The Myth of No Meeting Rooms

What a 2016 Project Still Teaches Us About Space Hoarding Today

You know that feeling — you're trying to book a meeting room and it seems like every single one is taken. But then you walk around the office and see… darkness. Empty rooms. Lights off. Doors locked. It doesn’t make sense.

That exact problem came up back in 2016 when I was working with a major Canadian retailer just outside Toronto. They had a gorgeous building — and I mean stunning — complete with some of the best cafeterias I’ve ever seen (we’re talking actual fresh and healthy lunch options). And 108 meeting rooms.

Yet no one could find a room.

Turns out, it wasn’t a real estate issue. It was a culture and control issue. Here's what we uncovered — and how we solved it.

How Meeting Rooms Disappear

Executives had private offices and their own “personal” meeting rooms. Then they started blocking other rooms as “project rooms” for their teams. These rooms were quietly pulled from the booking system.

And here’s where it got really tangled: Executive Assistants started managing access to these rooms manually. They developed their own shadow system — calling each other to borrow rooms, keeping mental inventories, even hiring temp staff just to keep track of space availability across departments.

By the time we were brought in, only 7 out of 108 rooms were bookable by regular employees.

The illusion of scarcity had become real.

The Moment of Truth

We suggested a shift: return all rooms to the booking system, and allow executive-controlled rooms to show up for booking 5 days in advance.

When we pitched it to the executives, they said:

“It’s a good idea, but our EAs probably won’t go for it.”

Then we talked to the EAs, who said:

“I like it — but I’m not sure my executive will be okay with it.”

That mismatch? It was the breakthrough.

Once both sides realized they were on the same page, change happened quickly. We added tech for visibility and accountability — like check-in panels and real-time dashboards — but the real transformation came from reworking behaviors and trust.

Why It Still Matters Today

Even now, I see companies dealing with the same thing: space gets siloed, assumptions go unchecked, and the solution isn’t more software — it’s better conversations.

Here’s what you can do right now if this resonates:

• Audit your actual meeting room usage — not what’s booked, but what’s actually being used.

• Talk to the gatekeepers — EAs, team admins, and execs. Are they aligned?

• Uncover assumptions — often, perceived resistance is just miscommunication.

TL;DR – Key Takeaways:

• “No meeting room” problems are usually people problems, not real estate problems.

• Control over space can quietly become bottlenecks.

• Executives and EAs often want to help — they just need to know the other side is open to change.

• The right tech supports behavior change — it doesn’t create it.

🔁 This story still hits because it’s still happening. Share this with your team, especially your workplace operations folks or anyone managing space access behind the scenes.

Want the full story with all the twists and cultural nuance?
🎧 Listen to the podcast episode here