Do children ever ask for more broccoli? Do fish ever ask for more fisherman? Do glaciers request more heat? Do employees ever ask for more meetings? What if the answer to at least one of these questions were yes?
If you're an employer, you're in luck because after this post, your staff will be begging you for more meetings.
Conference Rooms Can Be Terrible, But Are Very Necessary
Chances are that you've been in a meeting which took place in a conference room that sucked the life out of your soul. This can be for a variety of reasons, but I have personally found this because the chairs were uncomfortable, I needed a projector, outlets, computer, or other business technology that was unavailable, the meeting was unnecessary or way too long.
With the trend of open offices as widespread as it is, I wouldn't be surprised if some companies simply tried to do away with meeting rooms as such, and instead opted for only open style meeting areas. Unfortunately, these have their own set of shortcomings, and it is important to remember that some separation is important.
Some meetings need to be behind closed doors to either keep certain information private, or just simply to not interrupt non-involved staff with the constant talking of people several feet away.
Tips For Making Them Great
Some of the ways companies have worked to create better conference rooms are:
- Come up with a fun naming theme for all of your rooms.
- Use Rounded Tables so no one feels like they are dominating the meetings.
- Make sure you have appropriately sized conference spaces for your needs.
- Outfit each conference space with the necessary equipment for meetings.
- Don't require meetings if they are unnecessary and don't make them drag on forever.
- Bring drinks or snacks or both.
Now that we're thinking of how to make better conference spaces, we should look at a few examples:
