In the field of communications we are often assailed by new terms – either to describe previously non existent technologies or as a novel form of reference to an established product or practice.
In this way we have had headsets and telephones labelled ( correctly ) as endpoints and platforms evolving from Microsoft Lync to Skype for Business and branching out into Microsoft Teams.
In a similar vein we see the small conference room labelled a huddle room – but what is it?

MAIN PROPERTIES OF A HUDDLE ROOM

  • Small Private Meeting Area
  • Seats 3-5 People
  • Video Link – webcam – smart screen – streaming
  • Duplex Conference Phone/ Speakerphone
  • Shared Display Screen

IS A HUDDLE ROOM JUST A SMALL CONFERENCE ROOM?

The huddle room has sprung out of the 21st Century’s necessity for efficiency and collaboration. In this time of austerity and cuts and a greater respect for environmental issues the huddle room has evolved to fulfil all these needs.

The huddle room is a small conference room and it is not a small conference room.
It is a place for a quick chat or a remote meeting; it is smaller than the typical meeting room and the seating plan will be more compact – often with all participants facing the same direction.

As per previous post the huddle room nowadays makes strong use of video, whilst sound and data are shared via screens and conference or speakerphones.

The size of the room increases the actual number of separate meeting/ huddle rooms that can be deployed in a business whilst the increased availability of such areas make them easier to schedule.

agile huddle room meeting

A VIRTUAL CLONE?

The increasing adoption of Unified Communications platforms for business has lead to more use of small agile project planning meetings via group chat and other collaboration tools, it could be said that the huddle room is the physical representation of the small Microsoft Teams group – where a swift internal exchange can take place. A kind of physical mirror image of the online version.

normal conference room

So, as the workplace evolves to take into account smaller more focussed groups working together in a more agile manner – self motivated and with a shared goal – we see that the huddle room not only creates the environment necessary for efficient collaboration internally, but also, due to its technology, it provides all the necessary tools to communicate effectively with external parties.

We asked some of our staff and it was suggested that the connotations with cuddle make it seem cosy and that it is just a smaller version of the meeting room. The jury is out I guess.