Conference Room Planning

Corporate innovator Coleman Lee Finkel has written that a proper environment can increase a training program's effectiveness by 25%. Conference room planning and design is one area of every business that can benefit from Finkel's discovery.

Conference Room Planning

A conference room that is used for presentations and training sessions has become essential in the modern workplace. The design and positioning of a conference room's furniture and presentation equipment have a significant impact on the benefits your employees will receive from their conference room sessions. Proper conference room planning will ensure your presentations are informative and enjoyable.

Conference room equipment

Conference tables
Modern conference tables have become increasingly lightweight and durable, which is good news for companies with conference rooms that require a lot of takedown and setup. Conference rooms tend to be heavy on function and light on design, so look for disposable or washable tabletop coverings that can add some brightness and color to the room.

Conference tables are typically 2 by 2 1/2 feet wide and 5 feet long.

Chairs
Stocking your conference room with uncomfortable chairs is a surefire way to lose your employees' attention during a presentation. Stacking or folding chairs are inexpensive, but comfortable and ergonomic chairs will enable your employees to focus for longer periods of time and derive the most benefit from presentations and training sessions.

Presentation equipment
Podiums and lecterns, presentation easels, presentation whiteboard, and audio/visual carts are the main types of presentation equipment necessary for a conference room. Smaller lecterns or tabletop lecterns will help a speaker maintain rapport with a class. Most companies make use of PowerPoint, but presentation easels and presentation whiteboards are still great for brainstorming sessions. An audio/visual cart is also convenient for transporting equipment used in video presentations.

Conference room spacing and layout
Proper spacing and layout of your conference room equipment will help your employees see and hear everything you want them to know. A good rule of thumb is that employees should be seated no further away than six times the size of a presentation screen. If possible, provide a line of sight in the middle of your conference room equal to twice the width of your presentation screen.

When positioning conference tables parallel in rows (known as a classroom format), try to provide six feet of space between one table front and the next. This will permit employees to see clearly over the row of people at the table in front of them.

For smaller conference room sessions, arranging conference tables in a U will eliminate line of sight problems completely while allowing the speaker to establish eye contact with each member of the class.