Two businesswomen having a walking meeting
Steve Jobs was my first boss, mentor, and introduction to corporate America. When I served as his executive assistant at Apple, he taught me how to think outside the box and pursue success mindfully and holistically.
He still inspires me, and I continue to think of him, such as earlier this month, on the ninth anniversary of his death. So I was pleased to read that Zillow founder Rich Barton was offering an updated variation on Steve’s famous walking meetings as a way for remote teams to avoid pandemic burnout.
Eight months into this global health crisis, we are all experiencing moments of fatigue and fog. We need ways to keep our minds, and our bodies, from going stale. Movement is often the quickest and surest path to change our state and restore freshness and vitality.
Try an audio-only walking meeting
Barton’s suggestion applies to situations when two people or a small group need to talk, and there is no need for a visual component or to take notes. We are spending too much time sitting in front of a screen, so why not get out of the house and on our feet?
Adding some variety to your day with walking meetings has multiple benefits. Obviously, it is good for your health and that of your employees. The average worker spends over nine hours a day sitting, and research makes it abundantly clear that excessive sitting has serious negative consequences for physical and mental health. Some experts go so far as to say that sitting is the new smoking.
Movement and a change of scenery can also be inspirational. The combination of pleasant exercise and the visual stimulation of being outside and in nature can trigger new neuro-pathways in our brains. We can find ourselves suddenly looking at an old problem in a new way. Stanford researchers found that walking significantly improved “divergent thinking”—the ability to generate creative ideas by exploring multiple possible solutions.
Walking meetings improve company culture
Walking meetings also alter the dynamics between people and can positively affect your company’s culture. Some of these benefits come into play as a result of in-person meetings. But even if you are still working remotely, for the most part, implementing solo walking meetings now will plant a seed for shared walking meetings in the future.
Nilofer Merchant started the habit of walking meetings for health reasons but discovered other unanticipated side benefits. She realized that she tended to listen better. With our body and mind energized and our devices (hopefully) stashed away, we can bring new focus to a conversation. (This applies to audio-only walking meetings as well, where we no longer have the distraction of our screen.)
Merchant also found that walking meetings break down barriers and hierarchy. In a meeting around a table, there is usually someone who is clearly in charge. Likewise, when we have a sitting meeting in someone else’s office, their desk can reinforce a sense of status and hierarchy.
In walking meetings, by contrast, we are side-by-side as peers and equals. In many organizations, people can become boxed in by certain fixed roles and expectations. Walking meetings are an effective and healthy way to shake that up and foster a more fluid and flatter organizational culture.
Other ways to add movement to your workday
The benefits of walking meetings aside, the larger lesson here is to continually look for ways to make movement a regular feature of your day. If you spend more than nine hours a day in your desk chair, you are spending more time sitting than sleeping. Think about that.
Some ideas include:
· Desk yoga or stretching. This is a great option when you do not have time to get out of the house for a walk in between meetings. You can even do this during a meeting if you do not have to be on video.
· Breathwork. Sitting (or standing) quietly for a few minutes with your eyes closed and focusing on your breath can be a powerful addition to your routine. It calms, grounds, and energizes you all at the same time.
· A 60-second workout. Even if you only have a minute in between meetings, filling that minute with jumping jacks or push-ups or jumping rope can add an instant jolt of energy.
· Alternate standing and sitting. When you absolutely cannot break away from your desk, break up your sitting with intervals of standing.
These tweaks to your routine may not seem like much, but over the course of a day, they will do wonders for your health and state of mind.
The habit of movement will have other ripple effects as well. As Merchant notes, if we want to think out of the box, we have to get out of the box. For most of us, that box is our office, our screens, and our desk chair. Breaking out of that box can free our bodies and minds in powerful ways, even for a short time. And if you make movement an organizational habit, it can free your company’s culture as well.
