Literature Map

Nonverbal Cues 1

Nonverbal cues

Jalen Dunn

COM 5401- Team Based Communication

April 4, 2024

Nonverbal Cues 2

Abstract

Many organizations have embraced the transformation to remote working since the onset

of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Remote working has brought about virtual meetings among employees.

Some of the virtual meeting platforms used by various organizations include Zoom, Google Meet,

Microsoft Teams, Webex Webinars, and Slack. While attending virtual meetings, participants have

faced challenges comprehending various nonverbal cues such as tone, facial expressions, body

language, eye contact, gestures, spatial dynamics, proxemics, mirroring, and silence. The

comprehension challenges faced by participants can be resolved by addressing the existing

technical issues such as poor internet connection and encouraging participants to focus on their

cameras.

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Many organizations have embraced the shift to remote work. These organizations have

been forced to adopt virtual meetings. Communication styles among individuals attending virtual

meetings have changed. To enhance the effectiveness of communication, employees have had to

understand nonverbal cues. A significant number of employees believe that virtual meetings are

less demanding. Corporate employees do not spend a lot of time preparing for virtual meetings.

Some of the virtual meeting platforms used by various organizations include Zoom, Google Meet,

Microsoft Teams, Webex Webinars, and Slack. Virtual teams face numerous nonverbal cues

challenges. This paper explains nonverbal cue challenges, specifically understanding tone, facial

expressions, body language, eye contact, gestures, spatial dynamics, proxemics, mirroring, and

silence, and their solutions to virtual meetings.

One of the nonverbal cues that can build trust among individuals attending virtual meetings

is eye gaze. According to Kurzweg et al. (2021), eye gaze contributes to trust in members attending

sales meetings online. Mutual eye gaze among virtual meeting attendants is linked to liking and

trust. However, it is also linked to hostility and dominance. Conversation partners correlate eye

gaze or contact with synchrony. Eye contact enables both independent and shared thought modes.

It allows conversations during virtual meetings to evolve and cohere.

Presenters in virtual meetings often feel disengaged and distracted since audiovisual

feedback is not available. Audience members do not provide feedback in the form of gaze direction

and eye contact during virtual meetings. Providing feedback in the form of nonverbal cues is

difficult since platforms used for virtual meetings allocate small screen proportions for the

participants. The current web video conferencing tools do not facilitate mutual gaze (Han 2023).

Users often focus on the person speaking, but the camera’s location is at the top. Therefore,

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maintaining eye contact is difficult. Participants voice their frustrations about various camera

issues. These include bad lighting, proximity, and camera angle. Some participants do not look

directly at the camera. This makes it difficult to maintain eye contact.

The lack of physical presence in virtual meetings presents unique challenges for developing

and maintaining eye contact. Participants often feel ignored and disconnected when there is no eye

contact. To overcome the challenge of eye contact, participants should position their webcam at

the correct level. If the webcam is placed at eye level, eye contact and face-to-face communication

is stimulated. Participants should ensure that they look at the camera. Whenever virtual meeting

attendants are listening or speaking, they should look at the camera, but not their screen (Kurzweg

et al. 2021). Distractions also make it difficult to maintain eye contact during virtual meetings.

Examples of distractions that divert someone’s attention include phone notifications and

unnecessary tabs. Those attending virtual meetings should minimize distractions. They should

work in quiet spaces and mute notifications.

Individuals attending virtual meetings are likely to misinterpret tone. This is due to tech

issues and slow clarification. Technology issues such as video or voice call disruptions and poor

quality of audio makes it difficult for those attending virtual meetings to correctly interpret tone.

Many employees are accustomed to written communication. Therefore, discerning the tone in

verbal communication is always a challenge (Maloney et al. 2020). The clarification of tone is

usually slow. Microphone issues contribute to the challenge of understanding tone in virtual

meetings. Background noises and echoes make it hard to get the speaker’s tone.

When individuals do not engage in face-to-face communication, nonverbal cues are often

lost. Tone expresses intonation, emphasis, or mood. People misinterpret and miss the tone and

context of messages. According to the social presence theory, communication cues vary depending

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on the available social presence and the media used for communication. An interaction between

individuals depends on the ability of the chosen medium to support communication. The

interactions between individuals attending virtual meetings are characterized by poor

understanding of tone (Kurzweg et al. 2021). Virtual meeting tools do not adequately support

nonverbal cues such as tone. During virtual meetings, tone changes due to the emotional state of

participants, communication medium, and technical limitations.

Tone is often distorted when there is a lagging connection and poor quality of audio. The

interpretation of tone is supported by other cues such as body language and facial expressions

which might not be available in virtual meetings (Maloney et al. 2020). Communication media

also distort tone. While attending virtual meetings, participants might be having frustration and

stress leading to a significant change in their tone.

