If you are unfortunate enough to be spending the majority of your working day attending meetings (something must be wrong with the workflow), then you will understand how much more beneficial it is if you are spending time in nice rooms, with everything needed in order to conduct an efficient, effective meeting. Personally, I used to spend four out of my eight hours at work, stuck in meetings, mostly in rooms that hadn’t seen a makeover in the best part of a decade, and which were far from inspiring or really conducive for work. Faulty projectors; flickering lights, uncomfortable seating and weak wi-fi signal were all issues I had to contend with regularly – all of which could have been easily resolved.
Here we take a look at a few simple measures an organisation can take in order to improve their meeting areas, and show that you don’t have to break the bank in order to do so.
1) Give it a fresh lick of paint
One of the simplest and most affordable ways of updating your meeting areas could simply be repainting it. Go for lighter colours that conducive to the type of work being carried out in the rooms. Colours for areas where focus is needed will differ from areas that are needed to enhance creativity. Everything you choose to do needs to be fit for purpose, so you should ideally have a plan of each room’s uses.
2) Add new technology
This doesn’t necessarily mean splurge on a new system with all the bells and whistles – again, make sure everything is planned and fit for purpose. A popular upgrade at the moment are scheduling systems. There is a misconception that these are difficult to use or just all looks and no substance, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Learning how to use a conference room scheduling display can literally take a matter of minutes and you will soon wonder why you didn’t invest in one sooner. Meetings and room bookings can be made much more easily, and you’ll never waste your time wondering if that empty room has been booked or not – this will all be seen on the display outside the room or on any device logged into the system!
3) Update your furniture
Whether it is new sofas and chairs or new tables, updating your furniture is a simple way of completely transforming the look and feel of any room. If you don’t want or need to change your furniture, consider reupholstering them with different coloured materials; that way you’ll freshen up the look a bit, whilst not breaking the bank.
4) Get your lighting right
Every room is different and will need to be designed according to what you have. The positioning of the room – whether or not there is a lot of natural light available, to the types of light bulbs used, all need to be taken into account. Certain types of lighting may make you sleepier, whilst others can really be a fine line between keeping you alert or causing headaches. Really assess your needs before making any changes, but this is usually one of the easiest and simplest ways of improving a meeting area.