Date of Award

Fall 2025

Project Type

Dissertation

Program or Major

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

First Advisor

Andrew L Kun

Second Advisor

John R LaCourse

Third Advisor

MD Shaad Mahmud

Abstract

The nature of work continues to evolve, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. While a substantial number of employees have returned to traditional, in-person work environments, many continue to engage in remote or hybrid work arrangements. Online meetings are a significant aspect of remote work, and while there has been a significant increase in this area, there are still aspects of these meetings that are not fully understood. Existing research in this area has primarily focused on the development of tools to facilitate meeting execution and content management. In contrast, relatively few studies have explored the social dynamics and interpersonal interactions that occur within virtual meeting settings.This work is motivated by this research gap to examine how various factors within the online meeting environment influence workers’ creativity and well-being, as well as to explore technological solutions that can help mitigate negative effects. This work also seeks to understand the dynamics of groups in remote meetings and explore the factors that affect productivity and creativity. We contribute to the growing research in this area by conducting studies to investigate the impacts of various factors within the online meeting environment on creativity and well-being of the knowledge worker as well as the impact of technology to support the remote worker. First, to address common challenges in remote work—such as stress and difficulties with maintaining focus—we conducted a study investigating the effects of daily virtual nature experiences combined with mindfulness practices on remote workers’ creativity, stress levels, and focus. Next, we explored the impact of multitasking behavior on group collaborative tasks involving creative thinking. Finally, in our efforts to understand the online meeting settings we explored the role of camera configurations in online meetings and the impact on creativity and performance.

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