To address the issue of misinterpreting tone in virtual meetings, managers should

encourage direct and transparent communication. They should encourage employees attending

virtual meetings to be clear about their feelings and meanings. Managers should develop

communication guidelines to reduce confusion (Kurzweg et al. 2021). They should plan for check-

ins during virtual meetings to ensure that all members are on the same page.

Reading facial expressions in low-quality videos and small screens is difficult. Those

attending physical meetings are able to notice attendants losing interest. However, it is difficult to

determine whether those attending virtual meetings are losing interest. According to (Maloney et

al. (2020), people’s faces do not show significant changes during virtual meetings. One does not

understand where virtual meeting attendants are looking at. It is difficult to identify subtle

expressions when one attends a virtual meeting. For example, identifying brief sparkles of hanger

or happiness during a virtual meeting is challenging.

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Facial expressions such as smiling, frowning, downcast eyes, tightened jaw, and widened

eyes are often missed during virtual meetings. That is because webcams do not capture these facial

expressions precisely. Technical issues such as low quality of video leads to missed facial

expressions (Maloney et al. 2020). Individuals often fail to realize the emotions presented by

people attending virtual meetings.

Virtual meetings limit body language’s visibility. Members are unable to communicate

efficiently using body language. During virtual meetings, attendants cannot interpret another

person’s posture correctly. The attendants cannot tell when someone is slouching or sitting upright

during a virtual meeting. Habits such as bouncing legs and tapping fingers are not easily detected

during virtual meetings. Therefore, attendants find it difficult to tell when someone is having

discomfort and when they are calm (Koh 2023). Virtual meetings also make it difficult to interpret

body orientation. Those attending virtual meetings might appear to be facing the screen when they

are focusing on other things.

It is hard to use various gestures such as handshakes, pointing, thumbs up, waving,

nodding, and crossing arms during virtual meetings without causing miscommunication.

Handshakes are used in physical meetings to convey trust. Individuals attending virtual meetings

cannot use handshakes due to the physical distance separating them. The thumps-up gesture might

have various meanings depending on one’s cultural background (Koh 2023). It might be used to

show satisfaction or approval. Those attending virtual meetings are; however, very likely to

misunderstand the thumps-up gesture. It might convey a different meaning when used in virtual

communication.

Individuals attending virtual meetings might not see gestures such as pointing, nodding,

and waving. People often point with their fingers to emphasize something or indicate direction. In

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virtual meetings, the attendants might not see the pointed fingers due to the size of the screen. They

might also not notice when someone is nodding. One might node for acknowledgment or

agreement, but the person sending the message might not see it. The nonverbal cues used during

online meetings might not be delivered immediately (Maloney et al. 2020). For example, one might

nod to show agreement to a point they heard minutes ago. The sender of the message might;

however, think that the other person is agreeing with what he/she is currently saying.

Virtual meetings do not always reveal the crossing arms gesture due to screen size. When

attending virtual meetings, some members might cross their arms when they disagree with the

speaker or when they are uncomfortable. The speaker is likely to fail to realize that some meeting

attendants are disagreeing (Koh 2023). Members might roll their eyes to convey contempt and

frustration. This cannot be seen easily by the speaker due to issues such as poor video quality.

Individuals should verbalize their gestures to improve communication during virtual

meetings. They should speak out whenever they are frustrated or angry. Individuals should avoid

using gestures that cannot be passed easily through virtual meetings. For example, gestures such

as the eye roll, hand gestures, pointing, and thumps up should be limited during virtual meetings

(Park et al. 2020). Individuals should describe their emotions verbally and consider the differences

in meaning of gestures across various cultures.

Gestures should be used sparingly during virtual meetings. While using gestures,

participants should match them to the speech. They should coordinate their gestures with what

they are saying. Participants should avoid inappropriate and distracting gestures during virtual

meetings. They should avoid making a lot of hand movements and fidgeting (Koh 2023).

Participants should seek feedback from their colleagues. They should ask how their colleagues or

other virtual meeting attendants perceive various gestures.

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Images of other people on screens appear either too close and big. This triggers biochemical

changes and brain activity. The proximity and size of images on screen violate individuals’ sense

of personal space. It also makes individuals to view the images as threatening. Since participants

often focus on many faces on screen, they face information overload (Wang et al. 2021).

Participants often fail to interpret personal space because they only see one’s face. Those who sit

close to their cameras appear large on screens.

