What’s a Huddle Room & How It Can Benefit My Audio Video?

What’s a Huddle Room and Why Should I Care aND HOW IT CAN BENEFIT MY AUDIO VIDEO?

The days of rows and rows of cubicles and glass-doored offices may really be over. As remote work becomes more and more normal, the business office floor plan needs some drastic changes.

Open office spaces are more popular so that the employees that do come into the office can collaborate freely and reserving space is less complicated. However, open floor plans come with their own set of problems – namely, privacy for phone calls and quiet for the same. Creating an office for every employee isn’t really an option, which is why huddle rooms are the perfect solution.

What Is a Huddle Room?

A huddle space is a mini-conference room. It’s a small, private meeting area that can fit a few employees. They are equipped with the requisite audio video equipment to make the meeting productive and to include remote employees in meetings over software like Zoom, Webex, or GoToMeeting.

Larger conference rooms usually require employees to book them ahead of time. In an ideal modern office, there are enough huddle rooms that employees can meet on the fly, in a quiet space, with all the modern conveniences.

What Are the Benefits of Huddle Rooms & Audio Video?

If you’re changing up the layout of your current office space, unused storage rooms and other forgotten spaces can easily become huddle rooms. This lets you modernize your office for your employees without making drastic changes to your space and keep in mind each huddle rooms audio video needs.

Turning unutilized space into a huddle room maximizes the potential of your office layout, and creates spaces for employees to collaborate, create, and meet in a designated space that has everything they need for an effective meeting, planning session, and help identify audio video needs.

It doesn’t cost much to create a huddle room, and the presence of these small meeting spaces helps your staff prioritize larger meeting rooms for meetings with clients, large presentations, and more.

Last but certainly not least, huddle rooms help bridge the gap between in-office employees and remote workers, so that real communication can occur, and nobody feels left out.

What Do You Need to Create a Great Huddle Room?

You’ll need furniture, of course, for your huddle rooms. Comfortable and functional chairs and a table are key. You can involve your employees for choices, making them feel part of the transformation and getting them excited about their new spaces.

You’ll want to make sure each huddle space can fit 4-5 people, so don’t choose a huge table, but make sure it’s big enough for the work that needs to be done.

Lighting is important, especially if an employee has to do a live broadcast from the huddle room. It’s also important for mood and comfort, so gone are the days of fluorescent lighting. Natural light is best, but if there is no window, go for softer lighting. Supply a ring light or other additional light if an employee needs more lighting for a live event.

The technology you use for your huddle room is probably the most important decision you’ll make. You don’t have to buy conference room-sized equipment. This is a huddle space, after all, and you don’t want the technology to overwhelm the space and cause discomfort.

AV Equipment Matters in a Huddle Room

Invest in a display – you don’t want your team crouching around a laptop, especially in the era of social distancing. This image has a much different feeling these days…

Some companies choose to place a conference phone and speakers in a huddle room so that everybody can hear a remote joiner.

Relying on a laptop speaker also isn’t ideal. Invest in quality speakers and microphones to go with your visual tech.

Finally, add a collaboration space – make one whole wall a giant whiteboard and supply markers so that big brainstorming can happen in your small productive space.

As the nature of work changes, it’s important to pivot and provide spaces where your employees can thrive. That’s why you should care about huddle rooms, and why you should create some today! Call us 800-668-4988