5 Meeting Room Management Hacks You Absolutely Need

The way we organize and attend meetings has changed since the shift to flexible work. But the purpose of the meetings? That remains the same: collaboration and innovation. 

With employees working from different locations, you would assume the number of meetings would come down. But according to a report by Future of Meetings, individuals are attending an average of 11 to 15 meetings per week. This is why meetings and meeting room management is a priority task on most facility manager’s lists.

Because if meeting room management is done right, the tone and tempo of meetings improve. They tend to be more purposeful and productive. 

Here are five hacks you can try to improve meeting room management. 

1.  Invest in a Meeting Room Booking System

A centralized booking system can help you improve meeting room management in no time. 

It will allow organizers to check the availability of conference rooms and book a meeting in advance. The system will also notify each attendee about the meeting venue, time, and date. Thus, streamlining the booking process. This reduces human error and provides a stress-free work environment. 

Plus, a robust meeting room management system lets you: 

• check meeting room bookings and availability in real-time
• track meeting room usage and occupancy patterns
• provide better employee experience with minimum booking steps
• improve employee productivity and collaboration
• issue sanitization of meeting room after use

2. Set Protocols for Hybrid Meetings 

Adopting a meeting room booking software is only half the battle won. To ensure your hybrid meetings are productive, you need to set some ground rules. 

Here are some ways you can use for better meeting room management.

• All meetings should follow a predefined agenda 
• Make sure meetings are not long and frequent
• Use proper video conferencing tools to encourage participation of remote workers 
• Seek regular feedback on the efficacy of these meetings

Following these guidelines can help you make hybrid meetings more efficient. Because while a meeting room booking system can take care of all the repetitive tasks, the actual meetings may still lack structure. This can weaken meeting room management.

By setting protocols, however, you can standardize the meeting room booking and management process. 

3. Improve Meeting Room Management with Digital Signage

An excellent way to improve meeting room management is to get rid of all the hanging or half-torn paper signs along the corridors of your workspace. 

Replace them with digital signage for employee communications integrated with your meeting room booking system. These signs can display information like meeting room capacity, duration, participants, and more.

This will reduce interruptions during meetings and ensure they are concluded on time. It also allows employees to make on-spot room bookings. And, since these signs are integrated into the meeting room management software, you can keep track of last-minute appointments and resolve queries remotely.

4. Track Meeting Room Occupancy

In a flexible work setup, conference rooms are usually underutilized. And a big part of effective meeting room management is to identify such waste of space and optimize it. One way to do so is through tracking and analyzing meeting room occupancy.  

Doing so can help you answer questions like:

• How often do employees book a specific meeting room?
• What is the frequency of usage?
• Which conference rooms are preferred by employees?
• Is there overcrowding in any room?

If you have a meeting room booking system, you can get well-organized data and analysis reports to answer the above mentioned questions. And make data-driven meeting room management decisions.

5. Build a Stack of Resourceful Tools 

If you have a mix of remote and in-person attendees, you need the right tools to make every meeting count. 

To conduct seamless meetings, make sure every conference room has the latest tools and technology. From interactive whiteboards to the latest video conferencing technology, workers should have access to the latest tools and they should be distributed fairly. This will make meeting room management a lot simpler. 

If different conference rooms have different tools, you may encounter unnecessary friction and overbooking. After all, some meeting room facilities will have more demand. In such a case, meeting room management can become a nightmare. 

To avoid conflicts, therefore, make sure every room is decked with the same tech stack and workers are bound by the same set of protocols. 

Parting Thoughts

It does not matter if your company has two conference rooms or six.  In either case, managing meeting rooms in a hybrid setup is no easy task. However, meeting room management does become easier with software support when combined with some best practices. 
WorkInSync meeting room management software is a highly effective solution. The meeting room scheduling software can help you find and book meeting space. Whether you want to optimize space spaces or understand room reservation demands, the conference room scheduling solution can help. Book a demo to learn more.