Do you feel like you need help perfecting the new norm for meeting rooms? 

The return to work transition has happened, yet many companies are still figuring out the best way to optimize their new hybrid or virtual work system. One thing many companies overlook is their meeting room structure. Follow these top tips to get your virtual meeting room set up in the best shape possible.

Adjust Room Occupancy Limits

The focus on health in the workplace is greater than it ever has been. While people used to come to work with a bad cough to get things done, they’re now often able to do the same work from home. One approach companies have proposed to continue keeping employees free from illness is to allocate 60 square feet per person within a meeting room to create a 6-foot radius each for each occupant – which translates to roughly 40-50% of the original occupancy. Another approach is to follow the lead of major retailers, who have reduced occupancy to 20% to allow for proper social distancing.

Look at your meeting spaces and determine what limits you can start to ease up on, and which are good for employee wellness in the long run.

Source low- and no-touch technologies

There are many easily available meeting room technologies that can turn a standard meeting room into a smart room with touchless technology, saving your employees from all kinds of germs.

Upon entering a meeting room, motion sensors can remove the need for occupants to turn on lights, cameras and even monitors. Once in the room, meetings can be launched using voice-operated personal assistants like Amazon Alexa or using Bluetooth connectivity to remove the need to manually connect using a VGA or HDMI cable. Learn more about how to create a smart meeting room for your company.

Enforce Cleanliness Measures

Determining a proper meeting room cleaning schedule requires understanding what rooms are being used and how often.

Organizations should track room usage and occupancy to fully understand their room demands and construct cleaning/maintenance plans that fit within their larger return-to-work guidelines for other common spaces. If possible, consider placing checklists within each meeting room for employees to sign/initial when they leave the space to denote that the space has been sanitized.

How to Create a Safe Hybrid Meeting Structure

If your company hasn’t perfected how to conduct seamless meetings in this new norm, that’s okay! Looking at seating, technology and maintenance is a great place to start.