daily basis, including the B2B sales process.

Bakgrund: det organisationer har gemensamt är att människor sätts systematiskt sammanför att gemensamt lösa en uppgift. Möten är en av de vanligaste händelserna i organisationen och är ständigt återkommande. Idag behöver inte möten vara platsbundet till ett fysiskt rum utan kan genomföras genom digitala verktyg. I samband med den rådande pandemin (Covid-19) har det skett en omställning från kontorsarbete till hemarbete vilket har resulterat i att allt fler möten hålls virtuellt. Det innovativa sättet att arbeta virtuellt medför utmaningar för organisationer. Vidare finns det en svårighet att förmedla känslor via digitala verktyg samt att avsaknaden av fysiska möten påverkar interaktionen mellan medarbetare och ledare. Det kan då komplicera förståelse och som i sin tur påverkar meningsskapande i möten. Möten är viktiga platser för bland annat kommunikation, gruppbeslut och problemlösning. Vidare är möten en ekonomisk investering för företagoch upptar deltagarnas tid från andra produktiva aktiviteter. Det blir då av vikt att möten är relevanta och resurseffektiva ur ett företagsperspektiv. Syfte: syftet med studien är att bidra med en djupare förståelse för den upplevda skillnaden mellan fysiska och virtuella möten hos anställda inom ett programutvecklingsföretag. Studien syftar till att bidra med rikliga beskrivningar för de människor som är i liknande kontext. Vidare ska upplevelsen av skillnader studeras utifrån sensemakingteorin. Det finns en förhoppning om att uppsatsen kan ge andra forskare ett bedömningsunderlag om det går applicera studiens resultat i ett annat sammanhang. Metod: studien baseras på en kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer och har fallstudie som forskningsstrategi. Fallstudien har genomförts hos ett företag inom programutveckling och har erfarenhet av både fysiska möten och virtuella möten. Respondenterna består av nio medarbetare som ger berättelser och beskrivningar utifrån deras upplevelser av möten. Vidare har organisatoriska dokument använts för att säkerställa studiens trovärdighet. Empiri och slutsats: studien visar på att det finns upplevda skillnader mellan fysiska och virtuella möten. Det kan konstateras att beroende på vilket sorts möte som ska genomföras så passar olika forum. Mötens meningsskapande kan återspeglas i att det ska gynna både organisationen och medarbetarna genom att det ska leda till en output. / Background: what organizations have in common are people that put together systematically to solve a task. Meetings are the most common occurrence in organizations and are recurrent. The meetings today, don’t have to be bound to a physical room. Digital platforms have made it possible to meet virtually. In connection with the current pandemic, there has been a shift from office work to homework which has resulted in more and more meetings being held virtually. The innovative way of working virtually creates challenges for organizations. For instance, there is a difficulty in conveying emotions through digital tools and the lack of physical meetings affects the interaction between employees and leaders. That can complicate understanding and complicate the creation of meaning in meetings. Meetings are important places for communication, group decisions and solving problems. Moreover, meetings can be seen as a financial investment for companies and take up time for participants' other productive activities. It is important from a company perspective that meetings are relevant and efficient for resources. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to obtain a deeper understanding of the difference in the experience between physical meetings and virtual meetings at a software development company. The study aims to contribute with more detailed descriptions for people who are in a similar context. Furthermore, the experience of differences will be studied on the basis of sensemaking theory. Hopefully the study can provide other researchers with an assessment basis if it is possible to apply the results of the study in other contexts. Methods: the study is based on a qualitative method with semi-structured interviews and the research strategy is to study a case. The case study is conducted at a company that works with software development. The company has experience of both physical and virtual meetings. The respondents are nine employees who gave stories and descriptionsbased on their experiences of meetings. Furthermore, organizational documents have been used to ensure the credibility of the study. Results and conclusion: the study shows that there are perceived differences between physical and virtual meetings. It can be stated that depending on the type of meeting to be held, different forums are suitable. The sensemaking of the meetings can be reflected in the fact that it will benefit both the organization and the employees by giving an output for the organization.

