As UK businesses gradually return to the workplace, walking meetings should arguably become part of the “new normal”. Health and wellbeing is a priority talking point.
But the conversation around the wellbeing of employees should not only focus on how covid-safe your work environment is. Employers should actively encourage workers to eat healthily, exercise more and build a healthy immune system.
A growing number of studies show how sedentary jobs damage our health. And it’s well known that exercise reduces the risk of contracting countless issues caused by sitting for prolonged periods.
Furthermore, researchers have shown that light-to-moderate exercises like walking could help people recover from coronavirus faster.
Doctors established early on that Covid-19 is more devastating to patients that have a compromised or weak immune system.
With that in mind, it would be sensible for health and wellbeing policies in the workplace to focus on keeping your staff healthy.
Encouraging exercise at work will help to lower general health care costs and increase productivity due to fewer employees missing work days due to illness.
How will walking meetings help?
Steve jobs loved walking meetings. He believed it was a way to help avoid burnout. In recent years, several studies have shown that the late Apple co-founder was ahead of his time.
Since Jobs passed away in 2011, a growing body of evidence has shown that walking has been found to have numerous health benefits.
From a health and wellbeing perceptive, a walking meeting allows employees to integrate exercise into their day without even taking a break.
A comprehensive study to assess the benefits of walking meetings also revealed participants have more creative ideas and honest exchanges between employees foster team bonding and increase productivity.
Walking meetings can be more relaxed than boardroom meetings and can lead to better employee engagement. A study in Hong Kong even found that walking in-stride side-by-side helps people connect better.
There is more to walking side-by-side than meets the eye. Walking helps to break down the hierarchal structure between manager and team member and strengthen bonds – which means improving trust.
Walking Meeting Boosts The Brain
Movement helps the blood flow circulate the body more efficiently. When the brain receives oxygen carried in the bloodstream, cognitive function improves in the executive parts of the brain.
Walking also helps the brain to be more relaxed and calmer. In this state, feel-good chemicals such as endorphins and dopamine are released into the body.
When people feel better internally, they have more energy which is injected into the meetings increasing the chances of a positive outcome, motivating staff and fostering optimism to deal with challenges efficiently, confidently and effectively.
Weather permitting, walking meetings also enable employees to escape the hub-hub of a busy office. Without the usual distractions experienced in open space meetings, participants can focus on the topic of discussion.
Download the Sweatcoin App
Sweatcoin promotes technology for good. Our app features a built-in pedometer that counts the number of steps you take each day and converts them into a digital currency we have called SWC.
Once you accumulated a sufficient amount of SWC you can trade the digital currency in for merchandise with over 400 partners we have teamed up with. Imagine how many steps you can clock up during walking meetings at work?
