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How does a business benefit from better meeting spaces?
Business
Virtual Offices
5
min read
When it comes to running a business, no subject is as controversial amongst both employees and management alike as meetings. Meetings are essential for effective communication and collaboration between teams, but also take up a lot of company time; in one study,
65% of employees said that meetings prevented them from completing their work. So what’s the solution?
The key to effective meetings is ensuring that they fulfil an important role; in short, that they’re productive. One way to ensure productive meetings is to use a designated meeting space, equipped with comfortable seating, tools for collaboration, as well as fast WiFi and plenty of space for grouping off.
By investing in better meeting spaces, businesses can make the most of their meetings, while also ensuring a positive experience when it comes to meetings with third-party clients, investors, and stakeholders.
What is a meeting space?
A meeting space is a dedicated area where teams come together to discuss work, share ideas and collaborate on projects. It can be anything from an informal gathering around a conference table in the office, to a boardroom equipped with the latest technology. However, the problem with many modern offices is that their premises simply aren’t fit for effective collaboration; meeting rooms are too small, the internet connection is too slow, and there aren’t enough resources to ensure that the meeting is carried out productively.
Plus, with so many businesses now going digital and working remotely, it can be difficult to achieve the same level of engagement in an online meeting than an in-person meeting; unstable internet, background noise and environmental distractions can all affect the success of your meeting.
With a functional and comfortable meeting space, businesses don’t just create a more productive environment for their teams to collaborate in; they also ensure that meetings are engaging, efficient and informative. The efficiency of a well-equipped meeting room also means meetings can conclude faster, so employees won’t be left feeling as if they’re falling behind on their workload.
What is the purpose of a meeting space?
We could reformulate this question to: what should be the purpose of a meeting space? Aside from exchanging ideas and information, a great meeting space should promote collaboration and productivity – but also prioritise employee comfort. A well-designed meeting room helps to inspire creativity and energy, enabling participants to get the most out of their encounters – but for this, it needs to be equipped and functional. Here’s what a meeting space needs for an effective collaboration:
Accessibility
If you’re going to be hiring a meeting room for your business, you’ll want to ensure that it’s fully accessible to all members of staff, no matter their age or physical capabilities. At W1 Office, all of our meeting rooms are accessible via elevator, so you can ensure that all members of your staff can participate in regular meetings.
Tools and resources
A great meeting space doesn’t just have to be aesthetically pleasing; it should also provide tools and resources that support collaboration, presenting, and communication. Comfortable furniture, high-speed internet, whiteboards, and other office equipment can provide the necessary tools for team members to share information, collaborate on projects, and make presentations. Having fast internet will also allow businesses to get their meetings completed faster, reducing the amount of time wasted and preventing employees from creating a backlog of unfinished work.
Comfort
A meeting space should also be comfortable for everyone involved – nobody wants to be sweating through an hour-long meeting during London’s increasingly hot summers! By providing adequate lighting and temperature control, businesses can create an environment that actually facilitates brainstorming and creative collaboration. All meeting spaces on offer at W1 Office are fully equipped with air conditioning and comfortable seating, making them perfect for a quick rendezvous or a day-long conference.
What are the benefits of investing in a good meeting space?
Aside from promoting collaboration and creativity among teams, there are also many other benefits to investing in a quality meeting space. For example, one benefit is that it can help increase employee satisfaction and increase employee attendance at meetings themselves; this leads to enhanced productivity across your organisation, and incentivises participation.
Another benefit of having a better meeting space is that it can create more opportunities for networking; many start-ups, VCs and new businesses will make use of meeting rooms in the early days of their enterprise, which can lead to new contacts and potential business opportunities for your company.
Finally, a well-appointed meeting space can help to make a positive impression on clients or partners who come to visit the office; a comfortable and inviting environment can be just as important as product quality when pitching products and services, especially when it comes to securing that all-important professional first impression.
Hire a meeting room in London
If you’re running a business – digital or otherwise – and you’re looking to conduct your meetings in a comfortable, accessible and well-equipped space, you might want to
book meeting rooms in London. Rather than being cramped in an overcrowded office room – or attempting to engage a scattered workforce via a Zoom call – a professional meeting space can provide the perfect environment for your team to collaborate, brainstorm and make better decisions.
