Facilitated workshops
The facilitator works from the open end and can walk into the middle to get to a flip chart or a participant.
Seating style
U-Shape Seating
U-shape is three runs of tables forming an open U, chairs on the outside edge only, and the presenter working from the open end. Everyone can see everyone, which is the whole point.
It is also the least space-efficient layout in common use, and it stops working somewhere around 25 people. Both of those are consequences of the same geometry.
By Rosa Haye, founder of RH Seating StudioLast updated
What U-shape seating is
Three sides of a rectangle, made from standard 6-foot trestle tables, with the fourth side left open for a screen and whoever is presenting. Chairs go on the outside edge only, so nobody has their back to the middle.
What it buys you is a room where every participant can see every other participant's face. In a workshop or a board meeting that is not a nicety - it is the mechanism by which discussion happens rather than a sequence of presentations to the back of somebody's head.
What it costs is floor area. U-shape runs 30 to 42 square feet per person, roughly double classroom and four times theatre.
Diagram and dimensions
Allow 24 inches of table edge per person - 30 inches if there are laptops and papers. Standard 6-foot tables therefore seat two along each on the outside edge, or three at a squeeze.
The open end wants to be at least 8 feet wide so the presenter can move and the screen is not cropped. The interior of the U wants to be at least 6 feet across, or the person at the head of the table cannot walk into the middle without asking two people to move.
| Dimension | Minimum | Comfortable |
|---|---|---|
| Table edge per person | 24 in | 30 in |
| Table depth | 18 in | 24 to 30 in |
| Clearance behind chairs | 36 in | 48 in |
| Open end width | 8 ft | 10 to 12 ft |
| Interior width of the U | 6 ft | 8 to 10 ft |
| Sq ft per person | 30 | 42 |
Capacity limits
A U-shape seats 16 to 25 people comfortably. Below 12 it looks sparse and a boardroom setup does the same job better. Above 25 the arms of the U get long enough that the two people at the far ends are further apart than they would be at a single long table, and the format's only real advantage disappears.
The failure is specific and worth naming, because people push past it: at 30 people the person at the end of one arm cannot make eye contact with the person at the end of the other, cannot hear them without a microphone, and is functionally in a different meeting. At that point either split into two groups or move to hollow square, which distributes the same number more evenly.
If someone insists on 30 in a U, the honest answer is that they will get a 25-person meeting with five spectators.
U-shape vs boardroom vs hollow square
All three are discussion layouts for groups under about 40. They differ on where the front of the room is and how many people they hold.
| U-shape | Boardroom | Hollow square | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity | 16 to 25 | 8 to 20 | 24 to 40 |
| Has a front of room | Yes, the open end | Weakly, the head | No |
| Works with a screen | Yes | Awkward | Poorly |
| Presenter can walk in | Yes | No | No |
| Sq ft per person | 30 to 42 | 25 to 35 | 28 to 38 |
| Best for | Training and workshops | Decisions | Discussion between equals |
When it works
U-shape is the right answer more often than its space cost suggests, because the events it suits are small enough that space is not the constraint.
Board and committee meetings
Everyone visible to everyone, with a screen at the open end for the papers.
Training under 25
A surface, a sightline to the screen, and enough eye contact for group exercises.
Not for
Anything over 25, or any room where the U would have to be narrower than 6 feet inside.
Setting the room in U-shape
01Place the screen first
The open end is defined by the screen, not by the room. Set the AV, then build the U around it.
02Lay the head run
The run opposite the screen goes down first, centered on the screen. Everything else is measured from it.
03Set the arms square
Run the two arms toward the screen, keeping them parallel and at least 6 feet apart inside. Arms that splay outward are the standard setup error and are visible in every photograph.
04Chairs on the outside only
Every chair on the outside edge, spaced at 24 to 30 inches. Nothing in the middle - the middle is working space.
05Check the two end seats
Sit in the seat at the end of each arm. If you cannot see the screen without turning more than 45 degrees, the arms are too long and the group is too big for the layout.
Build it free
A U-shape is quick to draw and the drawing usually settles an argument about whether the group fits. Lay it out at real dimensions in the free seating chart maker, then compare it against the alternatives in meeting room layout.
Frequently asked questions
How many people fit in a U-shape?
16 to 25 comfortably, allowing 24 to 30 inches of table edge per person. Below 12 a boardroom setup works better, and above 25 the arms get too long for the format to do its job.
Why does U-shape fail above 25 people?
The arms lengthen, and the two people at the far ends end up further apart than they would be at a single long table. They cannot make eye contact or hear each other unaided, which removes the only reason to use a U in the first place.
How wide should the inside of the U be?
At least 6 feet, and 8 to 10 is better. Narrower than that and the facilitator cannot walk into the middle without asking people to move their chairs.
Should chairs go on the inside of the U?
No. Chairs on the inside face away from the screen and toward other people's backs, and they block the working space the layout exists to create.
Continue from here
Check the group fits before you promise the format.
Draw the U at real dimensions and sit in the end seat.
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