If you feel like you are standing still, you might be right. According to government research, the average American spends 9.3 hours per day sitting and 7.7 hours per day sleeping. This equates to about 17 sedentary hours out of every 24-hour day. A few enterprising companies are trying to help their employees change this by encouraging and even requiring more walking during the workday. And, they are finding that the company is benefitting from the additional exercise as much as the employees.

John Rampton, CEO of the online invoicing company DUE, reported in Entrepreneur that his company recently saw profitability and employee productivity jump by 30 percent. He attributes a good deal of this improvement to the requirement that employees twice daily take 15 minute “walkies”—without their phones.

“Once we conducted our own experiment by doing the two 15-minute “walkies” per day for 30 days, nearly 100 percent of our own staff concurred with the research findings. We attribute the 30-percent increase in productivity to employees completing tasks more accurately and almost a day quicker than before,” Rampton wrote.

In this issue of Promotional Consultant Today, we share these important tips for getting your team moving—literally.

Some business leaders have begun holding walking meetings. The idea is not a new one, as Steve Jobs is reported to have loved walking meetings and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has been said to like walking meetings as well. And there’s now proof that walking meetings can work. A study conducted this year by the University of Miami found that it is “feasible and acceptable to convert a traditional seated meeting into a walking meeting.” In the study, participants changed just one seated meeting a week to a walking meeting. Over the course of the study and with only one walking meeting per week, those participants added an average of 10 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise to their week, without having to take extra time out of their day to exercise.

The benefits of walking meetings go deeper than many might think. Peter Economy listed in Inc. online seven powerful reasons for walking meetings:

1.    Walking meetings are more creative. According to a Stanford study, people are up to 60 percent more creative when walking.

2.    Walking meetings are better for you. Science has identified health risks of sitting too much at work, and walking can get you out into the fresh air and sunshine.

3.    Walking meetings tear down walls between management and workers. Western Union’s CEO believes that people become more relaxed when walking and more likely to speak from the heart.

4.    Walking meetings improve energy and output. At Johnson & Johnson a 90-day test of walking meetings increased the energy workers felt and also increased their focus and engagement.

5.    Walking meetings are better for communication. Neuroscientist Andrew Tate says that increased blood flow to your brain allows workers to speak more fluently and increases communication.

6.    Walking meetings outdoors makes employees happier. A study at the University of Essex found mood and sense of well-being improved with just five minutes of outside exercise.

7.    Walking meetings could save your life. Economy cites research that says just 30 minutes of walking each day can reduce the risk of health problems, including cancer, dementia and heart disease.

Source: Peter Economy is a best-selling business author, ghostwriter, developmental editor and publishing consultant with more than 85 books to his credit (and more than two million copies sold), including Everything I Learned About Life I Learned in Dance Class, Leading Through Uncertainty: How Umpqua Bank Emerged from the Great Recession Better and Stronger than Ever, Managing For Dummies, Leadership Ensemble: Lessons in Collaborative Management from the World’s Only Conductorless Orchestra, The Management Bible and many more. He writes columns on leadership and management for Inc.com (The Leadership Guy) and, since 2001, has also served as associate editor for Leader to Leader magazine-published by the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute in New York City.