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“Could you sit down please?” A qualitative analysis of employees’ experiences of standing in normally-seated workplace meetings

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  • Louise Mansfield
  • Jennifer Hall
  • Lee Smith
  • Molly Rasch
  • Emily Reeves
  • Stephen Dewitt
  • Benjamin Gardner

Abstract

Office workers spend most of their working day sitting, and prolonged sitting has been associated with increased risk of poor health. Standing in meetings has been proposed as a strategy by which to reduce workplace sitting but little is known about the standing experience. This study documented workers’ experiences of standing in normally seated meetings. Twenty-five participants (18+ years), recruited from three UK universities, volunteered to stand in 3 separate, seated meetings that they were already scheduled to attend. They were instructed to stand when and for however long they deemed appropriate, and gave semi-structured interviews after each meeting. Verbatim transcripts were analysed using Framework Analysis. Four themes, central to the experience of standing in meetings, were extracted: physical challenges to standing; implications of standing for meeting engagement; standing as norm violation; and standing as appropriation of power. Participants typically experienced some physical discomfort from prolonged standing, apparently due to choosing to stand for as long as possible, and noted practical difficulties of fully engaging in meetings while standing. Many participants experienced marked psychological discomfort due to concern at being seen to be violating a strong perceived sitting norm. While standing when leading the meeting was felt to confer a sense of power and control, when not leading the meeting participants felt uncomfortable at being misperceived to be challenging the authority of other attendees. These findings reveal important barriers to standing in normally-seated meetings, and suggest strategies for acclimatising to standing during meetings. Physical discomfort might be offset by building standing time slowly and incorporating more sit-stand transitions. Psychological discomfort may be lessened by notifying other attendees about intentions to stand. Organisational buy-in to promotional strategies for standing may be required to dispel perceptions of sitting norms, and to progress a wider workplace health and wellbeing agenda.

Suggested Citation

  • Louise Mansfield & Jennifer Hall & Lee Smith & Molly Rasch & Emily Reeves & Stephen Dewitt & Benjamin Gardner, 2018. "“Could you sit down please?” A qualitative analysis of employees’ experiences of standing in normally-seated workplace meetings," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(6), pages 1-16, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0198483
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0198483
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    2. Erin Gorman & Maureen C Ashe & David W Dunstan & Heather M Hanson & Ken Madden & Elisabeth A H Winkler & Heather A McKay & Genevieve N Healy, 2013. "Does an ‘Activity-Permissive’ Workplace Change Office Workers’ Sitting and Activity Time?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(10), pages 1-1, October.
    3. Leandro Fornias Machado de Rezende & Maurício Rodrigues Lopes & Juan Pablo Rey-López & Victor Keihan Rodrigues Matsudo & Olinda do Carmo Luiz, 2014. "Sedentary Behavior and Health Outcomes: An Overview of Systematic Reviews," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(8), pages 1-7, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Stuart J.H. Biddle & Jason A. Bennie & Katrien De Cocker & David Dunstan & Paul A. Gardiner & Genevieve N. Healy & Brigid Lynch & Neville Owen & Charlotte Brakenridge & Wendy Brown & Matthew Buman & B, 2019. "Controversies in the Science of Sedentary Behaviour and Health: Insights, Perspectives and Future Directions from the 2018 Queensland Sedentary Behaviour Think Tank," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-20, November.
    2. Ida H Danquah & Janne S Tolstrup, 2020. "Standing Meetings Are Feasible and Effective in Reducing Sitting Time among Office Workers—Walking Meetings Are Not: Mixed-Methods Results on the Feasibility and Effectiveness of Active Meetings Based," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-7, March.
    3. Lidewij R Renaud & Erwin M Speklé & Allard J van der Beek & Hidde P van der Ploeg & H Roeline Pasman & Maaike A Huysmans, 2020. "The user and non-user perspective: Experiences of office workers with long-term access to sit-stand workstations," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-20, July.

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