What’s normal anymore?

For many organizations, the move to a hybrid work environment is quickly becoming the inevitable, new norm. Thanks to the growing demands for “do-your-job-from-anywhere” environments, employers keep questioning what’s next for the office. Specifically, what space is needed and how it will be used.

At the center of these questions are meeting rooms, and rightly so. A shift is underway: physical collaboration spaces, which pre-COVID were the norm, must now accommodate a hybrid mix of physical and virtual worlds meaning new approaches are needed. As a result, many employers find themselves asking three key questions:

• How will employees use meeting spaces?
• What’s the best way to configure our meeting spaces?
• What will make these meeting spaces successful?

Let’s look deeper into each question to better understand the approach.

How will employees use meeting spaces?

 That’s a question riddling many organizations. One school of thought is that employees will want to collaborate with co-workers when they come to the office and save work that requires concentration to their home office. If that’s the case, your meeting spaces may need to look and function differently.

Instead of wondering, talk to employees because going straight to the source will help pinpoint their needs. Think, too, of integrating a meeting analytics tool like Vyopta, which reduces blind spots and uses data to make better decisions to help you better understand meeting room usage.

What’s the best way to configure our meeting spaces?

As you look around the office, examine both the needs of personal workstations as well as meeting spaces to determine their needs. Think, too, of the size of your meeting spaces as you consider how users will interact.

Perhaps larges spaces will be needed to accommodate multiple team members or maybe several smaller huddle spaces could be more effective. As you consider each space’s video needs, think about whether current technology supports them.

What will make these meeting spaces successful?

 With questions asked and answered and a better understanding of room usage in your back pocket, take a look at what you’ll need to reach success. Assess your technology to identify  possible gaps and if needed, consider asking an integration partner to help identify potential solutions.

If you’re still unsure of what you need but know more video conferencing capabilities are a must-have, solutions on mobile carts might be just what you need. They provide flexibility to move your video conferencing where you need it while you are navigating the return to the office. This stop-gap solution lets you move forward without having to have all the answers to space configuration before you do.

Here (or there) when you need us

And if you still need help, call on us. RoomReady’s collection of services will help you deal with real estate uncertainty.

Need a video room assessment? No problem since we’re experienced at documenting current solutions, which can help define your desired state, create room requirements and develop and/or manage a migration plan. Perhaps our room menus can help you determine what rooms are right for your return-to-work plans. Or maybe our decommission services are in order as you lack the time, the knowledge or both to know what technology needs put to rest.

Whatever your hybrid work environment needs may be, we’re ready to help get you there. Contact us today to learn more.