What colour would you choose for the conference room and boardrooms next time the facility gets painted?
When picking colours for the paint job, the reception and main areas get most of the attention. That’s totally understandable, considering that’s where most of the activity happens. However, at the meeting rooms is where most of the important decisions are made. If the meeting rooms are comfortable for the participants, the discussion will be productive.
Ecopainting is a commercial painting company. As such, we may be biased in our thinking that paint and colour is the solution for everything. Somebody said: “when you’re a hammer everything looks like a nail” That’s fair to say, we are all a little biased and may overvalue what we bring to the table. There are however other ways to make meeting rooms comfortable.
How Relevant are Conference Rooms these days?
With the progress of technology and social media, companies identified travelling to meetings as an unnecessary expense. Conference calls video conferences and online meetings became a viable way of doing business. However they don’t have the same effect as face to face meeting do. Studies show that face-to-face meetings are more likely to result in breakthrough thinking.
In the study, there was a correlation between cutbacks in business travel and a reduction of profit. As a result, businesses are abandoning that thinking and plan to spend more money on business travel and meetings. Online meetings are a great business tool but with limitations. Face to face builds transparency, comfort, and trust with each other.
Goal: Make the Boardroom Comfortable for the Participants
Business travel and meeting costs are expensive but necessary. What will it take to help make the meeting as productive as possible? Improving the surroundings and the comfort level of the participants is a start.
- How is the temperature in the boardroom during meetings? Is it comfortable to someone to spend a few hours in there? How is the air quality. Having the ability to control the temperature in the room is very important.
- Refreshments. Water, coffee drinks and even catered lunch will keep the participants attention span focused for longer periods of time.
- Lighting. Natural light is the best and healthiest source of lighting. Opening the blinds to let natural light in is a great idea but many conference don’t have windows. In this case a bright room can be created with artificial lighting and light colour walls.
- Comfortable chairs and a practical boardroom table are a good investment.
The role of Paint and Colour in Creativity and Comfort.
Different colours can create different emotions both positive and negative. Does it mean that using colour psychology can give us the best possible colour for creativity? Unfortunately, the answer is not that simple. If there was a perfect colour for productivity, every company would be using it already. We all have different backgrounds and upbringing. Cultural influences play a big role in how we see colour.
Opinions & Observations after years of Painting Boardrooms
Dark neutrals such as a darker grey have no place in a boardroom. Maybe yours is an accounting firm that can’t let go of conservative surroundings. Maybe preserving the stereotypical accountant’s reputation is important to you. But seriously, these colours have a place in carpeting, furniture and maybe on an accent wall or two. If you want a cheerful Monday morning meeting, gray will not be a friend. In my opinion, using shades of vibrant colours works wonders. Shades of blue, green even hints of orange can spice up a boring boardroom and keep a meeting alive. If you are not that daring, use small doses of colour as accent walls and paint the rest of the boardroom in an off white. More information about painting the office and colour.
Painting with Whiteboard and Chalkboard Paint in Boardrooms
Advertising agencies and marketing teams create constantly. When an idea sparks the mind, it must be captured. Recently, the paper notebook has been losing the battle to tablets and other digital tools. What about the whiteboard as a place to capture creativity? Why not paint entire walls with whiteboard paint? We painted a few walls with whiteboard paint and the results were positive. It takes a day or two to prep and paint the wall and the cost is not prohibitive.
What about the old chalkboard method? It may make you feel like you are back at school, but if it worked then, it can work now. There was something authoritative about teaching with a chalk in hand. Our painters used chalkboard paint in a Toronto office space recently. The customer was Powered By Search, a marketing company in Toronto. When we painted their new space, they wanted a wall painted with a wide strip of chalkboard paint. For years later, that wall was a focal point in their office. This was definitely a creative way to use paint.
When painting offices in your facility, why not pay some serious attention to the colour of the boardroom.
In Toronto, call Ecopainting at 416 733-7767. We can help you find the right colour, we can even connect you with a colour consultant.