Meeting rooms invariably presage the tone that meetings will adopt and the tack that they will take. Meeting rooms play a key part during negotiations. They give a fair idea salle de réunion about the meeting hosts. In other words, meeting and conference rooms reflect the mental attitudes of the hosts just as body language displays the mental condition of a person.
What Meeting Rooms Mean
Senior HR managers and psychologists say that spacious and bright meeting rooms that are carpeted from wall-to-wall and adorned brilliantly with polished and period furniture, chandeliers and flowers, signify lots of things. For example, they symbolize the cooperative and genial spirit in the meeting hosts. They also accentuate the positive mindset of the meeting hosts and display the hosts’ eagerness to collaborate with the meeting invitees. Experts say that such meeting hosts are willing to reach an agreement, are flexible and are open to change and even open to dissent. Some VPs are in the habit of speaking to venue managers about the decor of meeting venues, personally. It doesn’t matter whether such VPs possess or don’t possess a good aesthetic sense and great interior decoration skills – it is enough that they want to lend their personal touch to the decoration of meeting rooms. Everything, from the gilt-edged portraits and mirrors on the walls, the roses and gerberas in the porcelain flower vases, and the rich satin upholstery on the sofa settees to the softness of the velvety carpets, and the positioning of the grand piano, is inspected by them personally. Frequently CEOs decide the multi-cuisine menus for the luncheons and dinners that are to be served at the meetings, themselves.
Involvement of Senior Managers in Designing Meeting Rooms
Many senior managers prefer to look into the technical aspects of conference rooms themselves. Such managers are experienced in conducting meetings and as they have an eye for detail, they can immediately spot omissions and defects in meeting rooms, which may be in the form of:
• the absence of LCD projectors
• the absence of screens
• the absence of TVs
• the absence of computers and laptops with Internet connections
• the absence of whiteboards with markers
• the absence of flip-charts
• the absence of lecterns with microphones
• the absence of banners
• the absence of other meeting equipment
• paint peeling from the walls
• the improper positioning of the conference table
• improper seating arrangements
• improper meeting-room acoustics
Active Involvement of Meeting Hosts in Setting Seating Arrangements in and Designing Meeting Rooms
Seating arrangements in meeting rooms are almost always specified by the CEOs and VPs who summon the meeting and never by the event managers as seating arrangements in seminar rooms signify official hierarchy and pecking orders. Meeting hosts, who determine the ambiance of conference rooms themselves, before they specify the same to the venue managers, are people who are generally keen to create a good impression on the meeting participants. If the meeting rooms are designed and set up through the active involvement of meeting hosts:
• it means that the hosts have a positive attitude towards the meeting
• it means that concerted, sincere and sustained effort has been made by the meeting hosts towards welcoming the guests and making them feel at home
• it means that the meeting hosts have made a genuine attempt in setting the stage for an amicable meeting with the meeting attendees
• it indicates that the meeting hosts intend to cooper