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Round Conference Table

At my very first office job, I remember that there was a huge round conference table in the meeting room. They held a lot of meetings here, and it seemed the table took up more space than necessary. This was perhaps the largest table I had ever seen, and I was sure they had bought it for the style rather than for function. When I asked my boss about it one day, he told me that he won't use anything but a round table, and he also told me there was a very good reason for this.

He has been in business for a long time, and he always reminded me why he was the CEO by how he conducted business. He was a very sharp man, and he was very successful. I was often a pile of nerves because I was afraid being new to my field that I could not keep up with him. When he explained to me why he uses the round conference table, he did so with a smile that showed he knew what he was talking about. He told me that he had sat in countless meetings throughout his life. He had noticed over the years that a round conference table was the best way to go, and he had a very few good reasons for this.

Most places use square tables, and he has had plenty of experience with both types of tables. He began to notice as time went on that square tables tended to leave those sitting in the corner seats out of the majority of the conversation. He found it odd, and thought this was not good for business. He also noticed that conversation seemed to remain in one corner of a table when it should be flowing around the table. He said that when he stared using a round conference table, everything seemed to correct, and everyone was more into the meeting.

He also said that when you use a round conference table, there is less of a feeling of being in an important seat vs. being in an unimportant seat. Those seated at the end of a square table, and those directly in the center on the sides seemed to feel they had a spot of importance. He thought this was bad for morale. When everyone is seated at a round conference table, there is far less emphasis put on where someone is sitting. Every seat seems to be of equal value, and he found this to be the best way to get everyone to contribute.

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