An office table is a shared work surface. The name changes with the job it does. A table built for a board meeting is called a boardroom table. A table built for a training class is called a training table. Same category. Different names. Seven of them.
A desk is the other thing entirely. A desk is for one person doing focused work.
Desks are for individual work. Tables are for working together. Everything else follows from that.
Find the Name by What You Are Looking At
Most people asking this question already have a table in mind. They saw it in a lobby, or it is sitting in their own conference room. They just need the word for it.
Find the row that matches what you see.
| A long table in the middle of the main meeting room. Chairs all the way around. Outlets built into the top. | Conference table |
| The longest and nicest table in the building. Real wood or stone. In the room where the board meets. | Boardroom table |
| A small round or square table that seats three or four. In a small room, or in the corner of a big private office. | Meeting table |
| A table pushed against a wall with a screen mounted above it. | Media table |
| A tall table you stand at. Out in the open, often near the kitchen or break area. | Community table |
| A table on wheels that folds flat or stacks against the wall when the room empties out. | Training table |
| A low table in the waiting area. Or the small tables between the lounge chairs. | Occasional table |
| One person sits there every day and keeps their own things on it. | That is a desk, not a table |
Desk or Table? Purpose Decides.
You sit at a desk to do your own work. Writing. Billing. Calls. It is your surface and nobody else uses it.
You sit at a table to work with other people. A client presentation. A partner meeting. A training session. The surface is shared.
That is the whole distinction. Purpose, not shape. A benching workstations and a conference table can look almost identical from across the room. Benching workstations assign each section to an employee for focused work while a conference table is meant to collaborate and share ideas.
The 7 Types of Office Tables
Once you know a table is for shared work, the next question is what kind of shared work. That answer gives you the name.
1. Conference Table
Your conference room's main table. It is where you pitch, close deals, and plan strategy.
Most are specified with power and data built flush into the top. Laptops stay charged. Screens stay connected. No cords on the floor.
Clients judge this table before anyone sits down. Your team uses it every day.
Three shapes for the room where everyone sits around one table:
- Rectangular — The traditional choice. Best for formal presentations and long rooms.
- Racetrack — A rectangle with rounded ends. Softens the boardroom feel without giving up work surface.
- Boat-shaped — Long like a rectangle, but the ends taper in. Everyone can see everyone. Easier to talk across.
Three shapes for rooms that run video calls:
A closed table puts half the room in profile to the camera. Open shapes fix that. They turn faces toward the screen.
- U-shaped — Open at one end. The screen goes in the gap.
- O-shaped — A closed loop with an open center. Everyone reads everyone across the middle.
- V-shaped — Two runs angled toward the front of the room. Built so every face lands clearly on camera.
2. Boardroom Table
The most formal table in the building. It seats board members, shareholders, and the meetings you do not reschedule.
A boardroom table is longer than a standard conference table and specified in better materials — wood veneer, glass, or stone. It is the one table where the design matters as much as the function.
3. Meeting Table
Smaller than a conference table and built for casual work. Team huddles. One-on-ones. A quick sit-down with a client in a large private office.
Round and square shapes fit tight rooms best. Laminate handles daily use. Veneer or glass suits an executive suite.
4. Media Table
A media table sits against a wall with a screen above it. That placement is the point. People present from the table and watch the screen on the wall.
It carries the technology — power, HDMI, cable management, and a place to put the gear. Presentations and training sessions are what it exists for.
5. Community Table
Usually bar height. It lives in an open floor plan or a break area and invites people to stop, stand, and talk.
This is where quick informal meetings happen — the ten-minute conversation that does not need a room. Add power and USB and people will actually use it.
6. Training Table
A training table folds, nests, or rolls. That is its whole job.
Set the room up in rows for a seminar. Break it into small groups an hour later. Stack the tables against the wall when the class ends and get your floor space back.
7. Occasional Table
The small tables in your reception area and lounge. Side tables, coffee tables, and end tables.
They hold a coffee, a laptop, and a visitor's attention while they wait. In a professional office they are also the first furniture a client touches.
How to Pick the Right Table
Four questions get you to the right answer.
- What happens in the room? Formal client meetings need a conference table. Board meetings need a boardroom table. A class needs training tables.
- How big is the room? Plan about 30 inches of table edge per person. Leave at least 36 inches of walkway behind the chairs so people can get in and out without moving the table.
- Does technology need to be in the table? If people plug in, specify power and data up front. Adding it later means cutting into a finished top.
- What height? Community tables are usually bar or counter height. Conference, boardroom, meeting, and training tables sit at standard desk height.
If the room is doing more than one job, say so early. A conference table that also hosts training will need a different specification than one that only hosts meetings.
Going through an expansion or need to update your current furniture?
Your business is growing and thriving and now you signed a leased on a bigger space or perhaps the current office table has outlasted the office's last thre redisigns. Either way, you're ready for a new office table that fits your needs.
Since 1941, our designers have been specifying commercial furniture for rooms just like yours. We know which woods brighten windowless spaces, which surfaces hide daily wear, and which shapes actually work in real-world floor plans:
Let's skip the guesswork.
Option one: Visit our La Brea showroom. We'll handpick the 2–3 tables that actually fit your floor plan and budget, then walk you through every material—laminate, veneer, glass, stone, and solid surface—under real lighting. Touch them. See them. Know them.
Option two: Can't make it in? Book an on-site consultation. We'll bring the samples to you, measure the room, and map out the layout before you commit to a single inch.
No surprises. No regrets. Just the right table for the team you have today—and the one you're building for tomorrow.
