Why don't you try the walk and talk in 2016?

Getting fitter, being happier and living healthier are great goals for anyone thinking about the upcoming year.

A number of years ago my company at the time moved to a new office. As the leader of a small team it was a really special moment receiving the keys to my very own office.

It wasn’t long before some of those growing pains rapidly scaling businesses generate for young management teams started to appear. I felt the trust I had worked hard to establish with the employees was becoming undermined. Each time I had a private or confidential chat with one of the team I had to close a door. It was a very visible statement in such a close environment.

It created some instability. I got feedback that people in the team started to be a little too creative on the reasons for the door shutting behind me, the default position being that the following conversation would have a negative outcome.

So I introduced the walk and talk.

Rather than meet in the office I would take that person for a stroll around the local area. Personally, I loved it. I was outdoors, keeping active and it was a great way to get to know the immediate area. It wouldn't matter if we were brainstorming or talking confidentially (of course, more likely than not it was just a chance to reconnect). It didn’t scare the team. It was more casual and certainly less confronting than a closed office door and what better place to catch up than in the limitless space of the great outdoors.

Ten years on and the walk and talk (known to some as the “Burkey walk around the block") has become a fixture in my weekly routine.

The culture we have built at Tigerspike is entirely suited to the walk and talk meeting. We have light and open plan office spaces where transparent communication is encouraged. Of course, we keep confidential chats away from the shop floor but why step into a meeting room when you can pop outside for some fresh air?

Tigerspike Melbourne recently ran an innovation day, an initiative we encourage throughout the world. It allows the Tigerspike team to split into small multi-disciplined teams and take a run at building new digital products. We invite customers and students from nearby Universities. We typically pick a variety of problems for the team to think about with the only constraint being the 24-hour time-box.

And guess which concept took the honours in Melbourne this year?

Drum roll... Walk 'n' Talk

Introducing the winning product here. The judges for the day appreciated the fact that it was really a subtle solution to encourage enterprise health and well-being, baked into an already hardened utility (Google Calendar), linking multiple devices and making great use of unique open-source data.

Of course the benefits are clear, but just in case you’re reluctant to get your sneakers on, here are few considerations:

• Schedule more productive and creative meetings.
• Open up your physical and mental world.
• Enjoy infinite meeting spaces.
• Be fitter, happier and healthier.
• Lower costs of obesity (country, company, personal).

In 2016 why don't you give it a go?