A week in the life of a ‘meeting room’

Gone are the days of meeting rooms simply being a place to host a meeting. The past two years have accelerated the adoption of agile working, and when we think of the simple meeting room, agile makes no exception.

What does agile working mean?

Google tells us agile means ‘Able to move quickly and easily’. In most workplaces today, it’s rare to sit in the same seat, at the same desk, alongside the same people every working day. That’s because agile working enables people to work where, when, and how they choose to meet the requirements of their job role. This also allows individuals to work in a way that suits their personality types and individual preferences. An obvious concept for businesses returning to the workplace adopting a hybrid working model post-pandemic such as Grant Thornton.

A workplace fit for purpose post-pandemic

Employees have stated that their preference is two to three days per week in the office, which means businesses are seeing a regular surge in attendance on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. In turn, this is having an impact on their existing workplace layout, and in some cases, it’s highlighting that their existing space is not fit for purpose.

For example, days when an entire business comes together for company updates and all-important town halls, also creating the need for socialising with colleagues and bringing people together to incubate company culture.

What does an agile space look like?

As believers in agile working, we adopted the method at our home in Wimbledon many years ago. Since then, we and have helped our clients to understand that agile working is the future of workplace. It offers our people flexibility to work how and where they want, but it also unlocks possibility in how a space can be used. A versatile, agile workplace means that your real estate can work harder than ever before, as the same space can cater for a variety of activities.

To truly get under the skin of how a business operates, what it really needs, and importantly, what its employees want is the strategic approach to truly create a workplace that mirrors the wants and needs of its people and incubates company culture.

Sterling House physically enables and proudly empowers our people and culture to thrive. We wanted to visually demonstrate what agile physically ‘looks like’ and decided to capture the week in the life of the ground floor of Sterling House, home to our family-esq kitchen and dining table, and various sized meeting spaces.

Here’s a rundown of the activities that took place during the second week in March 2022. Within 11,000 ft, we hosted up to 120 people, three events, lots of meetings and even more cups of coffee. Choosing the right fittings and flexible furniture enables space agility, so we’ve given a shout out to some of the products used to help this space become truly agile and beautiful at the same time. A total of 69 meetings across the space including a pitch rehearsal, hosting suppliers, to a whole host of other activities…

Monday

08:45 - All Hands is where our business comes together for the ‘all hands-on deck’ business update prepping them for the week ahead, hosted by our CEO JP (thanks for the wave, team).

18:00 – Weekly yoga, a weekly special where people come together to stetch out and unwind, thanks to our wonderful yoga instructor Eleanor at Flux and Flow for keeping us truly zen.

Tuesday

Our media relations agency Tangerine Comms hailed from Manchester for our first in-person strategy meeting in two years! We celebrated with a Pret picnic and prepped for a super special event, our first ever International Women’s Day discussion with inspirational leader, Katy Leeson. A cosy set up attended by 25 people, complete with wine and cheese – shout out to our front of house Elyse Quinn for making this extra special.

Wednesday

As our marcomms team headed over to host our first thought leadership seminar of the year (and first in three years) hosted at Preqin, life resumed as usual at PRHQ.

Thursday

The Big Breakfast! Not the Channel Four special for those of you with nostalgia, however our infamous Peldon Rose breakfast spreads are back. Think bagels. Think pancakes. Think cereals, fruits, juices, and lots of great chat. Delicious and enjoyed by all. Here’s to the next one.

Friday

From strategy meetings to those all-important Friday beers and board games, Fridays never disappoint.

Come and see for yourself

As you can see, dynamic spaces really do cater for all. We love inviting people over to experience it for themselves. Fancy a coffee and a demo of a sliding door? Pop us an email [email protected]

A thank you to our friends at Making Moves, who recently filmed their workplace yoga with their team and inspired us to capture a week in the life of a meeting room.