Whatever the size of your team and whatever the size of your office, it’s always a good idea to be researching and trying to implement new ideas to make your workspace more efficient. If you want to improve staff meetings, you could start by making sure you have the best possible office fitout and use these furniture tips.

 

Why We Are Talking About An Office Fitout

We are a well-established office fitout and design company, who have worked with many clients. We help businesses renew their office space to make it as efficient and as slick as possible. But we also supply our own office furniture and office equipment.

This means we have experience of designing complete office fitouts and refurbishments, but also fulfilling more simple furniture orders which can be completed online.

This blog post aims to discuss some ways in which you can utilise the layout and fitout of your office to improve staff meetings.

 

Improving A Staff Meeting In A Meeting Room

If your business has a dedicated meeting room where you tend to conduct your internal staff meetings, they could be struggling to remain as beneficial as they should be due to the fact that many meeting rooms neglect some key design characteristics.

The general workspace of an office is given the priority when it comes to designing for productivity; natural light, smart lighting, noise management, lines of sight, suitable chairs… all of these things are great. But meeting rooms often receive less special treatment just because they are used less often.

Your staff meetings could be improved massively by giving your meeting rooms a quick refurbishment of their fitout. Improve the lighting (either artificially or by allowing in more natural light), adding greenery, replacing the furniture and upgrading the IT features will make the room more inspiring.

In turn, the meetings which take place in there will be improved as a result.

Office Furniture Tips: install desks which have enough room for several laptops and notebooks or other papers, also use a desk which keeps power leads tidy and safe; make sure the lighting is as natural as possible; think about installing a wall mounted screen for communal viewing; add features such as greenery or wall art to stimulate creativity.

 

Improving A Staff Meeting Which Takes Place In The General Office

If you have a small team or an office without a dedicated meeting room, then internal staff meetings will have to take place in the general workspace. It is likely that these meetings are a struggle because they either disturb or are disturbed by those completing general tasks nearby, or those attending the meeting are prone to distraction as the rest of the work is still too accessible.

The solution is to offer a dedicated meeting space within the general office itself. If there is room, you could install a meeting pod which offers privacy and feels distinctly removed from the usual workspace. Or, if there is insufficient room, a larger meeting desk with seating can remove the users from their usual workspace and therefore leave them free to concentrate on the meeting at hand.

This should improve the quality and output of your staff meetings.

Office Furniture Tips: install a communal, small meeting desk with dedicated seating; make sure this furniture is distinctly different from an individual’s workspace so that it is clearly a meeting table and not an extension of their workspace; choose a shape and size which does not consume too much floorspace when it is occupied.

 

Improving A Staff Meeting By Moving It To A Communal Area

Another idea to improve your meetings is to have them take place in communal areas, with the idea being that the productive hum of more than one discussion taking place will result in better communication and productivity. It’s ideal for ad-hoc and shorter meetings, for which there is no need to tie up a meeting room.

It’s the same principle that co-working spaces aim to utilise, or when people choose to conduct meetings in coffee shops. The hum of productivity around you can often be productive. And if nothing confidential or sensitive is being discussed, installing meeting spaces in communal areas of the building – reception, lunch areas, corridors – can make staff aware that they are in a meeting to produce some sort of outcome and the sooner that is achieved, the sooner they can get back to their other equally pressing tasks back at their own desk.

If the meeting takes place at their own desk, it’s too tempting to check their emails, discuss something else that crops up or get distracted by those working nearby.

Office Furniture Tips:  choose semi-private furniture like booth seating, so that people can talk freely and nearby social/breakout noises are disguised somewhat; make sure the furniture chosen is also suitable for the usual communal uses (waiting in reception, eating lunch, etc); make sure staff know that this furniture is free to use for multiple purposes, you might have to lead by example.