Pela primeira vez em sua história o mercado de capitais nacional lida com uma real, ainda que localizada, tendência de dispersão da titularidade acionária e com certo nível de popularização do investimento em companhias abertas, estimulados por um crescimento econômico, de consumo e de investimento estrangeiro também sem precedentes. A última década foi, de fato, um período fascinante para os entusiastas do direito societário; um período de crescente complexificação e especialização no ambiente societário nacional, que, em conjunto com o desenvolvimento recente das tecnologias de comunicação, vem desafiando os fundamentos da Lei das Sociedades por Ações, de 1976, e testando a capacidade de adaptação das instituições legais e regulatórias brasileiras. Nesse contexto, o estudo dos mecanismos de exercício do direito de voto, dos pedidos públicos de procuração e para o voto e participação à distância nas assembleias, mostrou-se um meio efetivo de contribuição para a construção de uma ponte entre o antigo e o novo mercado de capitais brasileiro. Para tanto, são três as contribuições principais pretendidas por este estudo. A primeira consiste na análise sistematizada inaugural, na doutrina nacional, da legislação e da regulação aplicáveis aos pedidos públicos de procuração, voto e participação à distância nas assembleias gerais. Essa análise conclui pela necessidade da realização de determinados ajustes na regulação do mercado de capitais brasileiro. Entre esses ajustes, estão (i) a construção de uma disciplina para a inclusão de propostas de acionistas no material de pedidos públicos de procuração da administração e (ii) a elaboração de normas que regulem o exercício do direito de voto e a participação à distância nas assembleias gerais, normas essas que devem pressupor ambos como direitos legalmente garantidos aos acionistas e que devem prever a possibilidade de implementação escalonada das correspondentes obrigações das companhias, de acordo com a evolução dos meios tecnológicos disponíveis. A segunda contribuição consiste na reflexão, também seminal no cenário brasileiro, a respeito dos efeitos da dissociação entre a titularidade da ação e o exercício do direito de voto no mercado de capitais contemporâneo, bem como dos efeitos decorrentes da correlata defasagem entre a compreensão doutrinária do direito de voto e a compreensão doutrinária do exercício desse direito. A desatualização da legislação, da regulação e principalmente da doutrina brasileira em relação às normas em vigor nos mercados mais desenvolvidos, no que diz respeito à assimilação do desenvolvimento tecnológico e dos instrumentos financeiros pelo direito societário, é agravada pelo fato de que as transações realizadas no mercado local já envolvem os mais modernos e complexos instrumentos financeiros utilizados globalmente. O consequente descolamento entre o direito e a realidade, verificados concretamente em casos como o aluguel de ações, o uso de derivativos e a venda do voto, por exemplo, desestabiliza as bases para responsabilização pelo cometimento de abusos no exercício do direito de voto, na medida em que a relação entre a titularidade da ação e o exercício do direito de voto já não é mais tão clara. Este trabalho procura trazer à superfície essas questões e realinhar o entendimento científico a respeito do exercício do direito de voto com as práticas atuais do mercado. A terceira contribuição consiste no questionamento por este estudo da capacidade da Lei das Sociedades por Ações de enfrentar uma nova realidade, em que deixa de ser certa a existência da polarização de poder entre um controlador majoritário e acionistas minoritários atomizados, e na qual necessidades históricas de fisicalidade e concomitância deixam de ser pressupostos obrigatórios na construção de conceitos relacionados ao relacionamento entre acionistas, administradores e a companhia. O trabalho constata que a Lei das Sociedades por Ações não está inteiramente preparada para uma realidade em que nem sempre haverá um acionista controlador definido e em que o acionista minoritário nem sempre será um pequeno e pouco informado investidor, mas eventualmente um investidor institucional, com escala e recursos suficientes para efetivamente processar as informações divulgadas pela companhia e interferir em sua gestão. No mesmo passo, constata-se também que a ideia da realização de assembleias que deixem de ser delimitadas no espaço e no tempo, e que não mais dependam da interação física e simultânea de seus participantes, perfeitamente aceitável na atual dimensão das interações sociais, está ainda