The selection of a meeting location is very important because the attitudes of participants are affected by the choice. Leaders have more difficulty accomplishing objectives if the room is too hot, the seats are too uncomfortable, the whirr of air vents makes it difficult to hear, and if there is a constant din of noise bustling outside the meeting room doors.

In planning and preparing the physical arrangement of the meeting space, the leader must consider the objectives as well as the number of participants who will attend. If it is an information-giving meeting with many participants, then theater style (without tables) may be the best physical arrangement. However, if there are five participants in a problem-solving meeting, the best room setup is to have people sit around a table so they can all see and hear each other.

If the meeting is for training and instructional purposes, several effective approaches are possible. In fact, the physical arrangement may be varied for a series of different instructional meetings to best accomplish the specific objectives of that meeting.