Take the Meeting for a Walk: A Smarter Way to Talk, Think, and Collaborate

Some meetings seem to drain the room before anyone has even said hello. The chairs are familiar, the screen is glowing, and everyone arrives carrying a small mountain of tabs—both digital and mental. I’m a fan of changing the setting when the conversation allows it, and few switches feel as refreshingly uncomplicated as taking a meeting for a walk.

I wouldn't replace every conference room with a footpath. Budgets, presentations, confidential documents, and large groups still have very good reasons to stay seated. But for brainstorming, relationship-building, idea development, and certain one-on-one conversations, walking can give a meeting exactly the change of pace it needed.

Why Moving Can Change the Way We Think

The connection between walking and creative thinking is more than office folklore.

In a Stanford University study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, researchers ran four experiments comparing creative thinking while participants walked and sat. Creative output increased by an average of about 60% while walking, according to Stanford's summary of the findings. The effect appeared during walking and shortly afterward.

That result comes with an important bit of nuance: walking seemed particularly helpful for divergent thinking, the kind of thinking involved in generating multiple possible ideas. It wasn't a universal performance enhancer for every cognitive task.

I think that distinction is incredibly useful when deciding which meetings deserve walking shoes.

A walking meeting could be well suited to questions such as, “What else could we try?” or “How might we approach this differently?” A task requiring detailed spreadsheet review, precise editing, or a final high-stakes decision may be better handled back at a desk.

The key isn't to turn your project update into cardio class. People need enough breath left to discuss the project.

5 Meetings That Work Especially Well on Foot

Walking meetings become much more useful when they're chosen intentionally. I use a simple test: if the conversation benefits more from ideas and connection than from documents and screens, walking may be worth considering.

1. Brainstorming Sessions

This is the obvious star candidate.

If you're naming a project, exploring campaign ideas, untangling an early-stage problem, or looking for several possible approaches, walking gives the conversation a naturally exploratory quality. The research on divergent thinking makes this one of the more evidence-aligned uses of a walking meeting.

Don't worry about producing polished answers while moving. Capture the promising ideas afterward, or use simple voice notes if everyone involved agrees.

2. One-on-One Check-Ins

A one-on-one often doesn't require a boardroom, particularly when the goal is catching up, discussing priorities, mentoring, or exploring an idea.

Side-by-side conversation may also feel less formal than sitting directly across a table. I like that walking gives both people something neutral to look at besides each other, which can make an ordinary check-in feel less stiff.

That doesn't mean difficult or sensitive conversations automatically belong outside. Privacy, accessibility, emotional context, and the employee's preference should always come first.

3. Project Kickoff Conversations

Early project discussions tend to involve possibility: what could work, where trouble might appear, and what everyone needs before moving forward.

A short walk can be useful for that exploratory stage. Once the broad thinking is done, return to a shared document and convert the conversation into owners, dates, decisions, and next steps.

Walking generates ideas rather nicely. Your project-management system is still allowed to have the final word.

4. Relationship-Building Meetings

Not every productive meeting needs a 14-point agenda.

A walk with a new teammate, collaborator, or colleague from another department can create space for getting to know how someone works, what they're focused on, and where your responsibilities overlap.

Those informal connections can matter later when you need to solve something together quickly.

5. Meetings That Have Become Stuck

If a conversation has been circling the same problem for half an hour, changing the physical setting may offer a useful reset.

This isn't guaranteed to produce a breakthrough, of course. But when everyone is repeating the same three suggestions, I would rather try a ten-minute walk than open another slide deck titled “Alternative Options.”

How to Run a Walking Meeting That Actually Works

The concept is casual. The execution should still be thoughtful.

A little preparation keeps walking meetings from becoming inconvenient, inaccessible, or strangely competitive.

1. Keep the Group Small

Two people is ideal. Three can work nicely. Once the group gets much larger, conversation becomes harder because people spread across the path, traffic noise interferes, and someone inevitably spends half the meeting trying to catch up.

For larger teams, consider pairs or small groups that walk separately and reconvene afterward.

A pilot study examining walking meetings among sedentary office workers found the format feasible and acceptable enough to warrant further investigation, while also highlighting the practical nature of integrating movement into work routines. The research base specifically on walking meetings is still relatively small, so it's sensible to treat the format as a useful option rather than a productivity cure-all.

2. Set One Clear Purpose

Walking does not rescue a meeting without a point.

Before leaving, name the question you're trying to answer. For example:

• What are our strongest three ideas?
• What is blocking this project?
• What should our priorities be next week?
• What feedback needs to be discussed?
• What decision do we need to prepare for?