longe de ser consistentemente recepcionada pela legislação societária nacional. Uma análise abrangente dos efeitos para o mercado Brasileiro dos limites de uma magistral, mas já trintária lei societária, em contraste com o impacto do desenvolvimento financeiro e tecnológico experimentado pelo mundo em anos recentes, já era, assim, mais do que devida. Este estudo procura, assim, fazer frente a essa necessidade ao identificar alguns dos sinais de defasagem da lei societária e colocá-los em discussão. / For the first time in history the country is dealing with a real, although restricted, tendency of corporate dispersion, and a certain level of popularization of the investment in listed companies, all stimulated by an unprecedented expansion of the economy, consumption, and foreign investments. It has been indeed a fascinating period for the corporate law enthusiasts; a period of growing complexity and specialization in the national corporate environment, which, altogether with the new communication technologies, has been challenging the foundations of the Brazilian Corporation Law, enacted in 1976, and testing the capacity of adaption of Brazilian legal and regulatory institutions. In this scenario, studying the mechanisms of voting, proxy solicitation, and remote voting and participation in shareholders meetings, seemed to be the most natural way to contribute to build a bridge between the old Brazilian market and the new one. The main contributions expected from the thesis are threefold: First, an inaugural analysis of the new legislation and regulation applicable to proxy voting, remote voting and participation in Brazil. The analysis concluded for the necessity of certain adjustments on the Brazilian regulation, e.g. (i) the construction of a discipline for the inclusion of shareholders proposals in the management proxy material, and (ii) the enactment of rules governing remote voting and participation that assumes them as a right of the shareholder, while consenting to the companies certain flexibility of implementation connected to the development of the technologies available. Second, a thorough and also seminal study on the effects of the decoupling of shares ownership and exercise of voting rights in the contemporary market, and a contribution to update the scientific comprehension of the act of voting in corporate law, rather than simply the comprehension of the right to vote. While the Brazilian law and regulation are in certain aspects still trying to catch up with modern markets regulation, concerning the assimilation of new communication and financial technologies by the corporate legal framework, the local transactions already involve the most updated and complex financial instruments. The legal gap created, and concretely identified in cases as the lending of stocks, the use of derivatives instruments, and the sale of votes, puts in risk the stability of the market and destabilizes the discipline of liability for the abusive use of voting power as Brazilian law and courts are used to know, as the link between share ownership and vote are not as clear as before. The study seeks to bring to light these issues and to realign the scientific comprehension of voting with the current markets practices. Third, a first questioning of the Brazilian Corporation Law capacity to face a reality where there may be no power polarization between an absolute controlling shareholder and small minority shareholders, and where historical necessities of physicality and concomitance are, as a consequence of the new means of communication, no longer mandatory elements of the concepts connected to the relationship among shareholders, management, and the company. The study verifies that Brazilian Corporation Law is not prepared for a reality where there may be no clear controlling shareholders anymore and where minority shareholders may not be an uninformed small investor, but a resourceful hedge fund. On the same token, the idea of a shareholder meeting that is not delimited in space and time, and that does not depend on the physical and simultaneous interaction between parties, perfectly acceptable by our current society, is still far from any consistent reception by the corporation legal framework. A comprehensive analysis on the effects for the Brazilian markets of the limits of a great but old law, in contrast with the impact of recent years financial and technological development, were more than due. This study aims to fulfill this scientific gap, identifying some of the items in need of updating and starting discussion over them.

