Luckily, there is an easy way to display vital information about meeting and conference rooms and eliminate any stress. 

Meet Joan. 

What is Joan?

Joan is a simple, yet brilliant, solution for managing meeting rooms and optimizing room use. What sets their room booking software apart are the touch-screen display devices Joan offers. You can mount the devices right outside the meeting room door. They not only show meeting room information, but also let you see open time slots and book them on the spot. 

If you would rather use a larger screen, consider using Joan on displays together with Airtame’s digital signage capabilities to prominently display the latest meeting information. Joan on displays lets you see current and future meetings and their attendees, as well as any available rooms and their seating capacity. 

Let’s go over a couple of reasons why Airtame and Joan are the perfect cable-free pairing for more engaging meetings. 

Effortless meetings  

Joan integrates seamlessly with standard calendar systems. This means you only have to update meeting information in one place and the information will sync automatically to all your displays. Now you are freed up to prepare for your meeting. 

When you need to present, you can quickly share your computer screen using Airtame’s simple app. Since there are no cables plugged into your laptop, it’s also easy to switch between presenters. With hands-free presentations, you can get more hands-on collaboration done.  

No hassle installation

The huge benefit of wireless technology is that it fits in seamlessly with any office design. Since Joan device is battery-powered, you can install it pretty much anywhere. 

The Airtame device is designed to sit on the wall, behind a TV screen, or fit in a projector’s cable tray. And with the option to power the device using Power over Ethernet, Airtame is not tethered to a power outlet either. The connection between your computer and TV screen is completely wireless, meaning you’re not tied to the table either. 

The perfect match for better meetings

Joan brings you peace of mind that your meeting rooms are being optimally used. Together with Airtame’s user-friendly screen sharing and digital signage, you can have more distraction-free meetings and reach maximum productivity. 

To explore more of the Joan solution for better meetings, visit their website. 

The post Building the ultimate wireless meeting room for stress-free meetings appeared first on Airtame.

Code Your Future is one such example; a non-profit organization that teaches refugees how to code in order to have better job opportunities. They’ve got locations in London, Manchester, Glasgow, and now Rome too, with more than 100 graduates so far.

Because of the many cultural backgrounds of the refugees, it’s vital that the tech they use at Code Your Future is simple, reliable, and easy to use. That’s why we’ve recently gifted them four Airtames in order for them to succeed and create a better, open learning environment.

Germán Bencci is the founder of Code Your Future. We asked Germán for a chat about cultural differences, the modern workspace, and why coding is a great place to start if you want to learn a new, high in demand skill fast.

How did Code Your Future come to be?

The refugee crisis in 2015 hit me pretty strongly. I’m from Venezuela myself, and over the past years, many of my countrymen have had to flee as well due to the political climate. So when I experienced it in Europe too, I immediately started thinking about solutions.

I think what really drove me to start Code Your Future was the fact that big tech companies made a lot of promises and pledged to have a positive impact on the crisis, yet nothing happened. That’s when I knew I had to step in and present something tangible, and it was natural to me to use tech as an enabler.

Code Your Future helps create better job opportunities for future tech employees. But why coding?

No matter their academic background or if they have one at all, many refugees find it almost impossible to get jobs other than cleaning, repairs or sewing, etc. Coding gives you a lot of other opportunities and skills that are highly sought after, but without having to spend many years training.

It doesn’t take a lot of time nor money to learn how to code, and it’s one of the very few skills that makes you likely to get a good job instantly. Coding ignores ethnicity, religions, and cultural background completely.

What fuels your mission of helping refugees code? What’s the reward?

The opportunities and networks we have access to aren’t distributed evenly in society and, consequently, there’s a lot of social inequality. Disrupting that is pure magic! Of course, meeting new people and connecting with different, rarely represented cultures is also a fantastic bonus.

I guess it’s really mostly about taking the small steps towards change that inspires people to take the same small steps themselves.

What does it take to become an innovative organization, like Code Your Future?

People! People that want to make this happen. And a good portion of determination, welcome attitude, risk-willingness, and continuous yearning for improvement.

I’d also have to add that your ego should stay out of it. Working with what we do requires you to be selfless and open in a way we rarely are today. We’re non-profit, so we simply can’t think of it as a traditional business venture.

In relation to that, what do you think tech companies should do to accommodate employees with all sorts of backgrounds?

First of all, I genuinely feel that there’s a lot of good will and intentions in the tech industry. Tech products are used by millions of different people with tons of different backgrounds, so in order to cater to them, tech companies have to understand them and embrace their differences.

I think tech companies should be aware that they still have biases and then try to let go of them. They’ll be pleasantly surprised if they go outside their comfort zone a bit more.

Employees are one thing. What do you think the modern workspace should look like?

The most important thing for a modern workspace is understanding where their workforce is coming from. The same thing that goes for, say, Italian culture isn’t always a given for people with other backgrounds.

With the proper training, an open attitude as well as transparency, companies can come a long way. It’s imperative that companies figure out exactly what kind of company they want to be. What does the hierarchy look like? What about daily communication? Are you only considering a certain personality type? And so on.

When companies do that bit of ‘soul searching’, they’ll understand what they have to do to get to where they want. And maybe if the structures that are already implemented should be disrupted.

What have you learned through the process of establishing Code Your Future?

The most amazing thing I’ve learned is definitely that people are more than willing to share knowledge, help out, and make a difference. On the other hand, it’s equally amazing how willing the refugees we meet are to learn something new.

People basically want the same thing. They want to feel part of a group, they want basic safety in life and a sense that what they do matters. I’ve found through Code Your Future that it’s all possible if we’re open and treat other religions and cultures respectfully. We can achieve so much if we just acknowledge how alike we are deep down.

What do you wish every workspace had in terms of gear?

I can only speak for Code Your Future, but I believe this is applicable for other businesses too. Everybody needs work equipment that’s easy to understand and simple to use. Dashboards and big screens, for example, can quickly give workers a summary of the company’s impact and metrics. Tools like that empower your employees to feel connected and are a conversation-starter cross-team.

Can you describe one particularly meaningful student success story?

We have so many, it’s hard to just pick one. I’ll tell you the story of Louis who fled from Cameroon and rose from homelessness to a full-time developer.

After fleeing Cameroon, Louis found himself alone on the streets of London, scrambling to get by. He lived on the streets for a full year, after which he found a job as a cleaner and simultaneously enrolled in college to learn English. With no prior experience, he was afraid Code Your Future wouldn’t accept him into the course, but I told him to apply anyway.

He graduated from Code Your Future after just a few months and landed his first full-time job as a developer immediately thereafter. He laughed and told me he could have never dreamt of a life like this before, yet here he was! That made me so happy.

We try to give people the skills to become independent in a foreign country, and it’s amazing every time we succeed. It’s possible because we teach not only coding, but also communication, and how to work in a professional environment. Louis tells me he has a new dream now: to become a full-stack developer and teach others, just like we do, how to code. I’m confident he will do just that and help those who are in the same situation he was.

How can technology, like Airtame, help improve the workspace?

One of the reasons why Airtame has helped us so much is that you can be in a room with 30 laptops and people sitting in front of their computers working but still share the same experience. Airtame creates a unified feeling where everyone can be part of the same storytelling experience.

For us, it becomes a classroom environment where we break down hierarchy and let everyone be part of the discussion. Airtame allows people to tell their own story smoothly, no matter their cultural background, and share their problems in a visual way, and it’s very empowering to be a part of.

We look forward to seeing Code Your Future bloom.

If you want to know how Airtame can make a difference for your workspace, please don’t hesitate to book a demo with us now.

The post Interview with Code Your Future: How coding changes lives appeared first on Airtame.

Now, why would we include this oddball in our collection of office essentials? It’s simple. Walk and talks can help break down barriers between upper management and regular employees, they have great health benefits, and they’re easy to do. To sum up: they’re everything a modern office should incorporate, even if it isn’t in an enclosed or specific space.

The walk and talk essentials:

• Walk and talks are for everyone; small companies, big companies, regular employees and managers alike
• They are probably the most informal way to conduct a meeting
• Everyone can benefit from a walk and talk. Yes, everyone

Want to know more about the other spaces and rooms that are recommendable in an office setting? Take a look at the office pod, huddle rooms, reception, conference room, and the all-hands room.

What is a “walk and talk”?

We don’t mean to seem dense, but a walk and talk is exactly that: talking while you’re walking. It’s a smart and healthy way to get some exercise while at the same time being in a business state of mind. In other words, it’s moving a meeting from a stuffy meeting room or loud office space to the fresh outdoors.

Walk and talks are mostly beneficial for no more than two or three people – simply because a sidewalk or pathway can’t accommodate more without them being left out of the conversation. That’s not to say that larger groups can’t do walk and talks at all. We’ll get back to this a little later.

Any brainstorm, collaborative spit-balling or discussion can be done on the go. That being said, there are still some meeting situations that can’t be done while walking such as when the presentation requires visual aids.

The big three factors of walk and talks

Whether you walk, limp, wheel or push yourself around, breaking up the office-based work routine can be a great way to reboot your brain and at the same time connect with your co-worker in an untraditional manner.

Informal

This really is the big keyword. Walk and talks are not for executive decision-making that should be recorded or stay private. Nor are they for meetings where detailed documentation is provided, nor meeting minutes need to be logged. Walk and talks are all of those smaller assemblies that you would normally book a meeting room for, chat about in the hallway or maybe even do at your desk.

Dynamic

Breaking away from your regular work cycle and office surroundings prove very positive for most employees. Because the smartphone stays at the desk and you don’t have to stare directly into another person’s eyes, walk and talks provide a more dynamic and relaxed setting that makes employees more focused and creative in the discussions. It also frees up meeting room space for those get-togethers where a room, visual aids, and a table are required.

Healthy

Sitting is the new smoking! Or so we’ve heard a lot the past few years. If that’s true, then most traditional desk workers are in big trouble. One way to get over this is to set up more walking meetings. That way, you force yourself and your coworkers to get closer to the daily amount of recommended steps – all while still doing the work you’re supposed to.

Getting started with walk and talks

For one-on-ones, there’s almost no excuse and it’s the easiest in the world to decide to go for a walk rather than book and find a location for the discussion. For larger groups, however, walking meetings would require much more preparation, but they aren’t impossible to conduct.

For example, the leader of the meeting could send an agenda or video material ahead of the walk and talk and ask all attendees to carefully look it over before the walk. On the walk, it would be easy to discuss the same topic or brainstorm on the project. If you want, you can leave in a few minutes before the meeting is officially over for attendees to take notes.

Are walk and talks for you?

For employees with predominantly desk-based work, walk and talks could have serious health benefits. We’ve seen many health professionals stress the fact that sitting down all day is harmful, and that employees should aim for several hours a day where they stand instead of sit. We’ve got a better suggestion. Standing is better than sitting, but walking is even better than standing – so get out there!

But there’s actually more. Studies show that walking can decrease or even prevent stress and anxiety, whereas sitting down all day does the opposite.

Now, not all meetings can or should be conducted on the go. More formal meetings that require presentation equipment, note-taking or even just a larger crowd will not benefit from being done walking style. Smaller tête-à-têtes, quick get-togethers, one-on-one meetings, and other informal discussions are perfect, though.

Who knows? You might even experience an extra surge of inspiration as you stroll new surroundings.

Any meeting rooms we or you would like us to cover? We’ll be happy to indulge!

The post Office essentials: walk and talk appeared first on Airtame.

Whether the impression is good or bad depends on you, but also the aesthetics of the reception area or lobby – the first thing your visitors will come across when they enter your workspace.

It’s the first room you encounter in any business, and that makes it a very prominent space to influence your guests. That’s why we included the reception area in this article series so you can decide for yourself whether it’s beneficial for your company (hint: it’s not necessarily for everyone).

The essentials:

• The reception area can be big or small, but they should be easy to figure out no matter the size
• It provides an excellent opportunity for reflecting your brand’s values and making a good first impression
• Companies can benefit from a visitor management system and clever signage options

Check out the other rooms we’ve explored previously: the all-hands room, the conference room, office pods, and the huddle room.

What is a reception area?

The reception area is the first room you enter in a workspace. It’s located by the entrance and can be either big or small. Its primary function is to greet visitors and guide them on their way to meetings, but it has many other uses besides that.

It can provide a waiting area for guests, delivery, and pick-up of parcels – besides an overview of the office. It’s the physical space that directly reflects your company’s values, which is why it’s so pertinent that you put some thought into how it looks.

Welcoming staff

A “floating receptionist” could be sufficient in mid-size companies, whereas larger companies need a full-time receptionist. Having someone dedicated to taking care of guests, packages and incoming calls frees up time from other employees and exudes a sense of order. For a smaller business, however, a sign-in kiosk and good visitor management system is more than enough.

A receptionist is often likely to double as an office manager or People Operations employee.

Security

The reception area is accessible to many people, so video surveillance is a necessity – unlike any other space in an office, where video will most likely frustrate employees (and could be illegal).

A well-thought-out Visitor Management System (VMS) is also an excellent initiative for enhanced security if you don’t have a full-time receptionist to check on the entrance area.

What is a VMS? It’s something we see trendy in more technologically advanced businesses. Ostensibly, it can be anything as basic as a propped up tablet device that allows guests to check-in to the office and obtains a visitor pass if necessary, while notifying the associated employee that their guest(s) have arrived.

Inviting

The reception area is the first thing in-person experience for any guest, and it reflects the way you run your business. Every office is messy, but your reception area should never be.

Don’t use the reception area as a holding area for trash, food deliveries or stacked packages. Keep it comfortable, yet elegant. Clean and tidy, yet inviting.

High-traffic

This is such an obvious point but nonetheless very important to remember.

Regardless of what it looks like, this area is bound to have a lot of foot traffic both from employees and visitors.

A reception area that only looks beautiful when vacant is not a properly functioning one. Allow for easy movement and put in areas to wait, sit or relax.

On-brand

The reception area is not only your chance to make a positive first impression it’s also the perfect opportunity to showcase your brand identity. As this is the first glimpse of your company that visitors will get, it plays a vital role in the interaction you will have with them.

What message do you want to convey? What clients are likely to come by and what do you want them to understand about you as they enter your workspace?

Match the decor to your audience, show off your product and personality if it makes sense. If you specialize in AV gear, why not showcase it right there in the reception area?

How to set up a successful reception

The reception is nothing without a defined procedure for visitor management. This is something HR or the People team should factor in and define for the company. What is your approach to welcoming guests? How do you greet visitors and what do you want them to think about the business as they enter?

You need a waiting space, but not necessarily a front desk. If you have many visiting teams, make sure there’s enough room for them to gather while they wait on you. We recommend a few couches, armchairs, coffee tables, coat racks … things that feel comfortable.

People likely (hopefully!) won’t be staying long in the reception area, so consider something comfy.

If it doesn’t make sense to hire a full-time receptionist, go for a sign-in kiosk instead. A sign-in kiosk is actually a good choice no matter the size of your company because it alerts the right people and keeps track of visitor data.

Make sure the high-traffic reception area is secure, perhaps even under video surveillance. If you don’t have a receptionist stationed full-time in this space, you’re giving unwanted guests easy access to all the bling you’ve put in there.

Ample storage, the right furniture, durable floors, mats, and runner rugs all attribute to a more functional reception.

Even if you’re not keen on using your reception area as a way to communicate your brand values, there should still be something concrete about your business – so people know they are in the right place.

And, above all else, make sure it’s inviting! Don’t leave last week’s coffee cups or a pile of mail by the front door to trip over.

Reception area technology

It’s no secret that we’re big fans of digital signage. The reception area is the perfect place to showcase signage TVs – and Airtame is a perfect multi-function device to help you deliver informative, useful or playful content to visitors.

Elsewhere in tech, the sign-in kiosks we mentioned are actually already quite common in reception areas, and they really lift the purpose of the room.

Using that, visitors feel taken care of while you get the right notifications. In a bigger company, a large display could also be used to relay relevant information such as public company news, values, recent successes, use cases – you name it.

Is a reception area for you?

As we’ve pointed out a few times already in this article, the reception area doesn’t make sense for companies of all shapes and sizes.

Established, larger companies that highly prioritize security and put a lot of value in an external aesthetic can benefit greatly from having a designated and well-designed reception area.

Some more experimental companies or those that advocate for a flat hierarchy might find the very concept of a reception area and receptionist old-fashioned; that it’s the responsibility of everyone in the company to carry the brand values and welcome guests when necessary.

Of course, any company with many visitors is bound to put some thought into how they greet their guests, and the reception area provides the perfect opportunity to do just that. So if you decide to have a reception area, you can watch this short video and learn how Airtame can transform your blank standby screens:

The post Office essentials: the reception appeared first on Airtame.

In every office space, you need an area dedicated to bigger team assemblies. Room for all departments, individuals and maybe some visitors. That would be the all-hands room.

The essentials:

• All-hands rooms can be committed meeting spaces or double up as a common area
• They need to be kitted with good tech, most notably microphones/presentation tools
• In some form or another, we deem them essential for a scaling company of 30+ people

Check out our rundown of how you can improve your workspace with huddle rooms and office pods.

What is an all-hands room?

It’s a sort of town hall meeting space where everyone at the office gathers regularly to share updates and accomplishments, bring wider team alignment or host Q&A forums. In the all-hands room, you can gather for all-hands meetings.

The name really says it all, doesn’t it? An all-hands room is crucial for work environments that are advocating for flat hierarchy and it’s a space that encourages people to speak their mind, without being intimidated.

All-hands meetings are about the team. Team wins, team learning, team strategy. Running regular all-hands meetings has the benefit of empowering your entire staff as well as keeping them in the loop. And if you – like us – have remote workers in other offices or locations, this is the perfect time to connect with them as well.

At Airtame, we call it the all-hands room, but perhaps you call it the general meeting room or something entirely different.  We use the second largest room in our office because the largest is used for dining and not equipped with the VA gear we want for our all-hands meetings. It’s not perfect, but we’ll get back to that.

No matter the size of your company, you must have an area that can accommodate everyone for when you need to share a collective message. You can use the all-hands room for:

• Larger meetings
• Q&A sessions
• Company celebrations
• Updates
• Company-wide tactics
• Open forums
• Workshops

The key elements of an all-hands room

The all-hands room could be a room that’s already doubling as something else; your canteen, reception, larger conference room – maybe it’s a separate room, though ideally, it’s its own space.

Large

That the all-hands room is big should come as no surprise, seeing as it hypothetically needs to fit all employees in there, plus a few guests. Of course, as a smaller organization, your all-hands room doesn’t have to be extremely spacious, but if you have a large staff, then your all-hands room needs to match that.

Good seating

Equipment is crucial for the all-hands room, but so is good seating. We think desks aren’t quite so important – they would make the space too formal, and thus less approachable for people to speak their mind or, hint hint, raise a hand.

That being said, they do need a place to sit while meetings take place. Benches, for example, are a no-go as there’s no back support. We can testify to that! Find comfortable seats for everyone with good back support. Back support doesn’t mean bean bags – you don’t want participants to doze off either.

Well-equipped

Because it’s one of the largest rooms in your office needs to meet so many different demands, it should have the equipment to cater to all requests.

We’re talking big screens – quite possibly more than one – plus microphones and camera equipment to support video conferencing with your remote team members or clients. Collaborative tools such as whiteboards or interactive sketch boards will help flesh out all of the ideas that pop up when you all meet and get creative.

Flexible

What might be the biggest room in the workplace shouldn’t only be reserved for special gatherings once in a while. Design your all-hands room in such a way that it will meet various meeting needs – both for employees and outside clients who may want to utilize that space. Otherwise, this huge conference area will just waste space.

Ventilated and well-lit

Often overlooked in big spaces but certainly one of the most important points to make. A lot of people in the same, big room is bound to come with poor air quality. You want to make sure you can crack a window in the peak of summer, and that the lighting is inviting, though not dim. What you should go for is neutral.

How to set up a successful all-hands room

It’s important to have an area in your workplace where people can get together for bigger events or discussions. It should be separate from the main workspace so as not to distract those who might not be a part of whatever is going in there.

Additionally, if this room or area doubles up as another space (canteen, reception, work area, etc.) then you need to be able to transform it with ease so that it takes on more “weight” as a serious conference space.

An idea could be to have room dividers that easily slide to the side when you need the whole space ready but can serve as decorations or dividers for when more than one group want to make use of the space.

It’s also important to build a space that is inviting and encourages very active participation from all attendees. Just think about it – the bigger the room, the more likely people are to have reduced focus, be procrastinating or simply switched off.

All-hands room technology

You need a lot more than just a big space. It’s important to consider supporting AV equipment, depending on your company size. You should incorporate larger form projection spaces, conferencing functionalities and microphones for teams/individuals that are working remote or out of office.

Of course, technology should always be up to par with your team’s requirements but in the all-hands room, this is especially important. Microphones, and potentially a raised presentation space, will make it easier for presenters to get their point across.

Just make sure your tech solutions are not too complex, or you will end up wasting time trying to set it up or work it out. Go for something simple, yet stable.

Is an all-hands room for you?

Airtame’s all-hands room is by no means perfect for several reasons. It doesn’t have seating for all employees and the acoustics and sound gear aren’t the best, to be frank. But we have plans to set up a bigger and better all-hands room once we move into our new HQ in mid-2019.

As a company that considers itself to run a collaborative, open culture and workspace, we can’t live without an all-hands room. Everyone is encouraged to voice their opinions on how the new all-hands room should look like and what it should include – to make sure that it is, indeed, a room that works for everybody.

Likewise, you should ask your wider team how they imagine improving a communal space that’s used for cross-communication.

The core principles are pretty much transferable to any company of any size. What makes them distinctive is the requirements, skills and wants of your team. Without their counsel, this will end up being an uninspired and uninspiring place to listen and communicate.

The post Office essentials: the all-hands room appeared first on Airtame.

Then there’s the kind of ad-hoc meetings where you don’t feel the need to book ahead people or meeting room, for a quick brainstorm or a small team status update on the fly, where do such impromptu sessions take place?

Introducing the huddle room. It might just be the thing for you.

Huddle rooms are:

• Essential for open and collaborative workspaces
• Easy to build
• Not for everyone (team of developers? Perhaps not for you)

There’s persistent talk around the huddle room, or huddle space, and seeing as they’re so flexible and cater to many different situations, they’re difficult to pin down. This is our take on what huddle rooms are, and how to make the most out of them.

What is a huddle room?

Before we go to the world of meetings, let’s quickly look at the world of football (American, not the European). In football, players assemble for a quick session called a “huddle”. When they “huddle up”, it means they’re either strategizing, motivating or celebrating after a win.

These quick on-field meetings are an essential part of the game, and the same goes for office environments where people need to meet for a brief chat.

A huddle room is a smaller, more informal meeting space that provides a comfortable, secluded area for teams to meet, brainstorm or catch up easily. It’s for workgroups and colleagues who don’t necessarily need to book a room but still want to recap face-to-face.

Just like in football, these sort of office huddle-ups occur often, yet not many office spaces have the appropriate settings to accommodate them. In an open office space, most people will refrain from meeting at each other’s desk because it’s a distraction to the rest of the team and not private at all.

In fact, face-to-face time decreases by around 70 percent in open floor plans, a recent Harvard study suggests. That doesn’t mean it’s not a necessity anymore, and that’s where huddle rooms can prove their worth. That face-to-face time you were missing? Perfect for the huddle room.

Besides some much-needed face-to-face time, huddle rooms can be used for:

• Quick brainstorm sessions
• Daily team stand-ups
• Design reviews
• Alignment meetings
• Informal 1:1
• Project team meetings

The key elements of huddle rooms

There’s no fixed version of the huddle room, its design or outfit, but there are some key elements that define them.

Small

They can typically accommodate no more than five people, allowing for much more intimacy. Because they’re so small, they can make use of otherwise forgotten spaces, which makes them highly cost-effective.

User-friendly

A huddle room is supposed to be a space for on-the-fly interactions and quick meet-ups rather than time-consuming setups. Your huddle rooms should have equipment that is easy to use for anyone at any time, and with instructions that are plainly visible.

Informal

Distractions and noise are pretty common in most offices, but especially the ones with an open floor plan. A quiet, private space for smaller groups to meet puts an end to that problem. Sounds great? Sounds like a huddle room!

Flexible

No matter the objective, Huddle rooms should be outfitted to support any sort of on the fly team objective. That means huddle rooms can be equipped with a range of easy-to-use equipment and technology for presenting, sharing and remote video conferencing.

Ready to go

Huddle rooms are not designed for long meetings that occupy the space for the entirety of the day. And where other, full-scale conference spaces may be booked for longer, drawn-out endeavors, huddle rooms should remain ‘unbookable’.

We suggest introducing a time limit instead, e.g. an hour per room – or perhaps even less. Every time the clock reaches a full hour, say, other workers will know that the huddle room is available.

How to set up successful huddle rooms

Huddle rooms should be used for on-the-fly collaboration, ideation and less objective-driven sessions. To facilitate that, we recommend introducing relatively neutral surroundings. Keep it simple. This means less distracting surroundings with signage, furnishing and other accessories that won’t cause too much of a fuss.

We think a huddle room should be able to accommodate no more than five people in total, and four is even better. Just don’t think of huddle rooms as scaled-down conference rooms, you’ll risk losing the intimacy and spontaneousness that huddle rooms invite. Plus, consider the sound level, and respect your fellow staff members that might be within earshot.

To set a basic standard, outfit the huddle room with a small table. You need a place for your notebooks and laptops, in any case, right? Then a few chairs for as many people as you intend to use the space. Your employees might prefer standing but they should all have the possibility of sitting down for longer meetings. Want even more flexibility? Choose the kind of chairs that have wheels.

A whiteboard or flipchart can help you visualize your amazing ideas. Just don’t go overboard with the outfit of the room. It needs to be simple enough that the next person in line won’t waste any time setting it up after you.

Huddle room technology

Huddle rooms typically cost less to equip than full-scale meeting rooms, and that’s why you’ll need budget-friendly tech options that match the laidback, casual collaboration.

Airtame 2 a cost-effective collaboration tool that makes the most out of screens, whether you’re using them for presenting or they’re on standby. It’s an easy, cable-free solution that takes away the hassle of presenting and thereby adds a better flow in productivity.

It’s a BYOD (bring your own device) solution, which means that no matter what device or operating system you or your guests prefer, Airtame 2 has got your back. The cloud-based platform allows for easy management and maintenance of devices, so you don’t have to walk from huddle room to huddle room to perform updates.

You’ll also need a smaller projector or TV screen broadcast presentations. Mount the big screen to save some space, and give the huddle room a marginally more ‘closed-off’ quality.

Whether you need video conferencing tools is up to your organization and the kind of tasks you’re most likely to perform in your huddle rooms. If it’s mostly internal project collaboration, then you probably won’t need AV equipment.

Are huddle rooms for you?

Huddle rooms are in it to win it. These collaboration-fostering meeting spaces could result in increased productivity and less wasted space in your office, but they certainly aren’t for everyone.

In an already hectic and open work environment, you run the risk of removing the only pockets of solace and quiet you might have. And you’ll still have your conference rooms. Huddle rooms aren’t here to replace them, as it doesn’t make sense to outfit them the same way.

Huddle rooms are for all those in-between meetings you need where a conference room is too big and better for larger presentations. Huddle rooms are particularly great for big, open and under-populated environments as well as heavily compartmentalized office spaces.

In all likelihood, managers and employees that take the initiative to utilize the huddle space are likely to also be quick and adept adopters of new technology. They need it to work right now, in the simplest and smartest way possible to get the most out of everyone’s time.

Huddle rooms come in all forms, and many shapes and sizes, but bottom line is that they’re great for teamwork. If you run a floor of developers, perhaps huddle rooms would be redundant. If you have a bunch of designers, marketers and informal visits from externals, huddle rooms could be a great remedy to the typically stifling and stiff meeting room.

Want to kit out your huddle room with Airtame? Watch this short video to discover how Airtame works:

Ready to start building a huddle room, and want to kit it out with Airtame? Book a call with our customer success team

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