ArticlePDF Available

The Effects of Stand-Up and Sit-Down Meeting Formats on Meeting Outcomes

Authors:
Allen C. Bluedorn
Allen C. Bluedorn
Allen C. Bluedorn
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
Daniel B. Turban at University of Missouri
Daniel B. Turban
Mary Sue Love at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Mary Sue Love
Download full-text PDF
Read full-text
Download citation

Abstract

The effects of meeting format (standing or sitting) on meeting length and the quality of group decision making were investigated by comparing meeting outcomes for 56 five-member groups that conducted meetings in a standing format with 55 five-member groups that conducted meetings in a seated format. Sit-down meetings were 34% longer than stand-up meetings, but they produced no better decisions than stand-up meetings. Significant differences were also obtained for satisfaction with the meeting and task information use during the meeting but not for synergy or commitment to the group's decision. The findings were generally congruent with meeting-management recommendations in the time-management literature, although the lack of a significant difference for decision quality was contrary to theoretical expectations. This contrary finding may have been due to differences between the temporal context in which this study was conducted and those in which other time constraint research has been conducted, thereby revealing a potentially important contingency—temporal context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Content uploaded by Daniel B. Turban
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Daniel B. Turban on Apr 07, 2016
Content may be subject to copyright.
A preview of this full-text is provided by American Psychological Association.
Learn more
Content available from Journal of Applied Psychology
This content is subject to copyright. Terms and conditions apply.
... Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton, in a book that has become an EBM classic, provide a series of examples to illustrate the value of this approach (Pfeffer and Sutton 2006). In particular, they argue, based on research by psychologists at the University of Missouri at Columbia (Bluedorn et al. 1999), that a company such as Chevron could significantly increase productivity by requiring its employees to stand up during meetings. This second example is an epistemological belief, this time implicit, about the probative value of Bluedorn et al. (1999). ...
... In particular, they argue, based on research by psychologists at the University of Missouri at Columbia (Bluedorn et al. 1999), that a company such as Chevron could significantly increase productivity by requiring its employees to stand up during meetings. This second example is an epistemological belief, this time implicit, about the probative value of Bluedorn et al. (1999). The corollary of this idea is the other spontaneous epistemological belief, also implicit, that a single academic article can constitute "evidence". ...
... For example, it is wrong to believe, as some EBM theorists seem to assume, that an academic paper alone can Rousseau (2006) Theoretical Scientific literature provides more reliable evidence of how effective a practice is than professional experience. Pfeffer and Sutton (2006, p. 179) Theoretical Bluedorn et al. (1999) show that meetings are more effective when attendees remain standing. ...
Is epistemology necessary?
Article
Full-text available
  • Aug 2022
The necessity of epistemological theorisation for management science is questionable. However, epistemology can be useful if the following distinction between three kinds of epistemology, usually overlooked, is taken into account: epistemology as a structured academic discipline, epistemology as an intellectual exercise produced outside academic epistemology, and finally the epistemology specific to each researcher. When this distinction is not made, epistemology can become counterproductive and impede scientific work.
View
... Knowledge workers spend most of their time at work sitting. Since working posture can affect not only short-term task performance [108] and meeting time [109] but also longterm well-being and health [110][111][112], it has been widely studied from both ergonomic and physiological perspectives. Recently, there has been an increasing body of research on HWI that interactively support the workers' posture during work, and these works are described below according to three different approaches. ...
Human-Workspace Interaction: prior research efforts and future challenges for supporting knowledge workers
Article
Full-text available
  • Aug 2023
Research efforts have previously explored various components of physical/virtual workspaces that adaptively interact with knowledge workers in order to support them in their work. In this paper, we propose an encompassing framework for these efforts, which we refer to as Human-Workspace Interaction (HWI), with the goal of increasing awareness and understanding of the research area and encouraging its further development. Specifically, we present a taxonomy of HWI focusing on the types of components, research approaches, interaction targets and objectives, and then review the prior research efforts over the past two decades based on these criteria. Finally, we discuss challenges to further advance the development of HWI and future prospects, taking into account the impact of the societal changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
View
... This task is meant to create a realistic simulation of intergroup processes-such as turn-taking, speaking up, negotiating task approaches, and reaching sufficient consensus-that are major aspects of teamwork across many different specific contexts. Tasks such as this are common in lab-based team research (e.g., see Bluedorn et al., 1999). After the task was complete, participants completed the dependent variable measures individually. ...
Predicting Perceptions of Team Process Using Optimal Distinctiveness Theory
Article
Full-text available
  • Sep 2021
There are conflicting findings in team diversity research on whether it is better for an individual on a team to be similar to or different from the rest of the team. This lab study with undergraduates completing a critical thinking and decision-making task uses optimal distinctiveness theory to examine the idea that finding a balance between these two states for team member personality will result in positive perceptions of team process. Our results supported this such that participants had the most positive perceptions of team process when optimally distinct from the rest of the team in terms of personality.