Pela primeira vez em sua história o mercado de capitais nacional lida com uma real, ainda que localizada, tendência de dispersão da titularidade acionária e com certo nível de popularização do investimento em companhias abertas, estimulados por um crescimento econômico, de consumo e de investimento estrangeiro também sem precedentes. A última década foi, de fato, um período fascinante para os entusiastas do direito societário; um período de crescente complexificação e especialização no ambiente societário nacional, que, em conjunto com o desenvolvimento recente das tecnologias de comunicação, vem desafiando os fundamentos da Lei das Sociedades por Ações, de 1976, e testando a capacidade de adaptação das instituições legais e regulatórias brasileiras. Nesse contexto, o estudo dos mecanismos de exercício do direito de voto, dos pedidos públicos de procuração e para o voto e participação à distância nas assembleias, mostrou-se um meio efetivo de contribuição para a construção de uma ponte entre o antigo e o novo mercado de capitais brasileiro. Para tanto, são três as contribuições principais pretendidas por este estudo. A primeira consiste na análise sistematizada inaugural, na doutrina nacional, da legislação e da regulação aplicáveis aos pedidos públicos de procuração, voto e participação à distância nas assembleias gerais. Essa análise conclui pela necessidade da realização de determinados ajustes na regulação do mercado de capitais brasileiro. Entre esses ajustes, estão (i) a construção de uma disciplina para a inclusão de propostas de acionistas no material de pedidos públicos de procuração da administração e (ii) a elaboração de normas que regulem o exercício do direito de voto e a participação à distância nas assembleias gerais, normas essas que devem pressupor ambos como direitos legalmente garantidos aos acionistas e que devem prever a possibilidade de implementação escalonada das correspondentes obrigações das companhias, de acordo com a evolução dos meios tecnológicos disponíveis. A segunda contribuição consiste na reflexão, também seminal no cenário brasileiro, a respeito dos efeitos da dissociação entre a titularidade da ação e o exercício do direito de voto no mercado de capitais contemporâneo, bem como dos efeitos decorrentes da correlata defasagem entre a compreensão doutrinária do direito de voto e a compreensão doutrinária do exercício desse direito. A desatualização da legislação, da regulação e principalmente da doutrina brasileira em relação às normas em vigor nos mercados mais desenvolvidos, no que diz respeito à assimilação do desenvolvimento tecnológico e dos instrumentos financeiros pelo direito societário, é agravada pelo fato de que as transações realizadas no mercado local já envolvem os mais modernos e complexos instrumentos financeiros utilizados globalmente. O consequente descolamento entre o direito e a realidade, verificados concretamente em casos como o aluguel de ações, o uso de derivativos e a venda do voto, por exemplo, desestabiliza as bases para responsabilização pelo cometimento de abusos no exercício do direito de voto, na medida em que a relação entre a titularidade da ação e o exercício do direito de voto já não é mais tão clara. Este trabalho procura trazer à superfície essas questões e realinhar o entendimento científico a respeito do exercício do direito de voto com as práticas atuais do mercado. A terceira contribuição consiste no questionamento por este estudo da capacidade da Lei das Sociedades por Ações de enfrentar uma nova realidade, em que deixa de ser certa a existência da polarização de poder entre um controlador majoritário e acionistas minoritários atomizados, e na qual necessidades históricas de fisicalidade e concomitância deixam de ser pressupostos obrigatórios na construção de conceitos relacionados ao relacionamento entre acionistas, administradores e a companhia. O trabalho constata que a Lei das Sociedades por Ações não está inteiramente preparada para uma realidade em que nem sempre haverá um acionista controlador definido e em que o acionista minoritário nem sempre será um pequeno e pouco informado investidor, mas eventualmente um investidor institucional, com escala e recursos suficientes para efetivamente processar as informações divulgadas pela companhia e interferir em sua gestão. No mesmo passo, constata-se também que a ideia da realização de assembleias que deixem de ser delimitadas no espaço e no tempo, e que não mais dependam da interação física e simultânea de seus participantes, perfeitamente aceitável na atual dimensão das interações sociais, está ainda longe de ser consistentemente recepcionada pela legislação societária nacional. Uma análise abrangente dos efeitos para o mercado Brasileiro dos limites de uma magistral, mas já trintária lei societária, em contraste com o impacto do desenvolvimento financeiro e tecnológico experimentado pelo mundo em anos recentes, já era, assim, mais do que devida. Este estudo procura, assim, fazer frente a essa necessidade ao identificar alguns dos sinais de defasagem da lei societária e colocá-los em discussão. / For the first time in history the country is dealing with a real, although restricted, tendency of corporate dispersion, and a certain level of popularization of the investment in listed companies, all stimulated by an unprecedented expansion of the economy, consumption, and foreign investments. It has been indeed a fascinating period for the corporate law enthusiasts; a period of growing complexity and specialization in the national corporate environment, which, altogether with the new communication technologies, has been challenging the foundations of the Brazilian Corporation Law, enacted in 1976, and testing the capacity of adaption of Brazilian legal and regulatory institutions. In this scenario, studying the mechanisms of voting, proxy solicitation, and remote voting and participation in shareholders meetings, seemed to be the most natural way to contribute to build a bridge between the old Brazilian market and the new one. The main contributions expected from the thesis are threefold: First, an inaugural analysis of the new legislation and regulation applicable to proxy