Ditch the tables

Something to try...

Next time you’re hosting a meeting, a conference, a workshop - ask yourself:

“What does my room set-up say to people as they come into the room?”

Ditch the tables. 

Mess up the chairs. 

Play some tunes. 

Flip the format.

... and 3 reasons why

1. A conventional set-up begets conventional thinking. Patterns evoke conformity to pattern. Familiarity makes it easy for us to doze in the warm waters of predictability. If you want people to think differently, engage differently, to embrace discomfort… then shaking up your room set up is a great start. (In fact, do we even need a room?)
   
   
2. More often than not, meeting rooms are set up by people whose job it is to manage that room. And more often than not, those people are following a set of well-accepted norms and conventions. “Boardroom, theatre, classroom or cabaret?”… the standard menu offered by most rooms and venues. These are the set-ups that fulfil the criteria of “professional”, “comfortable" and “practical" for a vast majority of events and organisations.
   
   But why does no one include, “Collaborative space” on the list? Perhaps because it’s hard to define... hard to draw on a “standard set-ups” poster. What would you draw? A circle of chairs? A relaxed lounge? Island tables with stools? Open floor? Beanbags? All of which require a bit more effort (and courage!) to set up, sure - but creativity isn’t something you achieve by following someone else’s protocols.
   
   
3. Tables are only one aspect of room set up, but they’re often a key element because of their size and their effect on the flow of traffic. Tables don’t just get in the way physically (it’s harder for people to move around), but also energetically. More often than not, tables put an energetic barrier between people. They slow down conversation. And worst of all, they allow us to be somewhere else… by inviting us to open up our laptops in front of us (or discretely monitor our phones, half covered by a notepad #iseeyou). Sure, tables aren’t the cause of these issues - but they sure as heck trigger people to slip back into those patterns.

So go on. Dare to mess things up a bit. Enjoy the looks on people’s faces as they freak out. Oh, and send me a picture of your favourite room set up.

Cheers

Simon