A wide array of collaborative tools has noticeably increased employee productivity in office spaces and enhanced customer relationships, globally. In recent years, there has been credible proof that deploying collaboration applications has improved interoperability, expanded collaboration transcending physical barriers, and improved the user experience especially in virtual meetings.
Why huddle spaces make the best collaboration areas?
With more than 50 million huddle rooms set up globally, they’re steadily establishing themselves as the collaboration stations that make the most of available space. According to projections, by 2023 huddle spaces will be where more than 70% of room-based video conferences take place.
Most workforces are rooting for huddle rooms that support small groups of employees to collaborate productively and spontaneously. They save time, allow teams to utilize the space effectively, eliminate scheduling conference appointments, or requiring support from the IT team, all this while simplifying the workflow.
All a team has to do is just walk in and launch a meeting. No fuss, just powerful productivity results.
Huddle room conferencing is booming, but there are naysayers
Planning to design multiple huddle rooms within your organisation?
Although huddle rooms offer a less formal, and more flexible space ideal for holding webinars, video conferences and even critical sales presentations, there are a few myths regarding what they are capable of and what they aren’t.
In this blog, we make an attempt to dispel these myths for you, so it’s clearer why huddle rooms are touted as a favourite of both millennials and veterans in the corporate environment.
Myth 1: Settling for just good quality audio conferencing is sufficient
There is a feeling that huddle rooms are effective only for in-person meetings or at best audio conferencing alone. But this is a very limited view of their potential, because when designed well they are ideal for small-group video conferencing too, which is a much more powerful collaboration tool than just audio. Seamless communication of high-quality audio, video and data improve the quality of any business meeting.
High-quality video collaboration in a huddle space ensures that no gesture is left unnoticed, and miscommunication is eliminated. Best-in-class video and audio availability allows workforce/clients to be seen and heard more clearly by connecting participants..
Myth 2: Small rooms mean a lower grade meeting experience
Small meeting rooms or huddle spaces do not necessarily mean a lower grade meeting experience. Infact, it’s not difficult to bring high end features into a small huddle room anymore.
Even though huddle rooms need to be simple and inexpensive, they can be equipped to allow high quality interactions. Cloud VC services have considerably reduced the costs of equipping these rooms with video calling, and a standard 1080p webcam installed in the room can dramatically improve the video quality beyond what most laptop cameras allow.
Audio performance can also be upgraded with a device like the Crestron Mercury which has built in speakers and microphones. This small desktop appliance is a convenient, all-in-one UC and AV Tabletop solution that also allows wired and wireless connectivity and allows one click meeting setup for an intuitive and hassle-free meeting experience.
Myth 3: It’s a less formal space, not ideal for serious collaboration
This myth is fast turning into an old fashioned corporate idea. On the contrary, these little dynamos empower teams to do more with less.
With most businesses adopting smart solutions to turn a huddle space into a high impact place for people to collaborate, the AV-centered huddle rooms are highly effective spaces that are utilized for holding webinars, facilitating discussions or on-the-fly meetings, conducting video conferences and even high-value sales presentations. The idea that you need a huge space for enterprise meetings is now an old-fashioned perspective.
Myth 4: Huddle rooms can’t match the spontaneity of open floor office setting
Open floor plan offices have recently enjoyed popularity for fostering spontaneity in collaboration. This is now being countered by the view that open office plans impact productivity and give rise to more distractions.
Huddle rooms can be equally accessible as open meeting spaces when located correctly, and are a more effective solution to ensure better productivity with less distractions than is typical in open meeting spaces and transition spaces.
Lastly, here’s a huddle room checklist to help you utilize the space better
- Provide a right-sized flat screen display that allows everyone to see small text and details clearly and let all VC participants be seen with good eye contact.
- Provide teams with an enterprise-grade Cloud Conferencing system with support for audio and video conferencing tools.
- Select compact and functional furniture. A small table and chairs which allow room for laptops without crowding participants.
- Install a smartboard or a whiteboard, to write down everyone’s contributions or highlights in a way that is visible to everyone in the huddle space or to those connected to the meeting via a remote location.
- Incorporate some fabrics, curtains, carpet, or acoustic foam to eliminate sound echo and improve the room acoustics.
A final word on the utility of huddle rooms
In the past conventional wisdom has suggested that large boardrooms are the most productive way to collaborate.
But simplified deployment of technology is the new necessity for enterprises along with the need for more efficient space usage because of the high costs of urban real-estate. Therefore creating a larger number of huddle rooms (small meeting rooms meant for 4-8 people) has become a preference for most large enterprises.
These huddle meetings are perfect for participants since they provide intimate spaces during a video conferencing or a short discussion. The combination of high-speed connectivity, large flat screens, interactive displays, and simple AV integrations make huddle rooms the most flexible collaboration solution in most scenarios. So start huddling up!
Additionally, a small space like a huddle room requires less investment in high-end AV equipment, and yet remains effective for enterprise teams. Also in light of COVID-19, it enables smoother and seamless collaboration between remote team members, helping employees become more responsive to challenges, opportunities and requirements at work.
For more information on Huddle Room Solutions for your business in India,
Contact Actis at 022-30808080 or at contact@actis.co.in.