voting, remote voting and participation in Brazil. The analysis concluded for the necessity of certain adjustments on the Brazilian regulation, e.g. (i) the construction of a discipline for the inclusion of shareholders proposals in the management proxy material, and (ii) the enactment of rules governing remote voting and participation that assumes them as a right of the shareholder, while consenting to the companies certain flexibility of implementation connected to the development of the technologies available. Second, a thorough and also seminal study on the effects of the decoupling of shares ownership and exercise of voting rights in the contemporary market, and a contribution to update the scientific comprehension of the act of voting in corporate law, rather than simply the comprehension of the right to vote. While the Brazilian law and regulation are in certain aspects still trying to catch up with modern markets regulation, concerning the assimilation of new communication and financial technologies by the corporate legal framework, the local transactions already involve the most updated and complex financial instruments. The legal gap created, and concretely identified in cases as the lending of stocks, the use of derivatives instruments, and the sale of votes, puts in risk the stability of the market and destabilizes the discipline of liability for the abusive use of voting power as Brazilian law and courts are used to know, as the link between share ownership and vote are not as clear as before. The study seeks to bring to light these issues and to realign the scientific comprehension of voting with the current markets practices. Third, a first questioning of the Brazilian Corporation Law capacity to face a reality where there may be no power polarization between an absolute controlling shareholder and small minority shareholders, and where historical necessities of physicality and concomitance are, as a consequence of the new means of communication, no longer mandatory elements of the concepts connected to the relationship among shareholders, management, and the company. The study verifies that Brazilian Corporation Law is not prepared for a reality where there may be no clear controlling shareholders anymore and where minority shareholders may not be an uninformed small investor, but a resourceful hedge fund. On the same token, the idea of a shareholder meeting that is not delimited in space and time, and that does not depend on the physical and simultaneous interaction between parties, perfectly acceptable by our current society, is still far from any consistent reception by the corporation legal framework. A comprehensive analysis on the effects for the Brazilian markets of the limits of a great but old law, in contrast with the impact of recent years financial and technological development, were more than due. This study aims to fulfill this scientific gap, identifying some of the items in need of updating and starting discussion over them.

The world we live in becomes more globalized as a result of new communication media. Communication occurs over greater distances which leads to increased travel. In the report AR5, by IPCC, it is showed that the human impact of climate change is clear and that something has to be done. Therefore its very important to change the human impact. A part of it is to change the way we travel within the service which leads to the purpose of the thesis. The purpose is to eximine how commune´s, in Gävleborgs län, choice of transport and with a change against virtual meetings affects greenhouse gas emissions and costs. An additional purpose is to gather information about currently known differences between natural and virtual meetings and explain these with a focus on interaction and communication. This is to give information about what it is that makes people feel that virtual meetings lack of communication . This has been done by studying the empirical results of the CERO-model and the NTM-database of greenhouse gas emissions and conduct a literature review relating to projects in the area of virtual meetings and then try to explain their results by learning and communication theories. The results clearly shows that train as vehicle is preferred both environmentally as financially and if the trip must be carried while driving or flying it is only justifiable when trains and public transport is disadvantaged. Virtual meetings are rather cheaper and more environmentally friendly than all vehicles but has some limitations. That is because the conversation becomes formal, and gesticulation and phonological patterns is missing. The restriction of virtual meetings can be explained with that contextual differences arise when individuals meet at great distances while communication requires a stricter meeting posture. / reser inom tjänsten vilket leder till syftet med examensarbetet som är att undersöka hur en kommuns val av färdmedel vid tjänsteresor samt vid ett skifte mot resfria möten påverkar samhället med avseende på växhusgasutsläpp och kostnad. Vidare är syftet att samla information om idag kända skillnader mellan fysiska och resfria möten och förklara dessa med fokus på interaktion och kommunikation. Detta för att ge information om vad det är som gör att en del känner att resfria möten brister i kommunikationen. Detta har gjorts genom att studera empiriska resultat av CERO-modellen och NTMs databas för växthusgasutsläpp samt genomföra en litteraturstudie av projekt inom området resfria möten, för att förklara deras resultat utifrån lärande- och kommunikationsteorier. Resultatet visar tydligt på att tåget som färdmedel både är att fördedra miljömässigt såsom ekonomiskt om resan måste genomföras medan bil och flyg endast är försvarbart då utbredningen av tåg och kollektivtrafik är missgynnad. Resfria möten är istället billigare och miljövänligare än alla färdmedel men har vissa begränsningar då samtalet blir formellt och saknar gestikulering samt fonologiska mönster. Att resfria möten har begränsningar kan förklaras i att kontextuella skillnader uppstår när individer möts på stora avstånd samtidigt som kommunikationen kräver en striktare möteshållning.

