How Walking Meetings Affect Creativity and Reduce Costs
Patrick Bushe
February 19, 2025 · 5 min read
A walking meeting is exactly what it sounds like: instead of sitting in a room or on a video call, you talk while you walk. They're popular for one-on-ones and brainstorming, and there's some research behind the idea.
What the research shows
In 2014, Stanford researchers Marily Oppezzo and Daniel Schwartz ran experiments in which people completed creative thinking tasks while sitting or walking. Walking, on a treadmill facing a blank wall or outdoors, substantially increased the number of creative ideas people came up with, and the effect continued for a while after they sat back down. Walking didn't help with tasks that needed one correct answer.
The lesson: walking helps with generating ideas, less with detailed analysis.
Meetings that suit a walk
- One-on-ones: walking side by side often makes difficult conversations easier.
- Brainstorming with two or three people.
- Catch-ups and mentoring.
- Thinking through a problem before writing it up.
Meetings that don't
- Anything with slides, documents or screens to look at.
- Groups larger than three or four, where people can't hear each other.
- Meetings needing detailed notes or decisions on figures.
- Confidential topics, if you'll be in public places.
How to run one well
- Agree the topic before you set off.
- Plan a route that matches the length, ideally a loop back to where you started.
- Choose quiet paths over busy streets.
- Stop at the end to note decisions and next steps, or record a voice memo.
- Offer an alternative for anyone who can't walk comfortably, and keep the pace easy.
Remote walking meetings
For phone calls that don't need screens, both people can walk wherever they are. Use earphones with a good microphone, and avoid windy or noisy routes.
Do they reduce costs?
A walking meeting costs the same in salary time as a sitting one of the same length. The savings come elsewhere: walking meetings tend to be shorter and smaller, since you can't bring ten people, and they replace slides and preparation with conversation. They also add movement to a sedentary day.
To see what a meeting costs, Meeting Cost Calculator shows a live total from the number of people and an average salary. See running shorter meetings and why back-to-back calls are tiring.
