Walking meetings and conversations

Move one-on-ones and brainstorms onto a walk instead of a table.

Why it works

A walking conversation inherits the divergent-thinking benefit and adds two more: side-by-side movement lowers the social pressure of face-to-face eye contact, making candor easier, and the shared rhythm tends to relax both people. Together these make walking talks better suited to open exploration than seated ones.

How to do it

1. Use walking meetings for brainstorming, mentoring, or hard honest conversations — not for tasks needing screens or notes.
2. Pick a familiar, low-traffic route so navigation doesn’t hijack attention.
3. Keep groups small (one or two others) so everyone can hear and contribute.

Evidence

The creativity benefit of walking extends to walking while talking through ideas. The added social-ease effect is plausible and widely reported but less formally studied. (observational)

The core idea-generation effect is well supported; the specific social benefits of walking meetings rest more on observation and self-report than controlled trials.

Common mistake

Trying to run a detailed, document-heavy meeting on foot. Without a surface to reference or record on, precise work falls apart; reserve walking for the exploratory parts.