A recent business study reports that the average employee spends 37% of their time attending meetings of one type or another. That’s about 15 hours per week. With that big of an investment in labor cost, Northern Virginia business owners want to make sure that meeting time is as productive as possible.

Ultimately, the productiveness of a meeting relies heavily on the skills of the leader who calls it. However, the business can give the leader an important productivity eliciting tool by providing conference rooms designed to optimize collaboration. Your workers are your most valued asset. Unlocking their potential to contribute with productivity and problem solving is the underlying reason for every meeting. Designing meeting rooms that encourage that behavior is a solid business investment.

Creating Productive Conference Rooms

Open office plans, a remote workforce, the demise of PCs in favor of laptops, information systems that share data, and a cornucopia of communication media have all had their impact on the business conference. Traditional “all hands” meetings still occur but they are fewer and further apart. Smaller, shorter, more focused and more frequent “huddle” or “touchdown” gatherings are becoming more the norm.

To accommodate this trend a business needs to consider:

  •        Space. A conference room that can comfortably seat 24 people is going to seem like an NBA arena if only 4 people are holding a meeting. Evaluate the space you have and consider equipping smaller spaces
  •        Tools and Communication.  Conferences are all about sharing information and ideas. Make sure your meeting rooms are equipped with the tools that can facilitate that sharing. A must have today is a smart board that replaces the old white board. This is an interactive surface which is a whiteboard, projection screen, and computer all-in-one and allows up to 4 people inputting touch or mouse commands simultaneously. Literally thousands of dollars can be saved on remote workers, contractors, and vendors with video conferencing. Couple the video system with a high quality speakerphone with a 3600 microphone and you have the next best thing to a face-to-face meeting.
  •        Furniture and Décor. Consider mixing up the desk styles. Workers who spend most of their day sitting will appreciate a “standing room only” meeting where bar counters are used for their laptops and stools are available if they get tired. And then we get to the color scheme. This is an area that All American Painting Plus, a leading commercial painting service, has extensive experience in. The colors you use will set the mood for your meetings and can turn non-participants into active players.

Brainstorm, Collaborate, Problem Solve, Get Fired Up

All humans have an emotional response to color. The color of a space can strongly encourage specific emotions and, if you are a savvy leader, you can choose a color that will get the most out of your crew. Keep in mind that each of these examples come in an infinite number of shades, and we are not simply suggesting you use the primary color.

  •        Red. This color gets the blood pumping. It symbolizes energy, strength, power, passion, desire, love, and determination. If you want to get your audience fired up, this is the color you want to use.
  •        Orange. People associate this color with happiness, creativity, success, determination, encouragement, and stimulation. Try this color when you need a team to come together to solve a problem.
  •        Green. Favored by human resource professionals, green signifies harmony, safety, endurance, stability growth, and freshness. It’s a great color to use for the discussion of difficult topics or to generate honest conversations and feedback.

The list goes on, and we would be happy to share our ideas with you. Our professional painters have completed hundreds of commercial painting projects for a wide range of businesses, including property management firms, banks, restaurants, manufacturing facilities, and retail spaces.

Contact All American Painting Plus

Conference rooms are not large projects and you can transform the color scheme without putting a big dent in your maintenance painting budget. Call us today and we will be happy to put together a painting estimate that we believe you’ll find exceptionally competitive.