This is not the norm. It’s also not a fad sweeping the nation. But it is a fascinating contribution to improving health in a business/corporate environment and the quality of meetings. Watch for it.
I heard about this from a good trend-spotting friend. He randomly regurgitates material he finds (who knows where) and every once in awhile, you go, “Whoa. Where’d that come from? Why aren’t more companies (or people) doing this?”
It is a spinoff of the standing computer concept – where you have a physical extension on your desk to place your laptop so you can stand up and/or exercise while you work. Rather than parking your cushioned backside into a seat, you get up and stretch and use your legs. Great stuff.
My buddy’s suggestion, which he either stole from someone else or innovated on his own, adding to his grand contributions to the future of human life forms, is to get everybody standing for meetings. Rather than sitting, you get up, pace around, rock on your feet from side to side, whatever. The point is that instead of sitting comfortably in your chair, you rise, change perspective and are forced to focus more intently for several reasons.
First, the act of standing wakes you up. It is healthier than sitting. So you pay attention more. You don’t nod off. If you do, you topple face first, become a laughing stock, and will never do it again. Trust me. I haven’t seen it, but you can imagine it.
Second, standing is physical. You don’t want to stand for a long period of time. Because of this, guess what happens to the length of your meetings? Yup, you got it. They grow shorter.
Along with this, what happens to Mr. Dunegan Longtalk? He doesn’t want to hold court quite so long. He, too, wants to get out of there. He won’t monopolize conversations the way he used to. He may even yield the gavel willingly to allow others to peep up, and scowl to get them to shorten their statements. It’s amazing how coercive this is.
When everyone has a stake in getting finished more quickly, you find behavior modification. Standing enforces this. You don’t need a boss going around the table, seeking input from everyone sitting. He can look around the room, raise his eyebrow towards the participants and decide whether someone cares about speaking based on their body language.
This means the need for talking at all is decreased. Questions are limited. People only ask highly necessary questions. You’ll find Ms. Lucy Looselips zipping it up, stopping herself in mid-sentence and looking around like she should be congratulated for keeping her trap shut. Resist the temptation to compliment her, as it ignites a potential word fuselage.
Stick to the back of the room. Don’t get crowded in where it’s hotter. Find a spot where you can spread your legs and adopt a power pose. This gives you room to flex, scan and scowl as necessary if someone thinks s/he can dominate the room discussion.
Simple, sheer brilliance. Productivity soars. Employees’ health improves. People say what they want to say and not a word more. Others listen. Is it too much to ask for?
Probably yes. You have to figure the standing meeting is too much for most companies to adopt. It’s complicated, a major change and would require a process. We can’t expect that to happen.
So do it on your own. Don’t tell anyone. It will be our secret.
I heard about this from a good trend-spotting friend. He randomly regurgitates material he finds (who knows where) and every once in awhile, you go, “Whoa. Where’d that come from? Why aren’t more companies (or people) doing this?”
It is a spinoff of the standing computer concept – where you have a physical extension on your desk to place your laptop so you can stand up and/or exercise while you work. Rather than parking your cushioned backside into a seat, you get up and stretch and use your legs. Great stuff.
My buddy’s suggestion, which he either stole from someone else or innovated on his own, adding to his grand contributions to the future of human life forms, is to get everybody standing for meetings. Rather than sitting, you get up, pace around, rock on your feet from side to side, whatever. The point is that instead of sitting comfortably in your chair, you rise, change perspective and are forced to focus more intently for several reasons.
First, the act of standing wakes you up. It is healthier than sitting. So you pay attention more. You don’t nod off. If you do, you topple face first, become a laughing stock, and will never do it again. Trust me. I haven’t seen it, but you can imagine it.
Second, standing is physical. You don’t want to stand for a long period of time. Because of this, guess what happens to the length of your meetings? Yup, you got it. They grow shorter.
Along with this, what happens to Mr. Dunegan Longtalk? He doesn’t want to hold court quite so long. He, too, wants to get out of there. He won’t monopolize conversations the way he used to. He may even yield the gavel willingly to allow others to peep up, and scowl to get them to shorten their statements. It’s amazing how coercive this is.
When everyone has a stake in getting finished more quickly, you find behavior modification. Standing enforces this. You don’t need a boss going around the table, seeking input from everyone sitting. He can look around the room, raise his eyebrow towards the participants and decide whether someone cares about speaking based on their body language.
This means the need for talking at all is decreased. Questions are limited. People only ask highly necessary questions. You’ll find Ms. Lucy Looselips zipping it up, stopping herself in mid-sentence and looking around like she should be congratulated for keeping her trap shut. Resist the temptation to compliment her, as it ignites a potential word fuselage.
Stick to the back of the room. Don’t get crowded in where it’s hotter. Find a spot where you can spread your legs and adopt a power pose. This gives you room to flex, scan and scowl as necessary if someone thinks s/he can dominate the room discussion.
Simple, sheer brilliance. Productivity soars. Employees’ health improves. People say what they want to say and not a word more. Others listen. Is it too much to ask for?
Probably yes. You have to figure the standing meeting is too much for most companies to adopt. It’s complicated, a major change and would require a process. We can’t expect that to happen.
So do it on your own. Don’t tell anyone. It will be our secret.