Conference Room Signs: Frequently Asked Questions

With evolving office spaces and transitioning work culture, conference room needs and structures are also making a shift. However, the basic need remains the same, brainstorm, collaborate and share ideas. Some common conference room types include One-on-One Spaces for a more private and direct conversation. Some of such rooms are built-in areas as small as 16 square feet. Then, there is the comparatively newer concept of Huddle Spaces. These are more informal spaces for collaborative brainstorming with comfortable seating of 4-6 people.

Small and Large Conference rooms are a usual feature of most companies. An average small meeting room is about 150 square feet and is designed to accommodate up to six people. 

Large conference rooms are generally reserved for around 500 square feet and are designed to accommodate 13-20 people. These rooms are also used for clients, formal meetings, onboarding, or training sessions. Large meeting rooms should also have a TV or projector and video conferencing technology.

Various factors determine the number of conference rooms required in an organization. 

• - Type of industry
• - Number of employees working in the office
• - Number of remote employees 
• - Frequency of remote employees working from the office
• - Average number of meetings per day

While in some industries like marketing, a lot of creative and verbal exchange is required between teams, in others, simple emails are enough to get the job done.

Some statistics show that in normal offices (where all employees have dedicated desks), the ratio of conference rooms to the number of employees should be closer to 1:20. However, not all conference rooms need to be of the same size. In an organization of say 100 people, you could have 5 rooms (1 Large, 2 Medium, and 2 Small that vary in style).

Some of the basic conference room etiquettes are - 

Do not eat - While coffee, tea, or water are acceptable in the conference room, eating something between meetings is disrespectful.

Do not use the phone - Put the phone on silent and attend personal calls only once the conference is over.

Keep it clean and orderly - Make sure you don’t leave paper napkins, coffee mugs, or paper products on the floor. Clean the space so that the next group finds the room as clean as you did.

Don’t get too comfortable - Do not lean back in the chair or lower the height. Instead, sit up straight towards the front edge of the seat and look alert. 

Keep the door closed - when a meeting is in session. Also, knock and ask for permission before entering a conference room during an ongoing meeting.

Reset before leaving - Arrange the chairs back, switch off the air conditioner, lights, and power devices you’ve used during the conference.

Make a booking for the conference room in advance so that everyone knows when you need the room and keep it vacant at that time.

Be punctual - Arrive and leave the conference room at the booked time. Don’t let people wait after your time is over.

Cancel your booking in advance if you don’t need the conference room for the meeting

• - Install up-to-date electronic equipment like audio-visual system, digital display, projectors, etc
• - Invest in reliable, strong wireless internet connection.
• - Designate enough space to accommodate the number of people who will use the conference room
• - Design the conference room around natural light for better creativity and avoiding dullness inside
• - Don’t have distractions like windows facing a high-traffic part of your office
• - Install wheeled, lightweight chairs which can be rearranged easily

Meeting or conference room availability can be communicated in the following manners - 

• - Integrated Booking Systems - Users can check on the integrated booking system about the availability of conference rooms.
• - In Use/Vacant Slider Signs - Slider signs mark the room as 'In Use' or 'Vacant'. Easily slide the top plate to show if the room is free or occupied.

Every brand has its signature color, which can also reflect in the conference room. Even the interior designers who set up your office space like a specific color scheme for the entire office, including the conference room. However, choosing neutral and muted colors like white, beige, lighter shades of brown, light blues, and greens are popular options because they can make the room feel larger. Anything too bright or saturated will become distracting for your conference room. A little pop of color (red, orange, yellow, pink) can boost creativity, too — especially if the existing palette is drab. A tinge of metallic shades like gold, silver, or copper in fixtures like signs can uplift the look of any meeting area.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), in its Section 216.2, requires that interior and exterior signs identifying permanent rooms and spaces must have raised characters and braille. Therefore, if you think, the conference room signage is not likely to change over time and will serve the same function for more than 7 days, use a Braille Conference Room Sign. Even if an ADA sign is not required, it's always a good idea to make your space accessible to everyone.