The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in organizations rapidly shifting from physical- to virtual meetings to keep their business going. However, with this came challenges and efficiency problems that organizations were not aware of. This master thesis focuses on identifying and finding potential solutions to reduce non-value-added time in virtual meetings. This was accomplished by studying Lynk &amp; Co, a rapidly growing startup. Data was collected via a company-wide survey. The data was quantitatively analyzed using both univariate, bivariate, and multivariate methods as well as qualitatively analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. The quantitative results showed that 35,2% of the total Hours in meetings per day are hours wasted, this translates to 16% wasted hours per 8 hour work day. Additionally, the quantitative results showed that five independent variables affect the Wasted hours in virtual meetings per day. These were Hours in meetings per day, Key persons not attending the meeting, The meeting could have been replaced with an email,  Focusing on the meeting (I.e., not multitasking), and Being active in the discussions during the meeting. The qualitative results showed that the majority of the respondents highlighted either the same or similar problems and solutions regarding the virtual meeting inefficiencies. These were lack of agendas and insufficient meeting follow-ups. This concludes that the major root cause of the wasted time in virtual meetings was found to be inadequate meeting information combined with inadequate information regarding the work responsibilities of the employees. This resulted in two main recommendations for reducing non-value-added time in virtual meetings in a rapidly growing startup. These are (1) developing an internal meeting policy and (2) incorporating more detailed employee information in the virtual meeting communication software. / Covid-19 pandemin har resulterat i att organisationer har varit tvungna att börja använda virtuella möten istället för fysiska möten. Detta har inneburit utmaningar och effektivitetsproblem som inte tidigare varit kända. Det här examensarbetet ämnar att hitta potentiella förbättringar för att reducera icke-effektiv tid i virtuella möten. Detta åstadkoms genom att undersöka Lynk &amp; Co, ett snabbväxande startup. Både kvantitativ- och kvalitativ data samlades in genom en enkät som skickades ut till de anställda på Lynk &amp; Co. Vid den kvantitativa analysen användes både univariata-, bivariata- och multivariata- metoder och vid den kvalitativa analysen användes en tematisk analys. Resultatet av den kvantitativa analysen visade på att 35,2% av totala tiden i möten per dag är slösad tid, vilket representerar 16% slösad tid per 8 timmars arbetsdag. Vidare visade resultatet av den kvantitativa analysen på att det var fem variabler som påverkade slösad tid i virtuella möten per dag. Dessa var mötestimmar per dag, nyckelpersoner dök ej upp till mötet, mötet kunde ha blivit utbytt mot ett mail, fokus under mötet (I.e., inte multitaska) , och vara aktiv i diskussionerna under mötet. Resultatet av den kvalitativa analysen visade på att majoriteten av respondenterna var enade i de problem som påverkar tidsslöseri i virtuella möten. Dessa var brist på agendor och att virtuella möten hade otillräckliga uppföljningar. Slutsatsen blev därefter att den huvudsakliga rotorsaken av slösad tid i virtuella möten är brist på mötesinformation kombinerat med en brist av information gällande de anställdas arbetsansvar. Detta resulterade i två rekommendationer för att reducera slösad tid i virtuella möten i ett snabbt växande startup. Dessa är (1) skapa en intern mötespolicy och (2) inkorporera mer detaljerad information gällande de anställdas arbetsansvar i det virtuella mötesprogrammet som används inom organisationen.

