Huddle rooms are a cost-effective way to provide space for your employees to collaborate and share ideas in an informal, easy-to-use environment. The biggest advantage of huddle rooms is that they encourage and enhance team working, therefore any technology installed should encourage this.
There are five key technology areas to consider when designing your huddle room:
- Video collaboration system– This will be central to your huddle space so make sure you choose one that meets the needs of your users. As remote and flexible working continues to increase, video calling is becoming an integral part of ensuring these employees continue to feel part of their team and they are still able to share their knowledge easily. When choosing your system, consider factors such as how many people will usually be on a call, whether you need to integrate other applications to be able to share content and how often will the system be used before deciding on the best system for you. It may not be worth investing in an expensive full-service system if usage is likely to be minimal, but also consider whether the room will be used to call external stakeholders, in which case quality may be a more important factor.
- Displays – This is critical for any effective huddle room as it enables content to be shared centrally rather than via one person’s laptop. Having a wall mounted screen that users can easily connect to will make presentations and discussions much simpler and more comfortable. A central display will allow teams to share documents, brainstorm ideas, view presentations and conduct video conferences. In terms of size bigger is often better – it’s important that everyone can feel involved with any content that’s being shown – but don’t go over the top in what is likely to be a small space; around 50in should be sufficient. For particularly creative environments, consider an interactive screen, some of which also have videoconferencing built in.
- Whiteboards – With ideas flowing and conversations moving at pace, it can be difficult to keep track of what’s going on when in meetings. The whiteboard can solve this problem, offering a cost-effective way to capture and share ideas. Digital whiteboards can enable you to share content at the touch of a button, even with those not in the meeting.
- Audio System – Good audio is integral to the effectiveness of a huddle room. Conference speaker phones can be an effective solution here, offering clarity and intelligibility in a cost-effective package. For rooms that will host meetings with external clients, consider a ceiling array system that will ensure the best possible experience for those at the far end as well as your own team.
- Wireless Presentation System – A definite advantage for any room, a wireless presentation system makes it easy to share your work, boosting collaboration and productivity. It also takes away the fuss of having to connect your device directly to a display and minimises the mess and confusion that a mass of wires can cause. As an added benefit, it also means that guests can connect with ease, increasing professionalism and making meetings run more efficiently.
The key to creating an effective and useable huddle room is to ensure the technology within it fulfills the needs of your employees. Depending on the work carried out by your employees, you may not need each of these technologies to create a huddle room that works for you. Contact StriveAV today to find out more about the latest huddle room technology available and how they can help your business to grow.
