[2021-06-05] Walking meeting

The positive response to yesterday's post (Active) reminded me of another post that I had written almost seven years ago: "My first walking meeting."

It was the summer of 2014, and a colleague who wanted to meet with me suggested that we walk and talk. The circumstances were ideal: perfect weather (cool but sunny), a meeting of just the two of us, and a conversation requiring no documentation—just talking and listening. The route we followed took just under one hour to complete, door to door. I returned to my office feeling energized.

In more than 25 years of full-time work (to that point), I had never participated in a walking meeting. In doing research for my 2014 post, I learned that I was not alone.

In her 2013 TED talk Got a meeting? Take a walk, business innovator and author Nilofer Merchant says she used to see exercise and work as a dichotomy: "you could take care of your health, or you could take care of obligations, and one always came at the cost of the other." But then someone invited her to a walking meeting. The only time her friend could find for the two of them to meet was when she would be walking her dogs. Merchant accepted that offer and subsequently adopted the practice: "So instead of going to coffee meetings or fluorescent-lit conference room meetings, I ask people to go on a walking meeting, to the tune of 20 to 30 miles a week."

While I never reached 20 to 30 miles per week, I did manage to fit in one or two walking meetings every week—mostly one-on-one discussions with my direct reports.

I also took calls while walking, frequently inviting people who wanted to chat with me to call between 7:00 and 7:30 a.m. while I was walking to work. This was ideal for coaching sessions, when I didn't need to take or refer to notes. I also felt that my periods of walking were like found time. I didn't have to give up something else to fit in a mentoring session.

Benefits of walking meetings

Beyond the obvious health benefits, walking offers several advantages over a traditional sit-down at a table.

A Stanford University study published in 2014 found that walking improved creativity. "Across the board, creativity levels were consistently and significantly higher for those walking compared to those sitting," a summary of the study noted. Study co-author Marily Oppezzo, a Stanford doctoral graduate in educational psychology, said: "we already know that physical activity is important and sitting too often is unhealthy. This study is another justification for integrating bouts of physical activity into the day, whether it’s recess at school or turning a meeting at work into a walking one."

A 2015 Harvard Business Review article, How to Do Walking Meetings Right, suggested that walking improved executive function, "which governs how we focus on tasks and deal with unforeseen events, among other things." According to Ted Eytan, Medical Director of the Kaiser Permanente Center for Total Health, the reason for this improved function is that "our brains are more relaxed during walks due to the release of certain chemicals." The article also points out that "walking meetings lead to better employee engagement by breaking down barriers between supervisor and subordinate or between coworkers." Walking and talking side by side puts people at ease, lessening divisions due to differences in hierarchy and status while creating a feeling of peer interaction.

With the COVID pandemic, many workers may be more sedentary than ever. Even if employees weren't engaging in walking meetings before the many months of lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, they likely got more exercise just getting to and from work, walking to in-person meetings, and getting together with colleagues than they have since starting to work at home full-time. Many employees are now spending entire days in one spot—their home office—plugged in to videoconferences or teleconferences or exchanging emails with coworkers.

A 2021 Psychology Today article, Walking Meetings: The Future of Safely Collaborating, states: "For many workers, the pandemic has taught us that we can work wherever." But this has also led to disconnection and burnout as employees spend hours every day staring at a screen. Lorissa MacAllister, president of a consulting firm that focuses on design and wellness, is quoted in the article: "Movement and the act of getting out from behind your desk are critical for improved health." She adds that "switching from virtual to walking meetings makes a noticeable difference in your creativity, productivity, and wellbeing." The article notes that a walking meeting could be done by two people over the phone using headsets.

Given that in-person meetings may still be months away, turning one-on-one discussions into walking phone chats may be the best way to start integrating more physical activity into our days. This is the approach I have adopted with my cancer coach. Rather than converse via videoconference, I take our discussions by phone while on my morning walk. If needed, I can refer to notes on my phone and add points that I want to remember.

Tips for walking meetings

While you may not yet be in a position to engage in in-person walking meetings with colleagues, chances are that you've gotten together with family and friends for a masked, socially distanced walk outside over the past year. Whether for now or later, here are some tips for how to make walk-and-talk sessions successful, starting with recognizing that walking meetings are not suitable for all conversations (for example, discussions of a private or sensitive nature are best done in a quiet, indoor space) and that not everyone is physically capable of participating in a walk and talk.
  • Offer a walking meeting when you want to discuss ideas, brainstorm or get to know each other better.
  • Let participants know in advance that you are suggesting a walking meeting outdoors so that they can arrive for the meeting with appropriate clothing, footwear and sun protection, and possibly a bottle of water.
  • Check the weather so that you can prepare in advance and have a back-up plan if you can't walk outside (that could include pacing in your house if the meeting is by phone).
  • Stick to small groups—a maximum of three people.
  • Set an agenda, which identifies what you want to cover in the meeting or get out of the discussion.
  • Plan the route in advance so that you can cover the necessary ground within the time allotted, keeping in mind the walking speed of the slowest participant; also, choose a path that avoids distractions that could interrupt the flow of the conversation.
  • Use voice notes on a mobile phone to capture key points and conclusions or write down the most important elements of the discussion immediately after the session ends.
  • If the walking meeting is by phone, use comfortable earbuds, ideally wireless.
After my first walking meeting in 2014, I told many people about how wonderful the experience was. A coworker shared that an executive she knew would go for a walk every day at lunch and provided an open invitation to staff to join him. It was a great way for junior employees to get some time with the boss. Such a discussion could easily be adapted as a phone chat.

While walking meetings may take a bit more creativity during a pandemic, there are no doubt ways that you can integrate a bit more walking into your day. The benefits are worth it: more energy and alertness, greater inspiration from a change in scenery, improved physical and mental well-being, enhanced creativity, and less chance that the meeting will feel like a waste of time.