Bakgrund. Möten utgör en essentiell funktion för organisationer och är avgörande för genomförandet av arbete. Arbetstid spenderad i möten ökar och möten utgör en stor kostnad för företag. Till följd av covid-19 pandemins framfart har organisationer skiftat till att bedriva möten virtuellt. Denna övergång lyfter frågan huruvida övergången har påverkat hur möten bedrivs, samt hur deltagarna vid virtuella möten upplever effektiviteten.  Syfte. Föreliggande studie syftar till att undersöka hur övergången till virtuella möten har påverkat möjligheten att bedriva effektiva möten. Studien beaktar rutiner och strävar efter att explorativt undersöka den virtuella övergången och vilken effekt den har haft på mötesrutiner.  Metod. Studien är genomförd genom utförandet av intervjuer, observationer, samt granskning av dokument. Totalt genomfördes 11 intervjuer och 4 observationer. Insamlad empiri analyserades genom en innehållsanalys. Kategorier identifierades utifrån empiri där stycken från empirin blev inplacerade.  Resultat. Studiens resultat tyder på att övergången till virtuella möten kan påverkan möteseffektiviteten. Studien har uppmärksammat 16 kategorier som kan påverka möteseffektiviteten. Dessa är: antal deltagare, punktlighet, agenda, dialoger, miljö, förberedelser, prioritering, mötesmedium, förändring, känsla, relation, deltagande, inbjudan till möte, mötesledare, mötesprotokoll, och multitasking. Vidare noterar studien att rutiner i koppling till nämnda kategorier förändrats.  Slutsatser. Studien presenterar fyra övergripande slutsatser. En övergång till virtuella möten indikerar på att: tid spenderad i möten ökar; det blir upp till deltagarna själva att skapa optimala mötesförhållanden; fokus minskar hos mötesdeltagarna; lokala och globala relationer kan påverkas negativt respektive positivt. / Background. Meetings are an essential function of organizations and are crucial to the execution of work. Time spent in meetings is increasing and meetings represent a large cost for companies. As a result of the covid-19 pandemic, organizations have shifted to conducting meetings virtually. This transition raises the question of whether the transition has affected how meetings are conducted, as well as how participants in virtual meetings experience the effectiveness of meetings. Objectives. The study aims to investigate how the transition to virtual meetings has affected the ability to conduct effective meetings. The study pays attention to routines and strives to exploratively examine the virtual transition and what effect it has had on meeting routines.  Methods. The study is carried out through the execution of interviews, observations, and review of documents. A total of 11 interviews and 4 observations were conducted. Collected empirical evidence was analysed through a content analysis. Categories were identified based on empirical evidence, where pieces from the empirical evidence were fitted.  Results. The study's results indicate that the transition to virtual meetings can affect meeting efficiency. The study has drawn attention to 16 categories that can affect meeting efficiency. These are: number of participants, punctuality, agenda, dialogues, environment, preparation, prioritization, meeting medium, change, emotions, relationships, participation, invitation to meeting, meeting leader, meeting minutes, and multitasking. Furthermore, the study notes that routines in connection with the mentioned categories have changed.  Conclusions. The study presents four overall conclusions. A shift to virtual meetings indicates that: time spent in meetings increases; it is up to the participants themselves to create optimal meeting conditions; the focus of the meeting participants decreases; local and global relations can be affected negatively and positively respectively.

Цель магистерской диссертации: на основе исследования потребностей участников общего рабочего процесса спроектировать и реализовать решение для организации деловых встреч в гибридном формате, объединяющем реальное офисное пространство и виртуальную переговорную комнату. / The purpose of the master's thesis is to design and to develop a solution for organizing business meetings in a hybrid format that combines real office space and a virtual meeting room based on a study of the needs of participants in the common workflow.