Help creating a room for group discusssions

June 18, 2024 2:01 PM

We have an empty room that we want to use for group discussions. It'll hold 25 people, but the actual number of participants will not always be that high. 2 questions - 1 for anyone with group discussion experience, and 1 for someone with ideas on decor...read on if you are either of these people!

Q1: If you have participated in anything like a group discussion, and you thought that the room was well done, what was in the room? Smaller desks seem more flexible, as they can be moved and rearranged, I guess, but all ideas are so welcome.

Q2: The inside of the building and the room is entirely grey. A light grey ceiling is the nicest part. A dull grey floor, and maybe battleship grey walls with really thick paint. In short, it is grey. We have the chance to do something with the floor and the walls. Normally, I'd go with white walls, but I am not sure it will be as good as something else. In short, it'd probably be good if people felt a difference when they entered the room. What colour schemes might work?

This is one room out of maybe 100 in the building and it seems like we will have some latitude to make it really different, so all and any suggestions are welcome. Thanks, everyone!

posted by Calvin and the Duplicators to Work & Money (8 answers total)

Make sure the seating really is flexible, so you can have tables and chairs, or just chairs, or neither (like, sitting on the floor, standing, etc). And make sure the mobile tables/chairs can really be put out of the way without taking up too much space (they make folding versions of both, for instance).

Multiple large whiteboards on different walls.

Maybe optional clips, so that you could hang large sheets of notepaper. Or if not clips, places where you can put up tape/sticky notes, etc.
posted by Gorgik at 2:06 PM on June 18 [1 favorite]

I run a library nonfiction book club of about... 12-15? and my biggest priority would be comfy seating, especially seating that can easily form a circle or U shape. Your folks may be more gregarious than mine, but folks are more comfortable in individual chairs than they are sharing a couch in my experience.

I don't have any specific advice re: decor, other than to reach out and see if you have a muralist in the community - a themed mural wall will definitely have a dramatic impact.
posted by The demon that lives in the air at 3:00 PM on June 18 [1 favorite]

Echoing what Gorgik just said - the more flexible, the better. We have rolling tables for our boardroom that form easily into a U shape or a circle or roll out of the way altogether. Don't forget to make it fully Zoom accessible as well: a good projector, a dedicated computer with its own Zoom account so the room can host the meeting, and meeting Owls or your choice of decent camera / mic setup (we do love our Owls.) Also, think about assisted hearing devices / mics. For people who are hard of hearing it can be really difficult to hear people speaking from Zoom or even people on the other side of the physical room. I like the mural idea as well!
posted by mygothlaundry at 3:04 PM on June 18

Color doesn't matter so much as having some contrast on the wall. My experience is in academic spaces and I always like when a room has something like the lower half of the wall is a slighter darker color than the one above. Or the top third is lighter, or there's a contrasting stripe at some height. It's not like it's beautiful, but it instantly makes the room less boring.

If it's all hard surfaces. Get something soft in there so it's not echoey (this is especially a problem with fewer people in a larger room).

If there is any natural light, make room for it and try to show it off.

A small height difference is really nice if you ever want to have 1-5 people addressing the rest. You can buy risers or make a dais etc. Even if you don't do that, have a special table/podium combo available.

Having a whiteboard or blackboard or paper on an easel available is very high priority for me. Some people will feel the same about a projector or display screen.
posted by SaltySalticid at 3:42 PM on June 18 [1 favorite]

Have very sturdy chairs, including some larger ones that would be comfortable for larger people

A few rugs on the floor, and drapes or fabric panels to improve the acoustics

Plan a large place for coats and purses so people don’t have to “take possession” of chairs by draping them with their belongings. It keeps the room feeling more tidy and allows more flexibility for small groups to form and re-form if the chairs stay more neutral instead of the chairs becoming coatracks

Have a clock that the speaker and the students can all see
posted by nouvelle-personne at 4:45 PM on June 18 [3 favorites]

Jumping on "have a clock"... have a clock that does NOT tick.
posted by inexorably_forward at 6:30 PM on June 18 [2 favorites]

It seems like whoever has been designing flexible conversation spaces lately at my workplace has never considered that the fun chairs might be used by fat people and/or people with various mobility impairments that can make it hard to get out of really low or oddly angled chairs. If you go offbeat with the furniture, consider making sure at least some of the seating is sturdy, armless, and really easy to get up and down from.

A full wall of whiteboard paint was very popular in a prior workplace, and these days an easy to use way to connect to an online conference so meetings can be hybrid if needed is really help in group meeting space for accessibility and flexibility.
posted by Stacey at 7:03 PM on June 18 [3 favorites]

Yep, came here to encourage at least some seating that is sturdy and can accommodate larger bodies (arm rests aren’t great unless the seat area is super wide). If the focus is actually on conversation, I would prioritize seating and get clip boards/ post it pads and some tables (I think tables and desks in this type of gathering can subtly encourage some participants to get out their laptops and phones). Sounds like a cool project.
posted by leastlikelycowgirl at 11:10 AM on June 19