In order to optimise the use of your meeting areas to their full potential, you need to establish exactly what it is you want to get out of the space. Some of the most common objectives around workspace meeting areas is creative thinking, collaboration, idea generation, communication and engagement, and there are a few key ways in which you can achieve these…
Introduce collaborative technology
One of the most proven ways you can maximise the effectiveness of your meeting spaces – whether it’s a room or a dedicated area – is by installing some modern office technology.
A study carried out by Barco (the designers of ClickShare) revealed that nearly 9 in 10 workers experience tech-related stress when it comes to meetings, with 58% regularly struggling with content and screen sharing. Finding the right wires to connect to the right devices was also a common problem.
What’s even more concerning is that 15% of Barco’s respondents said that meeting room technology problems had lost the company business.
Research released by Steelcase showed that 5-10 minutes of meeting time is lost trying to connect to technology and that 11% of lost time is due to staff looking for a collaborative place to meet.
Here are just a few of the products we would recommend to combat these issues and optimise the use of your meeting spaces:
Reserva – Reserva is an interactive sign and electronic booking system which has been designed to eradicate interruption and streamline time management when it comes to meeting room occupancy.
ClickShare – Clickshare is a wireless presentation system which enables mutual collaboration. Users can share what’s on their laptop or device to a presentation screen with the simple click of a button, eliminating the need for tidy and confusing cables.
Media:scape – Integrating furniture and technology, media:scape allows users to quickly share information between teams regardless of format. PUCK technology makes sharing and viewing content effortless and effective.
Make it a multifunctional space
Another effective way to make more of your meeting area(s) is to enable it to become easily transformed according to task or requirement.
Using a combination of furniture, technology and design, you can make your meeting space a multifunctional setting that can become a training area, a conference room, a presentation space or a private work zone by using the right reconfiguration and deploying the necessary resources.
Making your meeting area more than just a meeting area is not only cost-effective and space-savvy, it will also provide a flexible and dynamic environment conducive to agile work. Some ways you can achieve this are by…
Mixing & matching your meeting space furniture – Including something like the Lano table (which is pear-shaped to enable all users around it to have full view of presentation screen or speaker) alongside some soft seating will provide a diversity of spaces for a range of meeting styles.
We also suggest considering some power integrated furniture to enable all meeting attendees – internal or external – to be able to plug in, power up and connect. This will allow all attendees to contribute mutually and maximise potential for collaboration and idea-sharing.
Considering space division solutions – If you don’t have one dedicated meeting room as you work in an open plan office, we would recommend including some space division solutions to ensure the setting can be easily adapted and segmented in line with requirement.
Glass partition walls are an effective part of an office fit out project if you’re looking for a permanent space division fixture. However, if you want something more adaptable and interchangeable, we suggest going for a product like BuzziBlinds or Fabricks acoustic wall (pictured above) to designate space but also contain noise.