Historically, the boardroom has been a place of serious conversations, a place of fear, a place where decisions are made that have an impact on the future of employment. Put simply, a boardroom isn’t somewhere that most people really want to be.
Of course, on a more positive note, a boardroom is somewhere for ideas to be shared, for creative decisions to be taken, and for progress to be made. Despite that however, in order to make the boardroom a place of positivity and collaboration, the design and decor needs to be thought out very carefully indeed.
Injecting a creative and unique air into your boardroom design could be the difference between lively and progressive debate, and a meeting which goes on for too long, without much interaction to show for your time. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that surroundings boost creativity and the need to speak out about issues and ideas – a boring, business-like environment is unlikely to yield those results, and we need to think outside of the box to stay ahead of today’s game.
Have a Theme For Each Boardroom
If you have more than one boardroom, don’t distinguish between them by room 1, room 2, etc, why not have a theme? You could name them after a world city! You could go to Paris for your first meeting of the day, via Milan, and then finish up your day in Rio. It certainly adds a fun and bright twist, and helps to combat that boring and stereotypical idea of a boardroom.
In addition, think abut your boardroom layout here too. For Paris, you could have an Eiffel Tower somewhere in the room, to add to the creative feel! Office design will play a huge part in the feel of the room, and will inject humour into the day; this has the ironic twist of boosting creativity too!
Communicate Inside & Outside The Room
We all know that open lines of communication are vital for business, but it might be that not everyone has the time to attend the meeting or discussion. In that case, having a communication method open within the room, which allows access to those unable to be present, is a great idea. This adds an extra dimension and ensures that everyone’s ideas and thoughts are taken into consideration. This could be video calling someone in another room, it could be installing different collaboration zones into the room, using acoustic office screens, it could be checking social media accounts and platforms during the meeting, perhaps Twitter feeds. Basically, it’s about pulling in ideas and communication from other areas and allowing collaboration to flow easier.
Have Break Areas Within The Room
Long meetings and conferences can be draining, and it’s important to have regular breaks. To lighten up the atmosphere and make those breaks much easier to incorporate, you could add a break area into the room itself. How about a cafe section? How about a games room just off the main area? You could have a garden section which opens out from the boardroom too! This is about giving staff and meeting delegates sufficient space away from the subject matter, which will allow them to be energised and refreshed after the break time is finished, and ready to get back to the matter at hand.
Comfort is Everything
You can design the most modern, iconic, and bright boardroom in the world, but if the seating and general environment isn’t comfortable, you’re not going to get the desired results from those who use it! Think about luxurious office furniture at work and incorporate that comfort level into your room. Don’t forget you will need a large conference table, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be the old fashioned, long table! You could go for several separate tables for small teamwork, or you could omit the table altogether and go for bright or leather boardroom chairs, to allow everyone to sit in comfort and discuss whatever matter is at hand.
Think Bright & Artistic
The decor doesn’t need to be particularly modernistic or business-like, you can go for something more laid-back if you wish. We mentioned earlier about themes, but how about simply going for something which is anti-boardroom stereotype? Have some bright artwork on the walls, add in some flowers or plants for a natural feel, make sure there is plenty of natural light, throw open the windows, and basically make the room a fresh and laid back space.
You could also encourage collaboration by having interactive whiteboards, rather than everyone writing their own notes on their notepads. This will allow exchange of ideas to flow much better, and encourage conversation around those thoughts.
A boardroom doesn’t need to be a dark and fearful place, and it doesn’t have to be somewhere that you’re automatically going to fall asleep in either! With some fantastic ideas to throw some creativity into your boardroom design, you will quickly see that the response is very positive indeed. This ironically boosts creative ideas from those who use the room, giving you more to work with, and a better chance of overall business success.
Why not ask your employees what they think about the current state of the boardroom? Take on board their advice and suggestions for change, and see if they come up with any new ideas that you might not have thought of otherwise!
