The Virtual Meeting That Should Have Been a Walking Call

You needed fifteen minutes. Instead of scheduling a call, you could have just walked around the block while talking. Two birds, one walk.

Instead, everyone joined a video call. Cameras on or off, nobody checks. One person is clearly doing something else on their second monitor. The conversation has a half-second delay that makes it feel slightly off. Someone talks over someone else. Someone else mutes themselves to cough.

This is the virtual meeting that should have been a walking call.

Why We Default to Video

Video calls feel more serious. They feel like work. You can see if someone's paying attention (or not). You have the shared calendar. You have the recording option.

But the cost is high. Video calls create fatigue. They remove the natural rhythm that comes from being in the same room — or the same neighborhood.

The Walking Call Alternative

Walking calls work because:

The pace is natural. You walk at the speed of thought. No half-second delay. No awkward mute/unmute.

The context is richer. You can hear breathing, notice hesitation, pick up on the mood in a way that video compression destroys.

You're not looking at a screen. Eyes forward, not at a grid of faces. The conversation feels more like a real interaction.

The meeting ends naturally. The walk takes as long as it takes. When you're done, you're done — no "shall we schedule a follow-up?"

How to Make It Work

Send a calendar invite with a meeting link. Same as any call.

Use earbuds. Wireless is best. No one wants to see your wires.

Put your phone in your pocket. The call is the point, not the email that arrives mid-walk.

For remote teams: If you can't walk together, stand together. Standing calls have energy that sitting calls don't.

Walking calls aren't for every meeting. But for the ones where you just need to talk through something, they beat video every time.