What’s The Deal Wednesday: Walking Meetings
Walking Meetings & Its Place In the Corporate Office
It’s no doubt the trend for increased meetings has substantially increased from years past, nearly double from 1960 to 1980. That trend continues to increase today with employees spending on average 6 hours/week and middle and upper management spending greater than 50%, or 23 hours/week attending meetings. Larger corporations tend to have more meetings than smaller corporations, however a vast majority of employees stated meetings could be improved with 40% of employees stating meetings were either neutral or poorly executed.
Despite the shift in work location and impact of remote work on the corporate space. Only a small minority of employees are strictly remote. Only 12% of employees are strictly remote, 28% a hybrid remote and in-person program and the remainder strictly in-person. The trend will favor more companies and individuals leaning towards increasing remote opportunities. However, current reports and figures still showcase a majority of individuals will continue to work from the office space.
So, what’s one easy to utilize technique that would substantially improve work meetings? The utilization of walking meetings occurs with small to medium sized groups performing meetings while walking within the corporate space, instead of the standard seated format. A walking meeting can substantially improve corporate culture, improve productivity, creative solutions while limiting excessive and unproductive meeting times.
Benefits of Walking Meetings?
Improve Company Culture
Walking meetings are extremely effective in small and mid-sized groupings. It’ll help severely reduce the number of participants to strictly core group members. These are the members that are required in that respective meeting to drive the topics forward and eventually create solutions. Utilize peripheral group members for the follow up process when additional expertise and information could assist with insight and modify solutions. The smaller or more intimate groups will allow for improved communication through open dialogue and collaboration while eliminating unproductive meeting times for peripheral members. The walking meeting will allow for more focused approach with more engagement, faster progress and efficient management to reduce bad meeting culture.
2. Improve Productivity
A majority of information was previously discussed regarding improving productivity through the reduction of meeting minutes between core group members and successfully eliminating meeting for peripheral members. Now, complete elimination of all meetings or the 6 hour standard/week for employees and 23 hours/week for mid and upper management isn’t possible. However, a drastic reduction can allow for more efficient problem-solution creation and reduced “wastefulness” on tasks with lower ROI. It’ll allow employees an opportunity to spend increased work hours on tasks that are directly correlated with increasing revenue and company profitability. While simultaneously reducing payroll for unnecessary and poorly executed meetings.
3. A Healthier Physical & Mental Workforce
Some of the benefits can be extremely obvious, but walking meetings can encourage increased movement and reduced overall sedentary time. On average, a majority of Americans will walk only 3,000-4,000 steps/day which is accounts for 1.5-2 miles or limited daily activity. The addition of walking meetings can drastically encourage more active lifestyle amongst employees and an opportunity for management to cheaply invest in sustainable approach to improve employees health. Managements active demonstration with participating in walking meetings is the social proof necessary to showcase a positive attitude towards employee health programs.
Improved active lifestyle can drastically reduce general work-related muscular injuries as it improves blood flow throughout the body and reduces typical static posture elicited by excessive sitting without dynamic movement. Increased blood flow throughout the body, including cerebral blood flow, will allow increased BDNF in the brain. The increase in BDNF will drastically improve executive function in the frontal cortex, which is related to executive functions. Thus, walking meetings can encourage improved functions such as working memory, planning and prioritizing, task initiation and organization, flexible thinking, emotional control and overall self-monitoring. The added cardiovascular exercise can help prevent chronic disease and improve physical fitness including some of the following:
Reduced risk of high blood pressure, stroke and heart attack
Reduced cholesterol
Reduced muscular pain and joint stiffness
Reduced risk of diabetes, depression, anxiety
Reduced body fat and overall stress levels
Reduced risk of osteoporosis
Reduced risk of premature death
Improved immunity
Improved muscular strength and endurance
Improved bone structure health and balance
The health benefits are immense and all while improving overall executive function leading to greater creativity.
Final Thoughts
Corporate America has an exceptionally powerful role in the overall health of its employees. It can substantially improve the outlook of health amongst millions of employees. One simple trick to improve the health of employees, with a low cost program that’ll substantially improve profitability, is through the use of walking meetings. Try implementing walking meetings and conduct assessments for constructive feedback on net change in success versus traditional meetings.
If you are interested in other techniques to prevent disease, improve employee productivity, and ensure employees health is maintained as a top priority, check out the following articles for desk setup, the effectiveness of an ergonomic program, understanding forward head posture and reducing neck pain. Check out our newsletter and our full programs for more succinct information on specific topics!
References
Steven G. Rogelberg CS and JK. The science and fiction of meetings. MIT Sloan Management Review. January 1, 2007. Accessed June 28, 2023. https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-science-and-fiction-of-meetings/.
