Steve Tobak , a California-based management consultant , recalls the agonizing one-on-one meetings he sat through years ago with a micromanaging boss . But when one day the boss changed tack and asked him to go on walks instead , it transformed their working and personal relationship . `` Somehow , when we were outside under the blue sky , getting a little exercise , he lightened up . We got along great after that , '' Tobak says . `` It was amazing . '' Group meetings where everyone is standing up have caught on in the past few years . But for one-on-one conversations , the trend at forward-thinking firms is to hold meetings while walking . Steve Jobs , the late founder of Apple , Facebook 's Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey of Twitter have all been known to favor walking meetings . Recently , Nilofer Merchant , a former technology executive , extolled the benefits of walk-and-talk meetings at a TED conference , noting the health advantages and the closer connections people form when away from the more traditional setting of a conference room . `` By walking side by side , it reinforces the perspective that you 're working on something together , '' Merchant says . Merchant , who previously worked for Apple , the software company Autodesk and a slew of other technology firms , said the decision to hold meetings while walking was born out of her own health concerns . She was frustrated about not being able to fit enough exercise into her week . After starting this style of meeting , it no longer was a choice between getting things done and staying healthy , she says , `` because I could potentially do both at the same time . '' See also : Sick of meetings ? Make them matter . Walking meetings now account for about 70 % of the exercise Merchant gets per week , she says . She still fits in a run or a gym session once a week . But she has found it difficult to persuade colleagues to go on walking meetings , partly because of the ingrained ideas of what a meeting should entail . `` The cultural norm is to sit , which is why sitting is the smoking of our generation : everyone does it , and it 's so common , asking someone to be active definitely seems weird to everyone I ask , '' she says . `` Also , some people are ashamed of how unfit they are . '' There are practical concerns as well . Those asked to go on walks frequently wonder how to take notes and are uneasy about being away from their mobile devices . But Merchant says that she still jots down notes on walks when an important point comes up and that cell phones are just distractions during meetings . `` Walking meetings result in undivided attention because the mobile device is n't within eyesight , tempting you to step away from the moment , '' she says . See also : Dying careers and thriving careers . Executives in Silicon Valley are not the only ones who see the value of getting the blood flowing during the workday . Research by fitness experts has shown that the simple act of getting up helps office employees think better . Jack Groppel , vice president of Wellness & Prevention , a consulting group owned by Johnson & Johnson , has advocated a program that calls for standing up and walking around in the workplace for one or two minutes about every half hour , a process that he says would increase productivity . Groppel says when workers start moving , it triggers a slight raise in heart rate for the first minute or two , meaning more oxygen is getting to the brain . `` What we did find in the studies that we did , after 90 days of doing this , people felt increased amounts of energy , they felt increased focus , they felt improved engagement , '' he says . But the idea is not to be taking a break from work . `` What we 're saying is you can move and function while being productive , '' Groppel says , suggesting people take a document to read while they walk . For this concept to catch on , corporate leaders would need to endorse the idea of routinely standing up to stretch during group meetings , Groppel says . `` Leaders have to be very involved , giving permission and role modeling them . '' As for walking meetings , Tobak sees another obstacle for them to gain traction in the workplace : `` People seem to be getting more and more lazy and sedentary , not less . ''
A former Microsoft executive is seen holding meetings while on vacation . Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg favored walking meetings . Research has also shown the simple act of getting up helps people think better . It is difficult to challenge the cultural norms of sitting in the office .