Top 3 Advantages Of Stand-Up Meetings & How To Do Them Right

What Are The Advantages Of Stand-Up Meetings?

1. The health benefits of standing meetings

It is hopefully no surprise that remaining seated for extended periods of time is highly problematic for your general health.

Spending too high a proportion of your working day sat down increases your chances of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and even dementia. Office-chair-potatoes also face a high risk of suffering from Deep Vein Thrombosis, a clot that forms in your leg, often the result of sitting still for too long.

And then there are the problems of posture. Days spent almost entirely at your desk or seated around a meeting table are a dangerous recipe for slumping, inevitably leading to back issues. So widespread is this, in fact, that a survey of 250 doctors ranked musculoskeletal disorders as the most common type of work-related illness.

Stand-up meetings therefore offer a well-needed respite from sitting. They allow you to stretch your legs, recharge your batteries and get your blood flowing.

2. Standing meetings are much more efficient and short

Standing meetings are a phenomenally effective way of ensuring that meetings stay short and on topic. The reason for this is because of the comparative discomfort of standing for long periods over sitting. When you are sat comfortably, it is much easier to waste time with drifting conversation. In fact, the efficiency of standing meetings is so great that studies show they last, on average, 34% less time than seated meetings.

So, if you find your meetings drifting off topic or going round in circles, getting up on your feet may be the answer.

3. Stand-up meetings encourage productivity & dynamism

Standing up during a meeting boosts the attention span and ability to provide a creative, productive contribution.

Researchers from Washington University performed a study on this phenomenon. They asked volunteers to take 30 minutes to plan a short university recruitment video. Some volunteers worked in rooms with chairs arranged around a table and some with no chairs at all.

The researchers found that volunteers who were standing during the session were more likely to share their ideas. Through recordings from sensors worn on participants wrists, the study also found that the standing volunteers were more physiologically excited during the process.

How To Run A Productive Stand-Up Meeting

Many of these benefits of a stand-up meeting are only actually advantageous if you do them right. To help you ensure that you do this, we have therefore outlined our top tips for running a productive stand-up meeting:

1. Keep it short

An hour-long stand-up meeting defeats the whole point. Not only does it mean that you’ve failed to leverage the main benefit of stand-up meetings (the way they encourage concise, productive conversations), but you’ve likely lost the attention of your participants. Whose mind wouldn’t wander after 45 minutes + on their feet? Aiming for approximately 20 minutes is ideal to get the most out of a standing meeting.