6 Meeting Room Essentials Needed For Every Meeting

Return to the Office—and In-person Meetings

As the pandemic recedes with the latest variants posing much lower risk, many organizations are returning to some form of in-person work. Along with this return to the office, we will see a reemergence of in-person meetings. Some of these will occur in permanent corporate offices. But for some businesses that downsized their permanent office space or even eliminated it altogether, these in-person meetings will need to occur elsewhere. 

The local coffee shop is a terrible idea for most business meetings. They are noisy, lack privacy, and don’t come with the tools needed for a collaborative, productive meeting. Hotel conference rooms are expensive and also are limited when it comes to the tools needed for a successful meeting.

Many businesses that downsized their permanent office space or eliminated it altogether are using coworking space and day offices in addition to their home offices. Rented meeting space is typically included with coworking spaces and day offices and is certainly to increase in demand this year and in years to come. Indeed, if the studies conducted over the past two years are any indicator, hybrid and remote work arrangements are here to stay.

Determine Your Meeting Type

Professionals and businesses need to evaluate meeting space against their meeting requirements. Not every meeting is the same, and the requirements for one meeting may not be the same as another. For example, a company board meeting isn’t the same as an employee all-hands event or meeting with a prospect. Thus, it is important to understand the nature of the meeting that is taking place, such as objectives and desired outcomes, before evaluating the accoutrements of the meeting room:

• Prospect meeting

• Customer meeting

• Partner meeting

• Board meeting

• Employee all-hands event

• Quarterly business review

• Project team review and/or planning session

• Annual company strategic planning

• Merger and acquisition discussions 

Following are some of the things you need to consider when evaluating a rented meeting space:

High-speed Internet

Meeting presenters and participants require—and expect—internet that is reliable and fast. Meeting hosts need to put the name of the Wi-Fi network and password on the whiteboard beforehand. They may want to send it out via email beforehand. Making sure all meeting participants have the network name and password beforehand can also help ensure you don’t spend valuable time at the beginning of the meeting getting everyone connected to the internet.

LCD Monitors and Projectors

Meeting attendees and presenters will very likely have a mix of Mac and Windows laptops—both employees and visitors. Thus, it is a requisite that the rented meeting room have connections for both systems. And with some of Apple’s adapter changes on its Mac laptops over the past couple years, this also means that the meeting room must include connectors for those different adapter requirements. Failing to have all of these adaptor options in place can quickly torpedo a meeting.

Whiteboard and Collaboration Tools

Most meetings require plenty of whiteboard space for collaboration. Some rented meeting spaces have elected to take a different approach—enabling meeting participants to write on the walls or the room or even installing glass tables on which they can write. Some meetings may not require a huge amount of space for writing and collaboration. Others, such as all-day project sessions, may result in writing and diagrams scribbled on every wall in the rented meeting room.

Lobby Greeter

A friendly, courteous, and knowledgeable lobby greeter can help get a meeting off to a great start and help facilitate meeting logistics throughout the entire meeting time. They can answer basic questions form visitors concerning parking, directions to hotels, restaurants, and the airport, make local recommendations for places to eat or visit, and direct visitors to the meeting room. 

Catering Beverages and Food

While not every meeting requires food, beverages, and/or catering, some do. Reserving a meeting in a facility that comes with a catering service is important in these situations. Providing meeting attendees with beverages and food can give them the energy to remain focused and productivity. Catering providers that come with rented meeting space have the special permits and licensing that reduce food risks. At the same time, they are experienced in catering in rented meeting space and will know the logistics as well as how to cater in a cost-effective manner. 

Business Services

Although business services aren’t needed for every meeting, they are required for some. Meeting hosts and participants can offload administrative functions such as copying, printing, faxing, mailing, and notarizing to administrative staff in the rented meeting space. 

Embracing the New In-person, Post-pandemic Normal

The post-pandemic business world will look much different than the business world before the pandemic. Adoption of digitization accelerated at a much faster rate during the pandemic, and we’re likely to sustain that pace as we emerge from the pandemic. Use of virtual office space from providers like Davinci Meeting Rooms, such as coworking space, day offices, and rented meeting rooms, will also play an important role as businesses strive to deliver greater flexibility to their workers—whether hybrid and remote work arrangements or schedules that embrace work from anywhere and anytime.

About Patrick Spencer

Patrick Spencer (Ph.D.) is the President and Founder of TIRO Communications that helps companies develop, build, and manage content, customer, advocacy, and demand-gen programs. Included in its offerings is TIRO Cognition Insights, a data analytics tool that enables B2C and B2B businesses to pinpoint what their customers and competitors’ customers are saying and to identify corresponding actionable product, services, competitive, sales, and marketing intelligence. LinkedIn Profile: LinkedIn Website: www.tirocommunications.com