The Four F’s of Choosing the Right Conference Furniture

Meeting rooms facilitate important discussions, collaboration, exchange of ideas, etc. Hence, it is important to create a functional conference room that fosters a productive and creative environment. Meeting room "landscaping" can be a powerful means of taking meeting productivity to new heights (Hinds, 2017 ¹).

If you are responsible for outfitting your meeting room with the right conference furniture, consider the following important F’s while choosing conference furniture for your office (Moseley, 2017 ²).

Formation

All important business decisions and discussions are made in the conference room. Therefore, it is important to understand that meeting rooms form an integral part of your organisation. Bringing your company’s culture into your conference room through the décor you choose is extremely important. If your company has open workspaces, make sure to create conference rooms accordingly. Make use of circular conference room tables to encourage a feeling of belonging. For creating a more disciplined conference room, make use of rectangular or square shaped conference room tables.

Functionality

A meeting room needs to be well equipped with all the necessary requirements. Along with the right conference room chairs and tables also equip your room with whiteboards, projectors, etc. This will help increase the functionality of your conference room making it ideal for conducting productive meetings.

Fit

Ideally it is important to leave at least three feet of space between the wall of your meeting room and the conference table. This will allow people to come and go with ease without causing inconvenience to others. It is also important to add sufficient conference room chairs to the room to prevent anyone from standing throughout the meeting without making the room overcrowded. Take into consideration the extra space you need for adding other types of equipment such as whiteboards, side tables, plants, projection screens, etc.

Fashion

Several studies have been conducted about the impact of aesthetics and design on an employee’s wellbeing and productivity. Consider that displaying some artwork on the walls or adding plants can help boost the productivity of your meetings (Balch, 2016 ³). Even modest changes to an office environment may have a profound impact on the decision-making performance of workers (Harvard T.H. Chan, 2015 ⁴).

Knowingly or unknowingly the design, layout and how you arrange your conference furniture can affect the thought processes of your employees. Make sure you integrate the four F’s, namely formation, functionality, fit and fashion, into your conference room.