{"id":13393,"date":"2022-08-24T19:04:44","date_gmt":"2022-08-24T17:04:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oes.com\/us\/?p=13393"},"modified":"2025-09-16T06:56:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T06:56:21","slug":"benefits-of-walking-and-talking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oes.com\/us\/blog\/benefits-of-walking-and-talking\/","title":{"rendered":"Benefits of Walking and Talking"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-798952e7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-title elementor-page-title elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"798952e7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"theme-post-title.default\">\n<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n<p>As Chief Operations Officer at OES, Meg Knight leads a global team creating tailored digital learning solutions for higher education, K-12, businesses, governments, and nonprofits. She has partnered with organizations like the British Cabinet Office, Oxford Sa\u00efd Business School, and Michigan Ross to deliver impactful learning experiences.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Benefits of Walking and Talking<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>The perennial problem of someone in my position with my title is the ability to move beyond the title and access a more fundamental level of communication. Often when I am in meetings with people, there is a subtle but significant power imbalance. The result of this is that the conversations that I\u2019m privy to or the level of problem that lands on my table is limited\u2013if I\u2019m not deliberate, I only get to see the problems when they are already significant and costly.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I am on a constant mission to surface the issues before they need to be addressed by me. In my frustration with this dynamic, I stumbled on a very subtle but powerful tool\u2013the Walk and Talk.<\/p>\n<p>Essentially, I invite a person to go for a walk and I buy them a drink. This is typically a 20-minute investment and packs a mighty punch. It turns out this is a short journey that has an amazing impact\u2013it breaks down any power imbalances, and we become two people on equal footing, developing a broader understanding of each other. We seldom talk about work unless there\u2019s a really pressing issue, and rather get to know each other as people (as opposed to colleagues).<\/p>\n<p>This works as well for remote teams, as long as there\u2019s a conscious decision to not revert to work topics but to \u2018shoot the breeze\u2019 together for this defined period of time.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The results are really rewarding\u2013since I stumbled across this tool, I have taken about half the company for a walk and talk. As a consequence, when I do meet up with the person again in a work situation, often when there are challenges on projects that I am helping resolve, there&#8217;s a level of trust and communication that was not previously there.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>A recent example of where this bore fruit was when a project went off the rails and I needed to step in to assist the person course-correct. Because I\u2019d been for an informal \u2018walk and talk\u2019 before this, I could start the conversation off on a lighter, more personal level. This reduced the level of tension, and we could start from a level of trust that I had made the effort to get to know her on a personal level, and thus she had the sense that I \u2018had her back\u2019 and my intention was support and resolution, not blame. It didn\u2019t prevent a problem from happening (those always crop up if you\u2019re doing difficult work). Still, it did enable a faster and more pleasant resolution and set this person up for better outcomes next time that issue surfaced.<\/p>\n<p>What I have increasingly realized on this leadership journey is that the best tools I have at my disposal are the people I work with, and it\u2019s my mission to unlock their skill set, commitment, and dedication to their particular role in our organization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Chief Operations Officer at OES, Meg Knight leads a global team creating tailored digital learning solutions for higher education, K-12, businesses, governments, and nonprofits. She has partnered with organizations like the British Cabinet Office, Oxford Sa\u00efd Business School, and Michigan Ross to deliver impactful learning experiences. Benefits of Walking and Talking &nbsp; The perennial [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":206282448,"featured_media":13423,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[93,94],"press":[],"featured-slide-blog":[],"template-blog":[222],"class_list":["post-13393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insights","tag-leadership","tag-thought-leadership","template-blog-yes"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.1 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Benefits of Walking and Talking (The Unexpected Power)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover how walking and talking can break down barriers in the workplace, fostering trust and effective communication.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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