I’m a keen hiker and have become very conscious in recent years about the negative physical implications of a job that involves a lot of sitting at a desk.
So much so that I installed a treadmill desk so I could walk while I worked at least for a small part of each day.
I’m in the fortunate position of having my office (and my home if I happen to be working from home) close to a local beauty spot that’s excellent for walking – Dovestone. A couple of years ago during a meeting in the office, a client said to me, “It looks beautiful out there. We’ll have to walk around here some time.”
A month or two later when we were planning another catch up, I said to her, “Do you want to bring some hiking boots and walk up around Dovestone?”
We never looked back after that. Most of our meetings (unless they involved physically making changes to a website right there and then) took place walking. From my office, up to Dovestone reservoir, a loop of the reservoir and back to the office comes in at around 7.5km and takes me an hour and a half typically.
But equally with members of my own team I’ve taken shorter walks into the village for a catch up instead of sitting in the office. When I went to meet someone in the centre of Manchester a few weeks back we decided to walk around the city.
As fortunate as I am to have a beauty spot with hiking routes galore by the side of my office, it’s not absolutely necessary for walking meetings.
After a couple of years of taking meetings on the move wherever feasible, I’ve found a number of pros and a couple of cons. Let’s take a look at them.
Benefits of Walking Meetings
Well, first of all there are the health benefits. We all know walking and moving around is good for us but just how beneficial is it?
I spoke to GP, Dr Nazreen Morley about it. She told me:
“Even a 30 minute brisk walk can burn between 100 and 300 calories, depending on the weight of the walker, other health factors and things like how flat or hilly the walk is. So from an energy burning perspective this has the potential be useful as a weight management tool.
But let’s also add to the fact that we know people with office jobs are amongst the most likely to be sitting for long spells, and extensive sitting can be associated with many ailments and illnesses including heart disease. What walking meetings do is take a period of the day that should have been spent sitting and makes it an active part of the day. This is hugely beneficial for your health, particularly if you’re able to do it a few times a week.
If a typical meeting takes an hour and you replace that with an hour’s walk instead, you could be looking at 200 to 600 calories burned and, importantly, getting your body outside.
Particularly in the winter months, we tend to have less exposure to the sun and spend more time indoors. Getting out and about can have positive impacts such as lowering stress and anxiety and improving our mood. So this is very beneficial.”
But I’ve found benefits beyond health related ones too.
I find being outside walking helps no end with meetings that have a creative goal. For example, coming up with campaign ideas or finding creative solutions to a problem – these are things we might typically do in a boardroom or around a desk in an office. And in reality, that’s potentially one of the worst places to try and be creative.
So I’ve seen first hand how my creativity improves.
What also happens is that my productivity for the rest of the day (once I’m back in the office) improves too. I’ve often found this with any sort of physical activity but is particularly pronounced after an outdoor walk.
So for me, it’s a no brainer (yep – even in the rain).
The Downsides
The reality that not everyone is going to want to go outside and walk during a meeting. It means bringing footwear and clothing that people might not ordinarily be wearing that day if they’re at work.
And not every meeting it suited to it of course. If you need to be in front of a laptop, then a walk around the reservoir isn’t likely to work, is it?
Depending where you walk and on how confidential th content of your meeting is too, being in public places is something you might have to consider as well.
I have also been in the position of an unexpected downpour starting part way through a meeting. And not everyone you’re having meetings with is likely to appreciate that 😂
But on the whole, I’ve found walking meetings leave me feeling focussed and productive and are in themselves more productive than everyone sitting around a table. So I’ll be sticking with it.
