Board meetings are a special type of team meeting so it’s worth spending a little time to get the meeting room right.
Choose the Right Layout
Ensure that the seated layout for the board meeting is set up boardroom style, i.e. in a circle with chairs and seats facing inwards around one table. Avoid choosing a Meeting Room set up in Theatre style or with Cabaret style seating as this does not promote good deliberation. Check the room’s capacity for boardroom style seating as opposed to the overall headroom allowed for the room’s capacity.
Confirm AV for Board Papers
Will you need to present figures and documents on screen? Will remote directors be joining in on the meeting? Does the room have a screen or display large enough to read from every seat? Does the room have a video-conferencing system that is reliable and will connect to your Wi-Fi.
Think About Privacy
The confidential nature of board discussions means that a closing door and preferably no glass walls to the corridor are requested. Where meeting room hire in Conwy is required, venues are advised to offer a dedicated boardroom for such sessions to ensure that they are held away from the main conference business.
Plan Catering Around the Agenda
Most board meetings last three hours or more and will need refreshments to be served at some stage during the meeting. Good practice would be to have a break rather than people helping themselves to food and drink whilst in discussion. It is best to agree a catering brief with your chosen venue in advance.
Prepare the Room Before You Start
By arriving early you can organise your papers, check the technology is working and sit in the seats before your board meeting. Meeting Room Hire Conway is covered in more detail at https://stgeorgeswales.co.uk/conference-venues-llandudno/meeting-room-hire/conway/.
By setting up the room before you arrive, you can get on with running a good board meeting, focusing on the issues on the agenda.
Check the furniture and the booking arrangements
Executives and managers can spend a large share of their working day in meetings, so the furniture in a hired boardroom matters more than it might seem. Comfortable seating puts attendees at ease, helps conversation flow and keeps a long agenda productive. Before you book, ask how many people the room seats comfortably, and check it against the most and fewest people you expect.
Look closely at the chairs and table. Swivel chairs, or chairs on castors, let directors turn towards a screen or a colleague without fuss, while fixed chairs suit a more formal session. Ask whether the table can be reconfigured and whether there are power points and data access at the table, so laptops and tablets stay charged through the meeting. Storage for papers, pens and glasses keeps the table clear.
Busy rooms need a reliable booking system. Confirm your slot in writing, and check that the venue uses clear signs, manual or digital, to show the room is in use. That avoids a double booking or an interruption halfway through a confidential item.