One central question keeps the conversation focused without requiring everyone to stare at an agenda.

3. Choose an Easy Route

The route should be the least interesting logistical part of the meeting.

Pick somewhere safe, accessible, reasonably quiet, and predictable. Avoid routes that demand constant navigation, steep climbs, road crossings every thirty seconds, or the agility of someone auditioning for an adventure race.

Consider weather, shade, sidewalks, accessibility needs, footwear, air quality, and nearby facilities. Nobody's most creative thinking happens while wondering why the meeting suddenly involves a hill.

4. Decide How Ideas Will Be Captured

This is the small detail that separates a pleasant walk from a useful meeting.

You could make brief notes at the halfway point, dictate agreed-upon ideas into a phone, or spend five minutes documenting conclusions when you return.

I prefer the last option whenever possible. It allows the walking portion to remain conversational and gives the meeting a clear finish: walk, think, return, capture.

Make Collaboration the Goal, Not the Mileage

A good walking meeting should feel inclusive before it feels innovative.

That means the invitation matters. “Would you like to make this a walking meeting?” works much better than announcing that the next half hour will involve three kilometers of compulsory team bonding.

Someone may have mobility considerations, chronic pain, fatigue, an injury, sensory needs, inappropriate footwear, concerns about weather, or simply no desire to walk during that particular conversation. A seated or virtual alternative should be completely normal.

Pace deserves similar thought. The person who naturally walks fastest shouldn't become the unofficial meeting leader simply because everyone else is busy trying to keep up.

I like a deliberately conversational pace—the kind where nobody needs to choose between talking and breathing.

For hybrid and remote colleagues, the concept can still work with some adaptation. Two people can take a phone call while each walks in a safe location, provided the conversation doesn't require screens and audio quality remains reliable. Headphones that preserve awareness of surroundings and routes away from heavy traffic are sensible choices.

Confidentiality matters, too. Public sidewalks are poor venues for discussing private employee information, customer data, health information, unreleased financial results, or anything else that shouldn't be overheard.

Walking may make a meeting lighter. Professional judgment still needs to come along.

Turn a Good Walk Into Better Work

The most effective walking meetings have a beginning and an end. Without those boundaries, an enjoyable conversation can generate plenty of thoughts and surprisingly few decisions.

One simple framework keeps things moving.

1. Open With the Question

Spend the first minute agreeing on what you're trying to solve or explore.

2. Use the First Half to Expand

Generate ideas freely. Ask follow-up questions. Resist evaluating every suggestion immediately.

This is the “what could we do?” portion of the walk.

3. Use the Second Half to Narrow

Begin identifying which ideas are useful, realistic, or worth investigating.

Walking may support idea generation, but eventually creativity needs editing.

4. Finish With Three Things

Before the meeting ends, identify:

• What did we decide?
• What still needs investigation?
• Who does what next?

If those answers aren't clear, spend five minutes documenting them when you're back.

This is one of my favorite ways to keep walking meetings from turning into pleasant-but-vague professional strolls. The movement can stay informal; accountability doesn't have to.

Quick Cues to Remember

• Walk for ideas, sit for detail. Brainstorming and exploratory conversations tend to suit movement better than screen-heavy work.
• Invite instead of prescribe. Always make a seated, virtual, or otherwise accessible option equally acceptable.
• Keep the pace conversational. This is a meeting with movement, not a disguised fitness test.
• Carry one useful question. A clear purpose prevents the walk from drifting into an unrelated catch-up.
• Capture the landing. Spend a few minutes recording decisions, owners, and next steps before everyone disappears into the rest of the day.

Let Your Best Ideas Stretch Their Legs

Walking meetings work because they're refreshingly ordinary. You don't need a workplace wellness program, special equipment, or a scenic corporate campus. You need the right conversation, a suitable place to move, and colleagues who are comfortable joining you.

The research gives us a compelling reason to experiment: walking may support creative idea generation, and it can replace at least some desk-bound time with movement. But the real skill is knowing when the format fits.

Use walking for possibility. Use it for a thoughtful one-on-one, an early brainstorm, or the problem that needs a fresh angle. Stay seated when privacy, accessibility, technology, or focused detail makes that the better choice.

That's the kind of workplace wellness habit I can get behind—not another elaborate routine to maintain, but a small adjustment to something already on the calendar.

Sometimes the smartest way to move a conversation forward is wonderfully literal: get up and walk.