
Why conference rooms are essential for your business
Online meetings. Coffee shop meetings. Impromptu meetings around a colleague’s desk. As we adapt to hybrid working, we’ll probably do all of the above from time to time. But conference room meetings are also an essential part of the mix. If you’re not using a conference room for business meetings, you could be missing out. Not just on the comfort and convenience of conference rooms but also on the opportunities for business growth they provide.
However big or small your organization happens to be, conference rooms really do have the potential to change how you, your team members, and your clients perceive and interact with your company.
In the new normal of hybrid working, conference rooms are the perfect environment to prioritize collaboration, productivity, and all-important first impression.
7 reasons why conference rooms are essential for your business
Wondering what a conference room could do for your business? Here are seven things you get when you choose a dedicated meeting space.
Professionalism
Meeting a client? A conference room gives a great first impression. It’s a professional setting that indicates your seriousness and your preparedness. It also shows that you care about your business dealings and your clients.
The same goes for team meetings. Using a conference room — rather than your local coffee shop — helps everyone get into a professional frame of mind.
Your get-together doesn’t feel like a social gathering, giving the green light to all of the associated chit-chat. It’s a work meeting.
Picking the right venue can help you, and your team get down to business right away and stay on task throughout.
Privacy
Sure — you can host a meeting in a nearby restaurant or an open-plan office. But sometimes, these places just don’t offer the privacy you or your clients need.
When discussing confidential or sensitive information, a conference room is an obvious choice. You don’t want anyone to accidentally overhear details that aren’t intended for their ears.
Also, bear in mind that some people are more self-conscious than others. If you want open discussion, with lots of input from your client or team, a dedicated conference space provides the ideal environment.
Everyone in a conference room meeting can speak unguardedly, knowing that those four conference walls afford complete privacy.
Productivity
The hum of the coffee machine. Doors opening and closing. Chatter from the tables around you.
There are lots of distractions in a public space like a coffee shop. Even communal office spaces pose problems. People are constantly coming and going, and there’s the general hubbub of office life to contend with too.
In contrast, a conference room offers peace. It’s a place where you can focus purely on work. This means you waste less time on unnecessary distractions.
In a conference room your business and your team can be more efficient and more productive.
Collaboration
Online meetings are great when you’re working with clients or team members who don’t live locally — or when you’re conducting an informal catch-up.
But communication and collaboration just aren’t the same over a screen. Sometimes only a face-to-face meeting will do.
A conference room gives you the space and the facilities you need to collaborate effectively with your team members. You get to bring employees together, ensure that everyone is on the same page and come up with new ideas and solutions as a team.
Convenience
When you use a conference room for your business meetings, you can be confident that you have all the equipment and facilities you’re likely to need.
You have a secure Wi-Fi connection in a conference room, plenty of table and chair space, and the equipment you need for conference calls or presentations. You’ll also be within easy reach of a printer, photocopier, and scanner.
Having all of these things close to hand is convenient. But it also saves on stress. Whatever new requirements the meeting throws up, you know you can adapt and keep things running smoothly — because you have everything you need within easy reach.
Support services
Using a conference room for your meetings means you can often enjoy additional services — helpful for both you and your clients.
Easy parking, catering, and office support help meetings run without a hitch. A front-of-house team may also be able to support your visitors in finding the conference space (offering a great first impression from the very beginning).
Space
Fed up of crowding laptops around a small coffee shop table? Or finding yourself squashed into a spare bit of office space for team catch-ups?
Conference rooms come in all shapes and sizes, so you can be confident you’ll find the ideal venue for your meeting.
No matter how many people need to attend, a conference room offers plenty of seating and desk space. And when everyone feels comfortable, it’s much easier to focus on the business of the day.
You really can’t go wrong with a conference room
The environment in which you host your meetings is crucial. It impacts how people interact. And how new clients perceive your business.
Conference rooms help to make your meetings run more smoothly. They are quiet, private spaces where people feel happy sharing information and ideas.
They also provide a comfortable and professional setting — so you can count on getting the most from your team and making the best possible impression.
Want to book conference room meetings with ease? Let Smartway2 manage the logistics
Smartway2 is a workplace scheduling solution designed for modern, agile, collaborative companies.
Through our intuitive app, employees can easily find and book conference room space, selecting the equipment and extras they require.
Our software takes care of conference room logistics. Teams are more productive — and enjoy a better employee experience. Business leaders make the most of the workspace they have available.
Want to see what the Smartway2 app could do for your business? Request a free demo today.