5 Reasons to Embrace Huddle Rooms

Walk into any modern office today and you will find lots of open space, possibly a games room, chill out zones, break out zones and even swings. You might think….swings?….in an office?… that’s crazy! BUT, when you think of some of the top performing companies in the world, like Facebook, Google, Apple, the spaces they use to create some of the planet’s best loved products, will feature things like swings, slides and hammocks.

In previous years, businesses may have focused more on ‘kitting out’ one main meeting room or board room with technology, sometimes in the name of innovation but often to impress potential clients or because the CEO just said so. These board rooms were often quite dull with functionality put before creativity, atmosphere and ambience.

Today, businesses are focusing a lot on fostering a culture of creativity and innovation by introducing smaller areas dedicated to brainstorming and getting new ideas off the ground. These spaces are known as huddle rooms or huddle spaces.

A huddle room is a small meeting space that is carefully designed to encourage people to meet with ease to discuss ideas and collaborate on content. These rooms are usually suited for up to 5 people and are equipped with audio, video and display technology.

Interested in finding out more about creating an effective collaboration space or huddle room?

Why Huddle?

Listed below are my top 5 reasons to huddle…

• It’s quick & easy

Huddle rooms make it easier for people to meet and collaborate. By nature they are more accessible and usually have a less or no formal procedure to book in advance. In many enterprise organisations, boardrooms and meeting rooms tend to come with a formal booking procedure and a very long list of teams who want to make use of these rooms to carryout meetings. Many organisations will provide multiple huddle rooms, so coming together to meet in these rooms is often spontaneous, quick, efficient and very effective.

• Remote does not mean forgotten

As many huddle rooms are equipped with collaboration and communication technology, remote workers are always part of the team meeting. They feel included and can contribute to ideas from anywhere in the world. Huddle rooms equipped with collaboration and communication technology can really increase morale of remote workers, making them feel fully engaged in the organisation.

• Smaller groups encourage creativity

Huddle rooms tend to provide a more casual and comfortable environment for smaller groups of people to meet. The very nature of this type of meeting encourages meeting participants to be more involved, upfront with their opinions, suggesting ideas and brainstorming to create the best shared outcome possible.

• Adopt to your own space

What works for each office space and organisation is different; some businesses which have an open-plan office may construct a purpose built huddle room within the general floor plan, erect a few walls, equip it and it’s ready to go. Others may just reclaim an office or convert existing space to a huddle room. The advantages come from the flexibility to be able to make the most of your own space.

• Cost effectiveness

It can be relatively cheaper to create multiple huddle rooms or spaces across an office space rather than investing in equipping one large conference room. Costs will depend on individual technology needs but some organisations can equip for approx. $4,000.

Next Steps

Take a look below…