Tips For Improving The Efficiency Of Your Hotel Conference Room Meetings
Posted on: 10 March 2017
Booking a meeting in a hotel conference room near your office is the first step toward making the meeting productive. By removing your team from the office, distractions will be lessened, which should allow the group to complete its meeting goals. However, you want to ensure that those in attendance are focused and ready to be productive as soon as the meeting begins — this isn't an experience that should be viewed as a field trip. To improve the efficiency and thus the productivity of the upcoming meeting in a hotel conference room, here are some simple tips.
Set A Strict Agenda And Follow It
Your conference room meeting will have a greater likelihood of being productive if you set a strict agenda and follow it. Doing so includes not just having a series of things you wish to discuss with the group but some expected timelines for covering each item. When you make the agenda, designate a specific duration — 10 minutes, for example — to each part of the meeting. You can then have a person play the role of timekeeper, watching his or her smartphone timer and giving you a sign when it's time to move things along. You should also set a specific duration for questions and comments. This will ensure that everything on the agenda gets covered.
Serve The Right Refreshments
When you book a hotel conference room, the staff will ask if you want refreshments served. This is generally a good idea, but it's also smart to ensure that the menu energizes your group rather than makes people sleepy. Refreshments packed with sugar and carbohydrates can make people feel lethargic, which may be an obstacle to the efficiency of the meeting. Instead, bottles of water, fresh fruits and vegetables, protein bars, and other healthy choices are best to include on the refreshments menu.
Set Up The Room In An Engaging Manner
The hotel staff will also ask how you want the room set up. It might seem simplest to set the room up like a classroom, but this layout may not be conducive to productivity. For example, the people near the back of the room may not feel engaged, and this is a concern if you're expecting valuable contributions from everyone. Consider the size of your group and the desired outcome of the meeting, and then evaluate how the room should be set up. Positioning the tables and chairs in a circle, for example, can encourage everyone to feel as though they're actively involved in the discussion.
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