Creating space often conveys messages about one’s comfort level. One can create space or

close distance with other people depending on the conversation. If one attends a virtual meeting,

they cannot use personal space to communicate their level of comfort with other people. Touch is

also used to communicate. Touch also shows positive emotions, comfort and support (Koh 2023).

Virtual meeting attendants might not use touch to show their comfort level. Therefore, one might

not easily determine whether virtual meeting attendants are comfortable.

While attending virtual meetings, participants should maintain personal space by adjusting

their camera angle. They should also use chat to assess personal space. Participants should consider

the differing preferences of personal space among people depending on their cultural backgrounds

(Park et al. 2020). They should openly communicate with their colleagues regarding their

preferences and level of comfort in relation to a comfortable distance.

Silence is often misunderstood during virtual meetings. Silence often indicates various

things such as confusion, agreeing, disagreeing, and thinking. During virtual meetings, some

members often mute themselves. This makes it difficult to assess their understanding and

engagement. Awkward pauses are common in virtual meetings (Wang et al. 2021). These pauses

might occur when there are technical issues or when the meeting attendants are confused.

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During virtual meetings, silence-related challenges can be resolved through various ways.

First of all, one should ensure that the system allows every participant to speak. One should

examine the existing technical issues. Speakers can clear up technical issues by asking whether the

listeners can hear and whether their microphones are working (Park et al. 2020). Open-ended

questions should be asked during virtual meetings to inspire participation. Speakers should ask

silent members to provide input.

Virtual meetings limit participant’s ability to understand team dynamics. Brainstorming

and collaboration are often more structured and less dynamic in virtual meetings. Team dynamics

are affected negatively in virtual meetings since there is no physical presence. For example, direct

observation cannot be used during mentoring and training. Conflicts cannot be managed easily

since the mediators cannot understand body language easily (Wang et al. 2021). Dynamic-related

challenges should be resolved by developing team-building activities for virtual teams.

Participants should be encouraged to attend informal gatherings such as coffee breaks through the

video conferencing tools.

Mirroring occurs when someone mimics another person’s behavior subconsciously. The

benefits of mirroring include developing rapport and enhancing likability. Mimicking someone’s

posture portrays one’s attention. Participants mimic the posture shifts and gestures displayed by

other people. This indicates that the participants are open to interpersonal involvement. While

attending virtual meetings, speakers might be unable to gauge listeners’ interpersonal involvement

and attention level (Park et al. 2020). That is because virtual meeting tools do not show when the

listeners are mimicking or mirroring one’s behavior.

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Mirroring the behavior of other people attending virtual meetings is hard since participants

are prone to multitasking. Participants might browse social media pages and check emails. This

might limit their ability to mirror the behaviors of other people (Wang et al. 2021). Participants

might not be able to mirror non-verbal cues during virtual meetings since the flow of information

is disrupted by poor internet connections.

The solution to understanding behavioral mirroring during virtual meetings is to be flexible

and authentic. Participants should adjust their mirroring depending on the individuals attending

the virtual meetings. They should reduce their behavioral mirroring of nonverbal cues that cannot

be passed on easily through online meetings (Wang et al. 2021). Participants should not mirror the

behaviors of other participants artificially. They should engage in active listening to understand

the message being communicated properly.

While attending online meetings, participants might find it hard to understand tone, facial

expressions, body language, eye contact, gestures, spatial dynamics, proxemics, mirroring, and

silence. Participants should avoid using gestures that cannot be seen on screen. They should place

their webcams at eye-level. Participants should also focus on the location of the camera. Technical

constraints such as poor internet connection and microphone issues should be resolved.

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REFERENCES

Han, H. (2023). Do nonverbal emotional cues matter? Effects of video casting in synchronous

virtual classrooms. American Journal of Distance Education, 27(4), 253-264.

Kurzweg, M., Reinhardt, J., Nabok, W., & Wolf, K. (2021). Using body language of avatars in vr

meetings as communication status cue. In Proceedings of Mensch und Computer 2021 (pp. 366-

377).

Koh, J. I. (2023, March). Leveraging Nonverbal Communication for Intelligent Virtual Meeting

Interfaces. In Companion Proceedings of the 28th International Conference on Intelligent User

Interfaces (pp. 226-228).

Maloney, D., Freeman, G., & Wohn, D. Y. (2020). " Talking without a Voice" Understanding

Non-verbal Communication in Social Virtual Reality. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-

Computer Interaction, 4(CSCW2), 1-25.

Park, S. Y., & Whiting, M. E. (2020). Beyond Zooming there: Understanding nonverbal interaction

online. In The New Future of Work Symposium.

Wang, I., & Ruiz, J. (2021). Examining the use of nonverbal communication in virtual

agents. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 37(17), 1648-1673.