Create a Physical Environment to Further Your Meeting Objectives
Organizing a business meeting only starts with scheduling a date and ensuring everyone can attend. It is vital for companies to ensure their meetings are engaging, constructive and worthwhile. The physical workplace environment is essential to consider while planning your meeting. Whether your gathering is scheduled to last a few hours or a few days, curate a more productive and enjoyable experience when you align the setting with your meeting goals.
Seating layout and design play important roles for fostering interaction and productivity. Many factors should be taken into account when selecting the furniture, arrangement, décor and technology needs for your space. The last thing any meeting facilitator wants is for their participants to drag themselves to a spot where they collapse and stay glued to their seat cushion all day.
When determining the most appropriate room set-up, consider:
- The purpose of the meeting
- Your attendee’s comfort
- How to promote learning while minimizing distractions
After you’ve finalized your numbers and meeting content, think through these elements and how they can enhance your meeting experience.
1| Physical Meeting Space
Is your environment free of distractions? Noise, lighting and surrounding views can impact productivity levels. Ensure your meeting room will not be affected by the sounds of neighborly meetings and conversations. Look for a workspace that is well lit to keep attendees focused and energized. Windows allowing for natural light are an added bonus! People watching can be very distracting. Avoid meeting spaces that direct attendee attention at the busyness ensuing outside the meeting room walls. From dare-devil window washers to front desk pow wows, beware of distracting views that can disturb your meeting.
Roam’s meeting spaces were built to ensure our members and guests can accomplish their best work. From the selection of building materials to the layout of our workplaces, our development team is intentional to create beautiful, highly-productive and operationally excellent meeting spaces. Frosted windows, light-filtering shades, wall insulation and soft boardroom lighting are just a few examples of how our meeting rooms offer a productive and energizing setting for you and your team.
2| Layout + Seating Arrangements
The layout of the room is highly dependent on your meeting content and agenda. As each seating arrangement offers its own unique set of benefits and shortcomings, spend some time considering your needs. Does your meeting call for break out groups and discussions? Will your attendees need to move around or take notes? Can everyone be seen and heard clearly? Research the benefits of different seating styles by clicking here.
At Roam, a personal Meeting Coordinator partners with each client to craft an environment unique to your gathering. Our standard seating arrangements include: theater, classroom, pods and u-shape. And when the meeting calls for it, we create combination settings that offer a variety of seating styles in a single meeting space. If our standard setups don’t quite fit the bill, we are happy to get creative and think outside-the-box to craft the perfect environment for your team.
As you survey your meeting’s needs, here are a few suggestions from the Roam team:
- Theater – Allows for maximum seating capacity. Best for conferences, seminars and speaking events when attendees will not be taking notes or engaging with one another.
- Classroom – Our most popular seating style. Great for workshops when attendees will be working on their laptops and/or taking notes.
- Pods – Most interactive seating style. Ideal for meetings that call for smaller team discussions, focus groups or breakout sessions.
- U-Shape – Best for small to mid-size groups. Allows the facilitator to move and personally interact with attendees, as well as, encourages group participation.
3| Furniture + Décor
Room design may not always be customizable, but understanding the needs of your meeting will help in selecting the most suitable pre-designed space or personalized décor when available. If you’ll be moving around and need to shift about easily, it may be best to choose swivel chairs. Also consider the size and mobility of the tables. Will everyone stay seated for the majority of the meeting or do you need the flexibility of movement?
No one wants to sit in a boring or uninspiring conference room all day. Look for spaces that offer energizing design elements. Or with the approval of the offsite meeting space, bring in your own décor items including: flowers, banners or celebratory balloons. When selecting décor, pick pieces that will enhance the experience, reduce stress and promote creativity.
Roam’s luxury boardrooms are designed to inspire your inner creator and visionary. From refined shiplap walls and exposed brick to wooded walls resembling a mountain cabin, our meeting rooms are enhanced with unique and innovative design features. And for those interested in creating a custom experience, we partner with Orchestrate offer plush furniture, décor, lighting and design services to elevate and personalize your event.
Overall, you can’t go wrong when considering your team’s needs as you plan your next meeting. Be intentional to consider the location, content, agenda and attendees. This extra effort will be well worth your time when you experience increased attendee engagement and successful goal completion.
Our team at Roam Innovative Workplace crafts an elevated meeting experience with design and technology-enhanced meeting spaces across the Metro Atlanta area. Allow our team to learn more about your needs and create a personalized meeting solution for your upcoming gathering. To learn more, explore our meeting offerings and amenities here. And if you’re ready to host your meeting at Roam, book your room today or send us an email at [email protected].