The level of light can have a considerable impact on the outcome of the meeting. The more light there is in the room, the more positive the outcome will be. The converse is actually more important. The less the light, the more conflict appears to occur.

I spoke to a psychologist about why this was the case and they told me that light has a very strong influence on people’s behaviour. Higher light lessens risk and makes people feel more comfortable in their behaviour. They are more likely to contribute.  Lower light of course, does the reverse. 

So always choose well lit rooms!

An interesting experience

I once was hired to conduct a session in  brand new 5 star hotel function room. When I arrived the lights were low and I asked them to be increased. I was told they were at the highest setting already – the architect had in his mind that function rooms are only used for cocktail parties – low light – when in fact 90% of their use is for business functions where light is required for people to read and write.

When the client arrived he called for the manager who explained the architect problem and that had complaints daily. My client was a strong person and the hotel ended up hiring commercial floodlights and plugging them into power points around the room so that people could see their papers. (I heard later that the architect was furious) After just a few months, the lighting was completely re-designed in all the function rooms by another architect because clients simply refused to pay for function rooms where they could not see!