Whereas before COVID-19, the majority of us went to the office to work, right now most people are working from their home office. A huge difference compared to the situation before the start of the pandemic. But what does the future look like? It is most likely that we will see a hybrid model where a gradual and partial transition back to the office is combined with working from home.
This of course also has a major impact on the office setup, because the reason for going to the office also changes. In the new hybrid model, professionals will primarily go the office to meet and collaborate with others. Working at the office will be much more activity-based, which also leads to different requirements towards the meeting spaces.
Meeting spaces
In the majority of offices, there are three types of meeting spaces: large meeting rooms, small meeting rooms and open meeting spaces. While most of them were quite well-equipped before the pandemic, it is likely that the existing meeting spaces need to be adapted to optimally facilitate the new activity-based, hybrid way of working. Here is our take on what you can do to make sure that your meeting rooms are ready and fit-for-purpose once your employees start to transition back.
During the preparation for the transition back, it is crucial to start to rethink your meeting room concepts. This requires two pressing questions to be answered:
Rethink your spaces
Depending on the answers to these questions, it is advisable to take a fresh look at the available spaces in your office to check in how far they already facilitate collaboration – in the same space and remotely. You can for example ask yourself the following:
Are there enough spaces where you can have a creative brainstorm, workshop or project meeting and call in colleagues working remotely at any time during (team) meetings? Are there also meeting rooms that could be used differently, e.g. as virtual boxes for video conferences or as in-house studios for webinars and remote presentations?
Or are there spaces in your office that would be perfect as flexible, open meeting spaces? For example in your showroom or near the coffee machine? Have you ever thought about making these spaces more attractive and suitable for brainstorm sessions or stand-up meetings?
Checklist
When you start to rethink and rearrange your meeting spaces, it is advisable to first look at the different activities and group sizes that need to be facilitated and then also take the following key requirements into account:
