Meeting Pods Look Out! Traditional Meeting Rooms Could Come Back with a Vengeance!

Posted on October 11, 2016 Updated on September 23, 2019

Once a standard of the office space, traditional meeting rooms seemed to fall behind on appeal with the introduction of open office space designs and the more flexible and modernly designed office meeting pods. However, as “cool” the new meeting pods have become, traditional meeting rooms could still have their place in an office space. With some new improvements and features, traditional meeting rooms could gain some ground and come back with a vengeance!

Some new features that we could see being added to new and improved traditional meeting rooms include the following:

1. Going Digital! – From digital door labels to digital attendee sign-ins and calendar bookings, traditional meeting rooms could take full advantage of advanced digital technologies. Applying touch screen models of digital displays could add to the aesthetic appeal of the new traditional meeting room.

2. Built-in power supplies – Flexibility won’t only be for meeting pods. Meeting room tables are now being built to have enough built-in power supplies to allow each individual user the option to plug in their tablets or other electronic device and use the meeting table as a co-working space.

3. Flexible Glass Wall Systems – Ceiling to floor glass walls, whether permanent or temporary, will likely be the walls of choice to frame the new traditional meeting room as their transparency allows for the emitting of natural light while still offering a level of separation from other office activities. The walls may incorporate a door, or offer more flexible options in the form of folding or sliding walls, thereby allowing a meeting room to either become a part of the office space decor or an office community meeting space while open, or a boardroom/meeting room while closed. In addition, temporary glass partitions could be added to further create break-out meeting rooms out of the original meeting room space when in use.

4. E-Paper Display solutions – Along with white-boards and/or blackboards and the use of presentation software, traditional flip chart and presentation paper pads could be replaced with electronic or “E-paper” electronic display devices that reflect light like paper and mimic the appearance of ordinary ink on paper.

Even with a strong come-back of traditional meeting rooms, we can’t say that meeting pods are fading out. Meeting pods will still have a place with businesses that value flexibility in an open-space office environment for team collaboration meetings, informal staff get-togethers or simply to give individuals a place where each can take some time to recharge. They may just have to co-exist to give added flexibility to how an office space could be designed in the near future.

The Power of “Thank You”

Posted on October 5, 2016

Thank you–It’s a phrase that can easily be taken for granted, especially in business, but when it is said or expressed in a timely and relative fashion to colleagues, employees or even clientele, it creates a wave of positive results for a business:

“Thank you” encourages your best employees to continue being the best…or get even better. Whether they come up with a really innovative idea, or follow through on a project or close a sale, saying or expressing a “thank you” will encourage the recipients to do even better next time, and maybe surrounding employees to achieve the same thus ensuing a positive effect on employee performance.

“Thank you” helps companies keep the best employees. A business that cultivates “thank you” as part of its culture or environment will encourage its best employees to stick with them and not veer towards the competition.

“Thank you” improves business performance. With your employees feeling appreciated, business productivity could easily increase or improve. Deadlines and business opportunities would likely be achieved more often instead of missed.

“Thank you” encourages repeat business, especially if a client’s needs were met or exceeded the first or previous times.

Heck, I’ll even go as far to say that based on all the above, “Thank you” can have a direct positive effect on your bottom line!

Saying or expressing a “thank you” does not need to be expensive, but it does needs to be

1. Timely – said at or as close to the time the event or action being thanked for has taken place,
2. Specific – expressed in direct relation to the exact event, action or result being thanked for, and
3. Relative to the recipient(s) receiving the “Thank you”. There are many ways to say “thank you” — cards, public recognition, gift certificates, awards, luncheons, social media recognition, etc—but not every way works effectively for everyone. Get to know your employees, and you will know how to best say “thanks” to them when they do something that helps achieve your business goals.

Most importantly, saying “Thank you” needs to be a carefully crafted business strategy that when done well, can give a business a competitive edge in the marketplace.

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DJ Mcgauley and Associates Inc. is your Office Space Planning, Renovations and Relocation Project Management Company of choice. If a renovation or relocation of your office space is in your plans, please contact us to arrange a no-obligation site meeting. By the end of that meeting, you will know all that would be required to make your office renovation/relocation project a successful reality.

Call 416-239-1931, email [email protected] or visit our website for more information and to complete our contact form.

References:

Leibow, C., Huffington Post, Feb 15, 2014, “The Power of Thank You”, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cathy-leibow/the-power-of-thank-you_b_4441454.html

Peters R., Standard of Trust, Dec 30, 2015, “5 Key Employee Recognition Trends in 2016”, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-key-employee-recognition-trends-2016-rob-peters

Heathfield, S.M., The Balance, Aug 11, 2016, “The Power of Positive Employee Recognition”, https://www.thebalance.com/the-power-of-positive-employee-recognition-1919054

Key words: Thank you

Tags: thank you, employee recognition, office culture, office environment