The Science-Backed Benefits of Walking Meetings

A few months ago, I woke to the clock glaring 6:13 a.m. It was a packed week with no time for the thing I love most: walking with friends. On impulse, I texted my friend Erika to see if she was awake for an impromptu stroll. We caught up, coffee in hand, no agenda in mind — just movement and conversation. We named it our “Call Me Maybe Walk,” and yes, we sang the song.

I’ve been doing them ever since. Conversation flows and connection sparks more easily walking side by side than sitting across a table — which is why I’m a fan of walking meetings, too.

Walking meetings work. Walking can cut fatigue, boost energy, and clear your head, and one Stanford experiment showed that a walking person produced twice as many creative responses to a prompt, compared to someone sitting down. When a work task requires innovative thinking or problem-solving, grab your sneakers rather than a conference room.

Talking through conflict or uncomfortable topics can be less stressful when walking, too — as any parent of a teenager can tell you. The relaxed setting can break down power hierarchies and reduce the pressure to monitor social cues — things that can disproportionately weigh on women. When we’re literally moving together in the same direction, tensions ease and solutions bubble up. I’ve made progress on seemingly intractable workplace problems when walking with colleagues.

So get out of your chair and walk! Tell your colleagues to leave a pair of sneakers in the office, put the agenda on your phone, and pick a route that’ll get you back in time for your next meeting. You’ll get some exercise, and get work done too.

Best,

— Sheryl Sandberg, Founder, LeanIn.Org