According to the World Health Organization, most of the world’s population (58%) spends one-third of their adult life at work. And if you’re like most people, nearly half of that time is spent in a meeting.
Unfortunately, many meetings tend to not always be as productive as they could be, mostly due to disorganization and a lack of effective communication. Also, most meetings just are not the most exciting things in the world.
An easy fix? Standing up, according to new research.
The new study included teams who were given 30 minutes to develop and record a university recruitment video. Some groups did this in rooms with chairs around a table while others had no chairs.
People in the standing teams were more excited about the creative process and more willing to offer ideas, which resulted in more information-sharing and better videos, according to the findings published online June 12 in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.
“Seeing that the physical space in which a group works can alter how people think about their work and how they relate with one another was very exciting,” study co-author Andrew Knight, of the Olin Business School at Washington University, said in a journal news release.
Knight also added that removing chairs and adding whiteboards are inexpensive ways for organizations to encourage staff to brainstorm and collaborate.