View
... The flexibility gained during the months of the crisis will continue to advance, especially concerning forms of work and learning.' 16 Besides the positive effect to the health of the employee (see Section 2.3.1 Physiological Limitations), standing meetings take significantly less time compared to sitting meetings according to Bluedorn et al. (1999). 17 The term 'Co-working' has been established to describe an open workplace structure shared by people with diverse job descriptions, diverse skill profiles who are not employed by a common company. ...
Design of Industrial Workplaces to relieve Workers when Interacting with Joint-Arm-Robots
Thesis
Full-text available
  • Mar 2021
A comprehensive understanding of the needs of the user is required to design adequate workplace systems in general, but especially in the highly digitised area of industry where operators are interacting with autonomously operating machines. There is little knowledge in design criteria for professionals to enable adequate developments of system design for Human-Machine Interaction, e.g. Human-Robot Collaboration regarding the effects of design decisions to all three levels of Human Factors, i.e. physiological, cognitive and organisational limitations. Moreover, there is little known about objective measurement procedures that evaluate whether the operator subjectively perceives the workplace system design as assistance and improvement. The research presented in the following is affiliated with the scientific discipline of Human Factors Engineering and focuses on the evaluation of Human Factor issues within the digitised industry. Based on broad theoretical and empirical investigations, the results of this research extend our knowledge of adequate Human-Centred Design by providing reliable, powerful design criteria for workplaces where operators interact with machines/collaborate with robots, but also an overall technique, the Objective Workload Detection Method, for evaluation of the effectiveness of design investigation focusing on cognitive stress relief. Through the application of this method within a controlled experiment, the validation of the derived design criteria was confirmed. The study significantly shows how the cognitive workload can be relieved by an assisting environment. This work also gives one best-practice design example of a self-adapting workplace system for hybrid Human-Robot Teams. Following the Human-Centred Design method, the concept of Assisting Industrial Workplace System for Human-Robot Collaboration has been successfully developed as a flexible hybrid unit design. The prototype is related to a real-world scenario from the aerospace industry and the demonstrator was implemented within a laboratory set-up. This work seamlessly applies techniques from interdisciplinary science fields, e.g. Engineering, Neuroscience, Gestalt theory, and Design. Equally, the design criteria and the evaluation method will support professionals from varied disciplines to succeed in the creation process of future system-designs by giving a clear indication of future Human-Centred Design research.
View
I'm only here for the donuts: stand-up meeting relevance's effects on work meaningfulness and motivation
Article
  • Nov 2023
Purpose Stand-up meetings have received attention for their functional effectiveness in the workplace, but they can also cause affective reactions among attendees. These reactions can affect workplace attitudes and alter the way that employees view and perform their work to the benefit or detriment of the organization. Design/methodology/approach Following the tenets of the job characteristics model (JCM), a study was conducted on relevant stand-up meetings' effects on beliefs about the meaningfulness of one's work and subsequent motivation. Further analysis explored the effects that meeting load (i.e. the number of meetings) has on the outcomes of meetings. Findings Consistent with hypotheses, stand-up meeting relevance has an indirect effect on work motivation through work meaningfulness. Meeting load moderates both the indirect effect, such that the effect is stronger at higher numbers of meetings, and the direct effect on work meaningfulness in the opposite direction, as the effect is strongest with fewer meetings. Practical implications Organizations should ensure that stand-up meetings are relevant to all attendees and hold the meetings at an appropriate regularity for the best outcomes. Originality/value This work examined the stand-up meeting. Most prior meetings research has focused on meetings as a whole or other subtypes and examine meeting relevance and contribution to employee motivation through the lens of JCM.
View
View
Epistemic motivation facilitates advice seeking and utilization by groups
Article
  • Jan 2023
Drawing on a motivated information processing model, we tested the hypothesis that groups' receptivity to outside advice is facilitated by their epistemic motivation—the desire to gain an accurate understanding of the world. Epistemic motivation was measured by proxy in Study 1 using a team task reflexivity measure, and was experimentally manipulated in Studies 2 and 3 by varying, respectively, either the amount of time allotted to complete the task or whether a consensus judgment was required before receiving advice. Receptivity to advice was operationalized as group advice seeking in Studies 1 and 2, and as advice utilization in Study 3. In support of our hypothesis, groups with higher levels of epistemic motivation consistently sought out and utilized advice more than those with lower levels of epistemic motivation. Moreover, epistemic motivation affected judgment accuracy via groups' receptivity to advice.
View
View
Making Meetings More Meaningful: An Exploration of Meeting Science in Libraries
Article
  • May 2021
The term “meeting science” first appears in the 2015 publication The Cambridge Handbook of Meeting Science, edited by Allen, Lehamann–Willenbrock, and Rogelberg. The field looks at actual meetings and their components, usually through observations and surveys. As meetings occur in virtually every library environment, it behooves an investigation. There is a lack of empirical studies for meeting science in libraries. This article adds to the growing body of research in the area, explored from a library perspective. The authors investigate the predictors of success for productive meetings, librarian perceptions of effective meeting leadership, and best practices for meeting leadership.
