Most of us attend between eight and 17 meetings each week (the number ticks up the further up the ladder you go). And most of us wouldn’t mind if we felt a sense of accomplishment – but there is a lot – and we mean a lot – of waste. The average delay per meeting is 10 minutes and 40 seconds, or three days and two hours lost a year for employees. Executives waste about five days and 19 hours annually. Poorly organized meetings cost us a collective $399 billion a year.
One of the big issues is… finding a meeting space! It seems basic, but 40% of the workforce wastes up to 30 minutes searching for a place to meet. Another hour plus is spent preparing. What if you could eliminate these time-wasters and energy-sappers? Well, you’d have far more effective meetings and attain that sense of accomplishment that has been missing.
Read on for some great meeting space tips to ensure efficiency, productivity, and far fewer headaches!
Stress Less and Impress with the Right Meeting Space
You’re busy. Your people are busy. Your clients, prospects, partners, vendors, and subcontractors are busy. Why waste time, energy, and, to get to the bottom line, money when you can easily avoid it?
The right meeting place isn’t just a table, some chairs, and if you’re lucky, some stale coffee. It can be – and should be – a place that encourages collaboration, problem-solving, critical thinking, innovation. It should be a place that helps you meet your business-building goals.
Location, Location…
If you are consistently wasting hours each week seeking out appropriate meeting places, do yourself a favor: book a professional space that meets your needs, your timeline, and your budget. You can access meeting rooms to accommodate 4-12 people or bigger conference rooms for 20 or more.
So you have a room small or large enough. What else? Your space should include all the amenities you need for a successful meeting, such as high-speed WIFI, comfortable furnishings, whiteboards, projectors, televisions, video conferring equipment, and, of course, plenty of outlets so people can recharge.
Additionally, you can take advantage of touches that bolster your image; a receptionist to greet your attendees, a community kitchen for refreshments (and fresh coffee!), and a professional, welcoming environment.
… Location
When you book a meeting space, you can also leverage its location. If, for example, you have a physical location that is some distance from major transit or cultural hubs or you usually work remotely and have no “office,” you can invite meeting attendees to a comfortable, professional space that is close to the action (e.g. airports, major roadways/interstates, hotels, restaurants, shops, services, parking, etc.).
You also “borrow” from the social cache of the location without having to incur the cost. Office space in Harbour Island, for instance, can be quite expensive. Simply booking meetings, conferences, or training rooms as needed relieves you of the significant pressure of a commercial lease.
Set Yourself Up for Virtual and Hybrid Success
As we have seen over the past year, being able to maintain business continuity even when your people are scattered in different locations is essential. Millions of us suddenly went remote, and many of us are staying there. It is mission-critical that we still be able to connect with our stakeholders even if we cannot be in the same room.
You need to have a plan – and be able to implement it at a moment’s notice. Your meeting space should be as inclusive for virtual participants as it is for those sitting at the table. How?
- Make sure your space has high-quality audio equipment. You don’t want “You hear me now?” to be the mantra of your meeting.
- Use tech that is geared towards remote teams. Zoom Smart Gallery, for example, uses AI to scan for individual faces and pull them into panes so remote folks can see them in a gallery view. It’s not the same as being there, but those outside the meeting space won’t feel so isolated.
- Use additional monitors so remote attendees can appear full-size while the meeting presenter and in-person people appear on another screen.
- Use an online whiteboard or focus a camera on your flipchart to make sure remote people can see everything the same way others can.
- Test your technology… and do it well before your meeting! You don’t want to be figuring out last-minute bugs at… well, the last minute.
When you opt to book meeting space through a provider like Office Evolution, they can help you sort many of these details so your sessions run smoothly.
Create a Safe, Comfortable In-Person Meeting Space
As important as it is for virtual people to feel like part of the team, you must also ensure that those there in the flesh are also comfortable and safe. It’s the world we live in, and again, it is important to be prepared. Consider spacing chairs to allow for social distancing or securing a bigger space to accommodate for current capacity guidelines.
Booking a meeting place as needed gives you an advantage here as well. These spaces are professionally cleaned before and after use so you are coming into a safe, sanitized environment.
Contact Office Evolution
If you are dealing with “This meeting should’ve been an email,” or “There’s an hour of my life I’ll never get back,” it’s time for a change. To book the meeting space you need for maximum efficiency, effectiveness, convenience, comfort, and safety/wellbeing, contact Office Evolution.