I always like to try new ideas so in 2014 I am going to give walking meetings a try. There are loads of articles available on this topic, my favorite starting point is this The Art of the Walking Meeting from 2008 by Ted Eytan. We are only six years late to the party, but better late than never. I am interested in how this works out, but I feel very excited that it will be a positive move. I have been complaining for a while I don’t have enough time to exercise and that I have too many meetings, so this seems like a win-win situation.
I’m going to hold all my weekly one-to-one meetings as walking meetings, we’ll circumnavigate the the Oracle Lake, which is about 2/3 mile and then if we need to sit on front of a computer for any items do that at the end in my office. I estimate it will give me close to 3 hours extra walking a week, which is not bad for a starting point but I can hope I can expand it if it works well.
As always I’d like to hear thoughts and opinions from all of you, so please use the comments section below.
UPDATE (2/6/14) : You can see my early thoughts on how this is going here
Author: David Haimes
I'm Senior Director in the Oracle Research and Development Organization, with close to 20 years working in various roles on the development of the Financial Management product suite. Since the summer of 2016 my focus is exclusively on working with customers and longer-term design work, particularly around next-generation functional and technical architecture. My task is to figure out NOW what the financial management system of the next 3, 5 or more years should look like and start working toward it. At the moment the majority of my time is spent working on Blockchain or Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT), leading the effort for all of SaaS applications. I'm also interested in AI, Machine Learning and new UX and interaction paradigms such as chat bots.
I started out in Oracle UK and found my way out to Oracle's Redwood Shores, California HQ in May 2000. My previous role was product owner for Fusion Accounting Hub, General Ledger, Intercompany and Legal Entity products in Oracle Fusion Financials and eBusiness Suite General Ledger. I have also worked on EMEA Globalizations, Federal and Public Sector Financials, XML Payments and a variety of projects on other products down the years.
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You must also credit my good friend Nilofer who has been recommending this as well.
(http://www.ted.com/talks/nilofer_merchant_got_a_meeting_take_a_walk.html)
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Thanks Meg. I should have included that link. I saw this TED talk, but to be fair to Ted Eytan his was the earliest I found in the limited amount of searching I did on the subject. I also liked the practical guidelines he gives. If you google “walking meeting Ted”, poor old Ted Eytan is eclipsed by teh TED talk on it – unfortunate name clash I guess :)
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Thanks to both of you – I am a creative commons type of person, less worried about credit, more interested in the good health you bring to people around you. If all of you blog about it and take credit and I’m a 1000 links down in Google, that will be success :). Really excited to see this concept spread to technology – you’ll love it!
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Ted – you and Nilofer inspired me to take the plunge and do this and the team responded positively to the idea. Monday are my first walking meetings, I will post updates.
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When I worked at Microsoft up in Seattle I would do this. I found it excellent. It facilitated much better personal connections and helped the other party get a break in from their desk. It is something most people neglect to their detriment. As a leader I think what you are doing is great for those who work with you and for you. For me it was the Steve Jobs biography that made me step out. Good luck and happy travels.
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Thank Matthew,
It’s encouraging that so many people have come forward with positive experiences of walking meetings. I have taken calls walking and O do the social walk around the lake here at Oracle HQ, but I’m now wondering why I didn’t step out properly sooner.
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