When was the last time you heard an employee say, “I love meetings.
They are the highlight of my workday.” Probably never, right? Well, there are many reasons behind that – poor time management, unforeseen disturbances, or a lack of a proper plan. In fact, over 63% of meetings in the US are conducted without a pre-planned objective.
It’s no surprise that employees feel like they are wasting time and become disgruntled.
Plus, with many companies moving towards hybrid workspaces, where teams are spread across different locations, meetings are now the sole mechanism through which teams can achieve collaboration. So much so that the hybrid working model has bumped up the weekly meeting time by 10%.
Fortunately, there is plenty that you can do to ensure optimal collaboration between remote and on-site teams during meetings without wasting time, effort, or space. Try these meeting room management tips to achieve better productivity and flexibility.
Set Time Benchmarks
Imagine you are looking at your meeting room itinerary and thinking, “An hour is more than enough to cover all of this.” Then, during the meeting, one of the talking points starts to get away from you, only for you to realize that you have 10 minutes to cover the rest of the pointers. Sounds all too familiar?
Setting time limits can help you and your team members prevent such mishaps. To keep the meeting on track, think about how much input and feedback you’re expecting from your team. Include these expectations in the meeting room itinerary that you send out so that everyone is on the same page.
That way, even if you have to cut off a discussion, your team will understand that it’s because you are tight on time and not that you don’t value their input.
Doing so not only helps you save employees’ time but also ensures that the meeting room is available to other departments.
Delegate when Necessary
In larger hybrid workspaces with multiple core business units, meeting room space becomes a hot commodity. Or, like a territory of sorts where different teams jockey to stake a claim. In such scenarios, it’s best to intervene and delegate meeting spaces for different needs.
Sales, accounts, and marketing may get spaces only they can use. Or, managers can assign priority levels to meeting rooms to keep non-essential discussions out of mission-critical meetings.
In short, meeting rooms become task-specific - performance reviews, project planning briefs, sales meetings, client meetings, etc.
Though this may seem like overkill, this system will surely help you create accountability for how meeting rooms are used. It will also prevent the territorial mindset from creating friction between teams.
Keep the Room Occupancy in Mind
Not every meeting room is built the same. A 14’x14’ space will comfortably accommodate five to six employees — too big for three people and too small for a group of 15. Each meeting room has a minimum and maximum occupancy to make sure that all participants can function effectively in the given space.
It’s up to the managers to determine these occupancy levels and employees to abide by them.
Setting a min-max occupancy for meeting spaces accomplishes two things. One, it ensures right-sized spaces for different groups when and where they need it.
For instance, if a four-person meeting occupies a meeting room rated for a max occupancy of 12, a group of 10 may end up in a space meant for five.
Two, it offers you the opportunity to leverage utilization metrics for better and more flexible space management. However, you can only take advantage of these metrics with a meeting room management system.
Invest in a Meeting Room Management System
If you wish to make the most of the space usage analytics, investing in a meeting room management system is the way to go, especially for hybrid workspaces. Why? Because although the hybrid model promotes flexibility, meeting space management still requires some structure.
Having such a management system in your organizational machinery allows you to:
- Assess real-time space availability and next availability
- Integrate room-level technology
- Reserve your place in a meeting using email, Slack, or other platforms
However, to make the most of the system, you need to make the booking process accessible to all. Ideally, it should go something like this – You submit a room reservation request and get a confirmation through email. When your colleague looks up the room availability on the system, they see that it’s already booked and, therefore, reserves another room. You and your colleague attend the meeting in your respective rooms without fending for space.
Use Digital Displays Outside Meeting Rooms
Nothing spoils the flow of a meeting as much as when someone knocks on the door regarding a phone call or when a colleague tries to poach the meeting room. But with the right meeting management system, you can avoid such hiccups.
Technology can bring convenience and flexibility to most office applications, including meeting room management. As such, you can integrate digital displays with your meeting management system and install them outside your meeting spaces.
Here, the details of the ongoing meeting will be displayed on the screen, including the organizer, duration, and nature of the meeting. This way, your colleagues will see that you are indisposed for another hour and that they probably shouldn’t disrupt this important budget meeting.
Wrapping Up
Aside from these tried-and-true tips, ensure that you train your staff in the best meeting management practices to ensure optimum space utilization.
As the importance of meetings continues to rise in the new hybrid workspace, efficient meeting room management has become the need of the hour. Let us, at WorkInSync, take care of all your meeting management needs with our leading-edge space management solutions.
Book a demo today to witness the flexibility and convenience we offer for yourself.