View
Stand up to Action: The Postural Effect of Moral Dilemma Decision-Making and the Moderating Role of Dual Processes
Article
Full-text available
  • Apr 2021
Previous studies have demonstrated the possibility that when people are in standing rather than sitting postures, they have a stronger cognitive control propensity, making them inclined to agree more to sacrificing one innocent person and saving more people. Furthermore, this postural effect can be moderated by dual processes. In three studies, participants read dilemma scenarios followed by a proposed behavior to sacrifice one innocent person and save five or more people. The participants in sitting or standing postures were asked whether the described action was morally acceptable (moral judgment) and whether they would perform the described action (moral action). The results demonstrated that participants were more approving of the behavioral proposal in the moral action perspective than in the moral judgment perspective across the three studies. The hypothesized postural effect was found in a field study (Study 1) and replicated in a preregistered replication study (Study 2), and was further supported in an experimental study (Study 3). Compared with those in sitting postures, participants in standing postures expressed higher approval of the behavioral proposal compared to their sitting counterparts. Furthermore, the postural effect was dismissed when participants made moral decisions with a dual task to increase cognitive load, and it was reversed when they made moral decisions after deliberate consideration of the behavioral proposal (Study 3). The present research supports and extends the dual-process morality theory by demonstrating that body posture can affect moral decision-making; it also offers novel evidence revealing the moderating role of dual process on embodiment effects. It enriches our knowledge that morality is evolutionarily embodied in postures and that the dual process can moderate embodiment effects.
View
The Effects of Recipient Posture on Persuasion: A Cognitive Response Analysis
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 1983
  • Pers Soc Psychol Bull
Two experiments were conducted to explore the relationship between the body posture of a message recipient and susceptibility to persuasive influence. In Experiment 1, recipients who were reclining comfortably during exposure to a counterattitudinal message showed more agreement with the message than recipients who were standing during exposure. In Experiment 2, posture (standing or reclining) and the quality of the arguments employed in the counterattitudinal message (cogent or specious) were varied in an effort to assess competing theoretical accounts of the posture effect. An interaction between posture and message quality emerged on the measure of postmessage agreement. Reclining subjects were differentially persuaded by the strong and weak arguments, but standing subjects were not. This pattern of results is consistent with the view that reclining recipients engage in more message-relevant thinking than standing recipients.
View
View
View
Decisions, decisions, decisions
Article
  • Jan 1971
  • Psychol Today
View
View
The effects of time scarcity and time abundance on group performance quality and interaction process* 1
Article
  • Nov 1992
The present research was designed to examine the impact of temporal constraints on group interaction and performance. Thirty-six triads worked on one of two planning tasks under conditions of time scarcity, optimal time, or time abundance. Group interactions were videotaped and coded using the TEMPO system. Each group's written solution was rated on length, originality, creativity, adequacy, issue involvement, quality of presentation, optimism, and action orientation. Each proposal suggested during the interaction was rated on creativity and adequacy. Interaction process data showed that time limits were inversely related to the amount of task focus shown by groups. Performance data showed that the effects of time limits on group performance varied depending on what aspects of quality were considered. Process-performance relationships were also examined within each time condition. The findings are discussed in terms of an attentional focus model of time limits and group performance.
View
View
The Effects of Time Pressure and Issue Settlement Order on Integrative Bargaining
Article
  • Sep 1976
  • Sociometry
A laboratory bargaining experiment was conducted with 120 undergraduates to determine how conflict resolution and integrative bargaining are affected by time pressure and issue settlement order. Settlements were reached faster but joint payoff was lower under high time pressure than under low time pressure. Joint payoff was less when the issues were settled sequentially than when the negotiators were unrestricted in settlement order or were required to settle the issues simultaneously. The results are interpreted in terms of two different integrative bargaining processes.
View
Five Years of Groups Research: What We Have Learned and What Needs to Be Addressed
Article
  • Jun 1991
This article reports the principal findings of over 250 studies published between January, 1986 and October, 1989 that address the dynamics of small social groups. The reviewed work falls into four broad areas that together provide insight and knowledge of group behavior Studies in the first section explore the fundamental tension between individuals and groups, how group members form a common understanding of their world, and how groups develop and change over time. The second section examines how the group's interaction context, (i.e., its structure, technology environment, size, and composition) affects group processes and outcomes. The third and fourth sections summarize the recent findings in each of seven areas of traditional interest in social psychology: group polarization, social influence, social loafing, group cohesion, commitment, conflict, and goal setting. Finally, research that specifically addresses work group effectiveness, self-managed teams, quality circles and team building interventions is summarized and discussed. Trends and areas of managerial interest that deserve further research attention are identified throughout this review; the areas of greatest practical concern are summarized in afinal section.
View
View