Why You Should Hold Standing Meetings…Literally. [VIDEO]

Most of us have seen it – the conference call spoof that we can all relate to in more than one way (I am often the person who gets cut off and has to dial back in, or I think everyone can hear me, but I am muted).

This Conference Call in Real Life spoof is a great example of edutainment – it’s entertaining while being educational as it brings to light a pressing real world issue: how to make meetings productive and relevant.

In the world of remote workers and the need for accountability, there are some meetings that are initiated by an organizer who doesn’t have a clear motive, agenda, or strategy – or format. Because of any of the stated reasons, these meetings can be complete fails.

But, because meetings will never be eliminated, we must work to figure out how to make them effective and how to minimize the meetings in the business world that often stray from the streamlined “what you need to know in a limited amount of time” to “let’s have a meeting about a meeting” – something we all dread. So instead of making these mandatory meetings ones where people “show up,” but aren’t really there (and often dread attending), consider a strategy embraced by some popular, fast-moving tech companies – standing meetings. Yes, these meetings are formatted so people are literally standing.

According to a Washington University in St. Louis study that used wearable sensors to measure participants’ activity levels, “standing during meetings boosts the excitement around creative group processes and reduces people’s tendencies to defend their turf.”

So, take a cue from these findings and consider standing meetings. They really do work because of these three factors:

1. Standing meetings are short. Most people don’t enjoy standing for long periods of time, so meetings where everyone stands will be limited to a maximum of 15 minutes. Any meetings longer than15 minutes, will make most people want to sit. Knowing that the timeframe of a meeting is a strict 15 minutes or less (and the standing serves as a constant reminder) will allow the meeting organizer to stay on track and to keep the messages streamlined. Also, this could reduce the “dread” from attendees who would rather be doing something – anything – else.

2. Standing stimulates paying attention. Go ahead and try it. Sit down at a meeting and then stand up. Immediately, when you stand, your body is activated and you become more alert and engaged. Standing requires work – and so does listening. So to ensure your attendees become more active participants in your meetings, make them stand and physically become engaged, which will result in higher mental engagement.

3. Standing is associated with action (and energy). Consider sports teams who often hold pep talks and short meetings during breaks while standing. They generally don’t sit down and let the energy and excitement deflate from the group dynamic. Instead, the coach will encourage everyone to stand, huddle together, feed off the energy, then get right back to work. Keep the energy from meeting attendees flowing as they stand and prepare to take action.

Although standing meetings work best for status meetings and quick brainstorms as opposed to complete strategy or budget meetings, knowing the format that will work best for your content, having a clear goal, and inviting the right people to the meetings will always be the combination to organizing and hosting more effective meetings.

Why You Should Hold Standing Meetings…Literally. [VIDEO]