In today’s technologically-driven world, an increasing number of companies choose to leave stand-alone offices behind. Instead, they opt for implementing innovative shared working spaces that won’t only improve communication between people, but that’ll also increase overall productivity. These open floors spaces are also referred to as huddle rooms.
But, what are huddle rooms? How can you set them up and are there any benefits you could gain from them? Fortunately, this is exactly what we’ll discuss in our article today. Before we take a look at the five steps you’ll need to take for setting up a huddle room, let’s first learn what it is:
A Huddle Room: Explained
A huddle room is just like a meeting room that can accommodate from 3 to 6 individuals. In most cases, it’s equipped with various audio/video devices and technologies, hence, you could quickly set up team meetings, or in this case, we can call them team huddles. They’re suitable for unplanned brainstorming sessions, as well as planned meetings, and by implementing them, you can have discussions with your teams and departments without needing to use larger areas. To set it up, you should take the following steps:
Step 01: Firstly, Opt For The Furniture
Before you do anything else, one of the first things that you’ll have to do is to choose the furniture for the area. Most businesses choose to follow their corporate culture when opting for a style, hence, if you want to, you could do the same. Keep in mind, since the space you have will most likely be limited, you could even choose to renovate the entire area so that you can make it fun and interesting for your employees.
In most cases, the area should have seating that can accommodate three to six individuals, and, of course, you should have one or several tables. Now, if renovating and decorating isn’t really your thing, you could always choose to use a huddle room builder program such as the one offered by company Hudd. By doing so, you’ll be able to quickly design the area, and more importantly, you won’t forget to add any important tech and furniture.
Step 02: Add The Display + Technology
When you’re done with choosing the furniture, you’ll have to add the display, devices, and other tech required. For starters, you’ll likely use the area for brainstorming sessions and analyzing different data, which is why it’s crucial that you have a display – or several of them – in the room so that you can see the information required. It would be quite difficult for a group of six to gather around a PC to see a video or presentation, hence, don’t neglect to add a display.
Step 03: A Whiteboard Will Be Useful
Whether you choose to add a traditional whiteboard, one that is interactive, or just a simple piece of glass, you shouldn’t overlook the importance of having a tool for writing down the ideas and concepts you and your team have. This won’t only help you organize your thoughts, but it’ll also help you visualize what your priorities are, as well as how you could solve some of the problems you’re experiencing.
Step 04: Think About The Ambiance (Including The Lighting And Sound)
If there is one thing that you must take away from this article, it’s the fact that your huddle room needs to be free from distractions, and more importantly, noise. After all, this will be an area for brainstorming and overcoming obstacles, hence, you should seriously think about adding sound insulation since it’ll prevent noise. A high-quality microphone is also one of the things that you might need since it’ll improve the audio quality during a meeting.
Since some of your teams and departments might use the areas as a breakout space, natural lighting is also important, especially since it can contribute to the overall health and engagement of your employees. This is why you might want to choose an area for the huddle room that is close to windows. Besides helping your employees, choosing a room with windows will also increase the quality of your videos – which is important too.
Step 05: Video + Internet Connectivity
The last step that you’ll have to take is ensuring that the huddle room has video and internet connectivity. By implementing these things, your team will be able to collaborate with other individuals that might, for example, be working remotely, from their homes. When looking for a video conferencing solution, make sure that you choose something that is easy to implement, manage, and use, and more importantly, that is secure and reliable.
Are There Some Benefits That I Could Gain?
To answer this question right away, yes, there are various benefits that you could gain. For starters, huddle rooms, in most cases don’t require reservations, which basically means that your employees and departments could use them whenever they need them. This is something that can increase productivity, communication, and teamwork, thus, your business can benefit quite a lot from implementing a huddle room.
Another thing that you might like is that it can turn smaller, unused areas into efficient rooms. For example, by adding two huddle rooms into your business, two teams could be video conferencing with your partners or clients at the same time, thus, their meetings will be more productive. Also, if you need to have larger meetings, you won’t have to reserve or rent a venue for this, instead, you can connect several huddle rooms and you’ll be good to go.
The last benefit might also be the biggest one nowadays, mostly because it’ll allow your teams to work with employees that have to work from their homes. And since we’re all still living in the aftermath of the global outbreak of COVID-19, this is something that is crucial for businesses. Hence, implementing a huddle room or several of them won’t hurt your business, instead, it’ll help it thrive since all your employees will be able to participate in everyday tasks.
Conclusion
Although a huddle room is generally a new concept, there is no denying it – it can do wonders for your business. Not only will it allow your teams to work together, but it’ll also allow your remote workers to participate in everyday tasks, and more importantly, you’ll be able to increase the productivity in your company.
Since you now know what these rooms are, how you can benefit from them, as well as what steps you’ll need to take to set them up, don’t lose time. Instead, if you’re sure that you want to create such a space in your company, start with the first step we’ve mentioned – which is choosing the furniture for our huddle room.