CHANGES TO IMPLEMENT IN YOUR OFFICE AFTER THE LOCKDOWN

01. Introduction

How do your employees feel about coming back to the office after lockdown?

The pandemic has chased us all into isolation as it threatens to spread wherever we gather. It is plausible that employees may be nervous to come back to work and back to public live. Also people have gotten used confinement and to working from home and using technology to meet, collaborate and stay productive. Many of them may even prefer the “new normal”. The flexibility and convenience they have come to enjoy during lockdown will undoubtedly become part of future negotiations of how we work. So embrace it, is my advice, but do not rush to give notice to your landlord, because the office will not become redundant. In the U.S. Workplace Survey 2020 by Gensler Research Institute (one of the largest interior architect companies in the world), when asked where they prefer to work – home, the company’s workplace, a co-working space, or coffee shop, the office came out tops as people’s preferred place to work, as long as it is designed to support their work.
Businesses will have to adapt and set new guidelines for the workplace, that adheres to governmental and global health guidelines, including physical distancing, adding barriers, cleaning, and safety measures. A good start might be to offer the option for people to return to work in waves or in shifts during the week. This will help provide the necessary social distancing, but also allow employees a greater sense of control over their health. Below we explore a few more changes businesses can make or should at least consider.

02. re-configure The Open Plan Office

Until there is a COVID-19 vaccine, a 1m-2m distance in the office should still apply.

• Establish protocols for the number of people who can occupy an enclosed space. Remove excess chairs in conference rooms with more than 10 seats. Make sure that the meeting room is set-up for easy conference calls or virtual meetings (Internet connection, soundcheck, monitor/TV for screen sharing or presentations).
• Encourage people to collaborate virtually whenever possible. There are great applications to project manage, meet, share and contribute to projects on a cloud.
• De-densify workstations. Typically most open-plan offices have “benched” workstations. If your dual desks are free-standing (not connected in a system) you can remove one or two and create an 800mm space between them. In the case of system desking (all workstations are connected/linked) only have an employee seated at every 2nd desk.
• Consider adding partitions (or desk-based screens) between workstations, opt for 500mm high desk screens that do not allow employees seated across from each other to see each other, the goal is to block potentially harmful viruses that can be transmitted by talking, coughing, or sneezing.
• If your office has “hot-desking” or unassigned desks in your office, where anyone can set-up their laptop to work, consider assigning them to individuals. to reduce the potential spread of germs between people.

03. Office Hygiene & Employee Wellbeing

Employee health depends on a safe & clean environment.

Workstations:

• Organisations should implement cleaning protocols for workstations, meeting rooms, work lounges, cafes, reception desks, and other common areas at regular intervals throughout the day. Make sure that your cleaning staff are educated and understand the importance of their work.
• Purple Spirits has a high alcohol content and thus a high disinfectant quality. It is also safe to use on melamine, high-pressure laminate surfaces and plastic.
• Employers should provide disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizers throughout the office – and especially in shared areas.
  Encourage all employees to maintain an uncluttered desk, to make the cleaner’s job more effective.
• Spray disinfectant (available at your local grocery store) on upholstered items such as desktop partitions/screens, soft seating or office chairs.
  Door handles elevator buttons and shared common areas should be disinfected throughout the day.

No-touch solutions:

• Install touch-less soap dispensers in restrooms
• Install hands-free dispensers with sanitizer that contains at least 60−95% alcohol in lobbies, conference rooms, and lounges
• No-touch trashcans or bins (especially in the kitchen/canteen)
• Remove any cookies or rusk jars near coffee stations, as these are tempting touch points in an office.

Antimicrobial materials and surfaces:

• Applying antimicrobial coatings to faucets, window shades, paint, and door hardware to keep them cleaner and from multiplying bacteria.
• Utilize sensor systems to provide information about which rooms have the greatest occupancy and require more frequent cleaning.
• Consider investing in Antibacterial finishes for desktop or table surfaces such as Fenix NTM, which is also anti-fingerprint, low-glare, and has a silky “soft-touch” finish.
• Invest and upgrade air-conditioning. The air we breathe is also a shared resource, so invest in air-cleaning systems to protect collaborative environments. Some systems even display real-time air quality measurements on digital screens to keep employees informed, and it will serve as a continuous disinfectant, improving air quality by reducing airborne and surface contaminants like viruses, bacteria, germs, VOCs, smoke, and other allergens.

Incorporate kind and clear communication regarding new hygiene policies:

• Consider making masks part of the dress code. Employees need to wear them during interactions such as meetings.
• Signage that prompts employees and visitors to sanitize will effectively improve overall hygiene.
• Signage that notifies visitors that your office has a no-contact greeting policy will help to negate any awkwardness and make people feel safe.
• Let employees and visitors know about your efforts to improve their environment, either as a note in your next mailer, on social media or as a discussion point in your next staff meeting.

04. Stay open to new ways of working

A new balance needs to be established between your company and its people.

• Entrust employees with the responsibility to keep their workstations clean and give them the necessary cleaning products to do so.
• Offer employees who can work remotely the option to do so.
• Do not alienate team members by making them feel guilty about working from home, and check-in with those who do, make sure that they still feel part of the team.
• Embrace virtual meetings.
• Make sure your workplace is a positive one. For the employees who have to be at work to do their jobs (part of a production team), ensure that they feel safe, cared for and welcome.
• Be kind and clear about your hygiene policies to those visiting your premises (clients, delivery staff, suppliers, sales reps).
• Offer your products and brand experience online. Move your products or services to an online store.
• You may find that when the workplace transitions from a place that you HAVE TO go to, to an environment that maximises the convenience, ergonomics, productivity tools and a safe place to connect with your company and colleagues that people will naturally gravitate back to the “mother-ship”.

05. Customised solutions

Align Studio can evaluate your office space and help you plan to embrace the “new normal”.

You are welcome to contact Align Studio to do an office evaluation, to determine how your space can be adapted to offer better social distancing, a more hygienic work environment and improved flow of people and information in your workplace. We’ll then do a new layout, highlighting changes using existing furniture as well as offer recommendations of alternative furnishings or accessories to improve the quality of the office to better serve your employees and their needs after lockdown. We can also create printables and signage in your company colours/style to incorporate into space.