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Rebooting the Workplace

For months, working remotely due to COVID-19 has been the safest option for office workers as guided by the government. Now, as many businesses are slowly getting ready for the ‘new normal’ of workplace distancing, to ensure the safety of all workers, safety measures must be in place. This ‘new normal’ requires us to change how we interact with colleagues in the workspace. For those who will need to be physically present, we at The Office Shop have functional solutions for your offices and ways to support the safety of each worker.

Post-pandemic, we will be entering a new era of life where the workplace must priorities the importance of health and safety more than ever. We have solutions available that will allow companies to rethink the workplace to make it safe inhabiting the distancing protocol. Workplace distancing requires maintaining 6ft between yourself and another person, this will be one of the greatest challenges in bringing people back into the workplace safely. The protocol is changing the appearance to priorities the safety of all. These adjustments include new desk layouts in the office and safety panels. Our suppliers have created well-made, well-designed, performance-driven furniture that will support the new normal environment.

Each workplace will implement different strategies when planning to reboot and to adapt your existing workplace planning to support social distancing guidelines. We have the essential items that will help you safely reboot your office to get all workers back into work. A few of these plans include shift scheduling the workforce, reconfiguring the workplace, and redefining shared spaces. Additionally, the workplace has a mix of people standing and sitting, stationery at times, and in motion at other times. Therefore there must be plans in place for both lateral and vertical distancing.

These changes are a lot to consider and you need to decide which is best for your workers. So let’s look more in-depth at each to find the safest best-fitting option for your space. Some workplaces may choose to stagger the workforce schedule allowing smaller groups to come in on alternate days or in rotating shifts (for example, morning vs. afternoon). Altering employee work schedules maintains seating assignments while ensuring employees retain their own space without the need to change the furniture layout, add or reassign each person’s workspace.

There is also the option of reconfiguring the furniture as many companies will need most, if not all employees in the office together. To achieve proper distancing protocols, their existing furniture will require new layouts in the office. Examine your existing office space to decide which furniture layout will keep your employees’ protected. Luckily, our wonderful suppliers have many layouts that can be used to accommodate your office. This includes panels that can be placed above each person’s workstation, center mounts that provide additional storage, and protection. Additionally, there are glass table dividers, and table ends to protect from those walking by workspaces.

Meetings for teamwork, lounge, and kitchen areas are essential to all offices, these collaborative spaces will require additional effort in the office to be safe. The capacity of communal and shared spaces will need to be reduced significantly. The size of your office’s meeting rooms and kitchen spaces will identify how many people can be present. To minimize and ensure that there are only a safe number of people in each space, you can eliminate lounge seating which will safeguard physical distancing while still providing rooms to collaborate again. With an increase in the use of video conferencing, adding technology allows you to optimize space while allowing large collaborations in communal spaces. Smaller shared spaces can be reassigned as private offices during this time.

As you prepare to return to your workplace, we want to give you every strategy and solution that we can offer to ensure office safety. Everyone has the same goal; create a safe environment for all employees. We have all the tools you need to safely work together again.