Meeting rooms are often the backbone of the modern office – with space for employees to collaborate and branch out, or entertain potential new clients, they are where some of the most important and integral business functions take place.
Despite this, employees can sometimes be found preferring to hold meetings outside of the office, or crowding around desks, even if a business has ample meeting rooms available. In this scenario, meeting room utilisation needs to be increased. How can this be done?
Here are five simple solutions:
1. Make It Easy (to Do Everything)
Many businesses have cottoned on to the idea that ease of booking meeting rooms is a good idea – if your meeting room booking system is convoluted or complicated, who’s going to bother using it? Yet, ease of booking alone is not enough. It should be easy for your employees to do everything – book the room, book the catering, book the tech, all via existing software they use every day, such as your email system.
2. Visibility Is Key
Simple but effective, ensuring that you keep employees updated as to which meeting rooms are available can have a direct impact on the rate of meeting room usage. Consider digital signage outside the rooms, along with clear messages on your meeting room booking system. The bottom line is, if your employees know a room is free, they’re far more likely to use it.
3. Leave It as You Find It…
… and make sure you leave it tidy! Maintaining a pleasant habitat by tidying and regularly checking the condition of equipment and furniture can certainly help encourage employees to use meeting rooms. Nobody wants to clear up the mess of lunch meeting from earlier, or be forced to sit on a broken chair.
4. Fully Functional and Equal Tech
A follow on from the previous point, it is important to give your meeting room technology plenty of attention, too. This means not only ensuring all tech and/or software is fully functioning, but also that your meetings rooms have equal access to said tech. Having each meeting room equally fitted will ensure that all meeting rooms are used, rather than having employees all jostling to use the most tech-equipped meeting room.
5. Have Open Space Available
This may seem counter-intuitive, but having open space available actually does help to increase meeting room utilisation and make the most of the workspace. By having open, informal spaces for employees to use as break-out areas, meeting rooms are left free to be booked for proper meetings and not just ‘quick chats’ between two colleagues, that tend to hinder everyone else’s meetings.
