Meeting rooms are designed to facilitate meetings and foster collaboration. However, they can be difficult to set up properly and they often present challenges that can become time-wasters or even productivity killers.
Meeting rooms can be used by individuals or groups, in public or private settings, as part of an office space or as part of a larger venue like an educational facility, convention centre or hotel lobby. These common meeting room problems are discussed. So you know how to solve them and ensure your meetings run smoothly from start to finish.
1) Too Many People
If you’ve got a meeting room with limited seating, attendees will likely show up late – and all at once. Too many people, too few chairs. If you’re working in an office with lots of remote employees who want to be involved in every meeting, opt for virtual meetings whenever possible.
While they might not provide as much spontaneity as face-to-face interactions, they do prevent overbooking problems and keep everyone involved and on time.
2) Noisy Neighbors
Office workers tend to be pretty quiet folks. So if you can hear other conversations through your walls or speakers outside your door, then there’s probably something wrong. A simple solution is noise-cancelling headphones; more complex solutions involve soundproofing and building new walls.
3) Not Enough Space
Sometimes it seems like every person in your company needs their meeting room. Or at least their desk! When space is tight, try hoteling desks or creating small team rooms where people can gather when needed.
This also gives you flexibility when someone leaves or joins your company. The reason is that you won’t have to worry about finding them a permanent desk right away.
There are a few solutions for an over-crowded room:
1) Move to a bigger location
2) break up into smaller groups
3) work in breakout sessions with adjoining rooms.
4) No Time
The longer your meeting, typically, the fewer people will pay attention and participate. Break up lengthy meetings into smaller chunks or schedule them on a regular rotation. So you’re giving everyone time to rest their brains between sessions. Plus, as we mentioned earlier, an occasional break is good for business anyway!
It allows you to keep information fresh in your audience’s minds. It is something that helps boost engagement and retention. Make sure all participants have plenty of time to prepare by providing relevant materials at least 24 hours ahead of time.
5) Bad Lighting
There’s a reason so many conference rooms have annoying overhead lights. They’re bright, they’re cheap, and they can illuminate an entire room. But just because they’re ubiquitous doesn’t mean they can’t be improved upon. Modern bulbs are much more energy efficient and emit a warm light.
This light helps facilitate discussion instead of harsh fluorescent light that only serves to dry out your eyes. If you don’t like them, change them! And if you don’t want to spring for new lights altogether, get some daylight-balanced bulbs. It will simulate natural sunlight and add some colour-correcting gels over your fixtures for good measure.
6) Poor Sound System
Meetings often have to have a lot of people in the – people who all want to be heard. If you’re having trouble hearing what’s being said, it could be because your room just doesn’t have a good sound system. You can solve that problem by bringing in an AV technician and upgrading your equipment.
However, if that isn’t possible or too expensive for you, there are other solutions. One is getting everyone to speak up. Another is asking everyone to write their thoughts on sticky notes beforehand. So they can be placed on a board for discussion later.
7) Presentation Difficulties
When you’re hosting a meeting, one of your primary objectives is to keep everyone engaged. While your software and content might be top-notch, if people can’t see or hear you clearly, they won’t pay attention. And by extension won’t find value in what you’re presenting.
The solution: A simple $30 remote presenter makes it easy to move around while staying connected to your laptop. If you don’t have one on hand, consider using an HDMI cable to connect your laptop directly to a large monitor. If that isn’t possible, use speakers or headsets with built-in microphones instead of relying on external ones.
