You need employees to learn new products, review sales procedures, or keep certifications and licenses current. Bringing everyone together for training is the answer. And it’s important to consider the best training furniture that will work for you and your company.
This raises questions like what type of desks, tables and chairs are best?
All office needs require planning the space to know what furnishings are best. Let’s plan and equip a training area.
Know Your Goals and Needs for Training Spaces
Let’s look at basic fundmentals like why you need a training area, and how often trainings are expected to occur. Will the set-up be permanent, and can the room be used for other purposes?
Keep this in mind: you want information to flow easily between the presenters and attendees.
Is there a set-up that’s best?
The answer is whatever helps your team learn, retain, and put to use what they’ve seen and heard.
Training in companies and larger corporations usually happens in classroom settings with desks and chairs set up in rows, just like school. Create an atmosphere that’s more relatable where employees can work in smaller groups and tables can be arranged to face each other.
Check products like the Krug Revo Training Table that’s easy to reconfigure. Have groups of five or six together in a huddle, or circular seating, to solve customer problems or get insights on new products.
Photo: Krug Revo Table
If space is tight, then consider tables that fold, have sturdy casters, and can be easily rolled to a storage area or one side of the room.
Once your purpose and needs are clearly established, then you can choose the furnishings.
How Training Furniture is Unique
Most tables and chairs used for training purposes have a distinct look and function that’s clearly different from executive desks and workstations. Check out the many options available for conference tables.
This is fine if your office schedules regular trainings for clients or employees.
But if bringing people together only happens occasionally then use tables like the Desk Makers Training Table that can double as an everyday work surface.
Photo: Deskmakers Newport Training Table
Photo: Krug Nuvo Conference Table
For some, conference tables can also be the best solution for employee training purposes. The conference room by nature brings people together to facilitate sharing and exchange of information and ideas. It’s very common that conference rooms double as training rooms for many companies. For ideas on what may work for your company and office culture, you can explore options for conference tables.
And who says tables have to be boring or only have one primary use?
Check out the Scale 1:1 Nomad Conference Table that:
- Is useful for trainings
- Is useful for conferencing
- Serves as a whiteboard
- And offers a surface for social activities like a Ping-pong match
Photo: Scale 1:1 Nomad Conference Table
Best Ways to Arrange Training Furniture
If you have a dedicated corporate classroom, then you’re set. But if you don’t, get creative with how you set up the furnishings.
Common arrangements cited in Room Arrangements for Training Sessions in the dummies series are:
- Single square or round tables
- Conference tables
- Classroom style with an aisle between tables or surfaces for long rows
- Clusters of round or rectangular tables
- V-shape
- U-shape
According to the author, u-shape arrangements are good for groups of 12 to 22, while conference seating is good for about 8 to 12 people.
Table clusters can be used for 16 to 40 attendees.
Photo: Arcadia Flirt Chair
Revisit Your Goals and Available Space
Training sessions will often tackle different topics, so decide how you want your team to respond.
Will your team be focused with eyes toward the front with little or no small group interaction? If so, then tables and chairs can be arranged in rows or at angles with the right proportions that fit the room.
Do you expect break-out sessions, or will small groups stay in huddles throughout the training?
Who says training furniture has to fit a specific mold? Sometimes the best training furniture don’t.
Certain types of lounge seating options can bring a focus that traditional tables and chairs won’t be able to do. A u-shaped solution like the Rouillard Blok Lounge Seating gives attendees a view forward while making it easy to stay together and learn or brainstorm ideas.
Keep in Mind
Choose your office furnishings to support and aid your staff, whether that’s selecting workstations, break room equipment, or training tables. Know the various ways people learn so you can bring out their best with the tables, chairs and how they’re arranged.
Photo: Allermuir Kin Chairs
We’re Here to Help
Get further advice on the best training furniture as well as space planning and design for your office and home office needs. The team at 2010 Office Furniture has more than 50 years of combined experience providing the right equipment and laying out spaces for maximum productivity.
2010 Office Furniture’s clients are leading corporations, universities, and small businesses in the greater Los Angeles area, Orange County, and the Inland Empire.
Contact us with your questions and office needs.
Read Also: How To Set Up An Office Space
Main Photo: OFS Maren Chairs
Resources & Special Thanks to Respective Product Manufacturers: Allermuir, Arcadia, Deskmakers, Krug & Scale 1:1