FUN (and horrifying) FACT: Physical inactivity, like sitting behind a desk for eight hours a day, is the second highest cause of cancer in Australia, behind smoking tobacco.
That is, according to Betterhealth.vic.gov.au, which described sitting all day long as “the new smoking”.
Eek!
Hoping to avoid the health implications of a desk job, an industry professional is shaking things up by moving her meetings to the streets. Literally.
TravelManagers’ Business Partnership Manager (BPM) Julia McLean calls them her ‘walking meetings’ and she’s doing them every time she meets with a group of consultants.
The idea to make her meetings more active came after Julia attended a wellness workshop at the group’s National Conference in Hawaii last year, where she learned that moving throughout the day keeps you healthy and encourages creative thinking.
“I find them particularly useful for one-on-one meetings. They allow for an easy, flowing conversation to take place – harder topics such as business performance can be more comfortable to discuss when people are not sitting directly face-to-face.”
Julia McLean, TravelManagers Business Partnership Manager
Julia’s walking meetings generally last over an hour, with each tracking at least 10,000 steps!
Consultants within the group have praised the BPM for her initiative, saying that they look forward to meeting with her every month.
“I’ve been thrilled with the response,” McLean said. “All the PTMs who have walked so far have indicated they would like to do it again, and I’m putting together a schedule of dates and locations each month so that PTMs can schedule them well in advance.”
- READ: What the vivacious Lorie Raymundo loves about her job
- READ: TravelManagers rediscovered the beauty of Phuket
- READ: TravelManagers’ Barry Mayo sees 2019 as a year of refinement