I can’t imagine I am in the minority having never combined a foot massage with a work meeting. Until last week I would have been quite disbelieving if you told me you had. Who does combine reflexology with business? Well, in China it’s apparently common and having tested the waters myself I can understand why.
There are 500 health oases in the Liangzi chain alone in China where business meetings regularly take place in private rooms set up for reflexology treatments. The idea is that providing a tranquil setting, without stress, facilitates open and effective communication. Combining the power of touch with a relaxed atmosphere is a preferred practice in traditional Chinese culture.
I admit I was a little sceptical when I read about this practice. Even more so when I raised the possibility of having our regular catch-up over a foot massage and discovered the Women’s Agenda producer and writer Jordi Roth doesn’t like having her feet touched. To her credit she agreed to come along anyway and the afternoon was a huge success.
Working in an office is obviously very practical but it does have limitations. Getting away from the desk and catching up with team members away from the familiar setting is always worthwhile. When you work closely with someone on a daily basis it is easy to simply focus on the task directly in front of you. In our case working on the publication, preparing stories and compiling a daily newsletter gives us plenty to do in a day. We have cause to email and speak several times a day. We do stop and talk about the big picture too but not nearly often enough.
It is easy to get so swept up in the daily to-do-list that the idea of taking an hour out of the day — away from the desk — seems impossible. And yet having some unstructured time is so valuable. Escaping the office for an hour together gave us space to focus on the big picture, talk freely about work and to rethink how we do certain things. Aside from the possible work benefits that may stem from those ideas it is relationship building. And when you work closely with someone anything that helps build on the relationship is valuable and worthwhile.
The Liangzi Health Oasis in Sydney, the first Australian location in the chain, is set up with rooms for up to six people to have a reflexology treatment at the same time. The space itself is huge, the rooms are private and quiet and it quite literally feels like an oasis in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city. Once ensconced in our private room we watched Question Time, we chatted, we enjoyed the treatment and we left feeling noticeably more relaxed than we did when we arrived. In every sense it really was a productive meeting.
It made me realise that the most productive meetings don’t always happen in a board room. Where do you get the best results from meetings with staff or clients? Have you ever done business over a foot massage? Would you consider it?