Before relocating your new 1.5-meter office, you need a process to return your employees safely to their workplace.
In our blog Back To Office: When And How? we give 8 Tips For Your Approach Towards The New Normal.
But what will their office look like later? Do your employees still recognize the office they left behind in March?
Fewer workplaces, but with the right means you limit the decrease
Keeping more distance means that in an average office, half or more of the workplaces disappear. That is, if you do not take any further measures.
Fortunately, you can do something about it
Working at home remains the standard for the time being
At home it is impossible to imagine our lives without it.
It is therefore primarily important that they have a suitable workspace and facilities, such as a supporting chair, desk, screen at the correct height, secure storage of data and sufficient data speed for working remotely and in the cloud. Your IT department must also be able to support home workers.
Working from home is 'here to stay'. But we also want to go back to the office. That should be a mix of days at the office and working from home. This requires a high degree of flexibility from the office.
Another interpretation of the office garden
The open office, or the office garden, has become popular because it encourages a social and interactive way of working and because it optimizes the use of expensive square meters. It is a must for modern, agile organizations.
However, no one had ever heard of social distancing.
Nobody likes to go back to corridors with closed offices, but what can you do to adapt your open office to The New Normal?
We give you 10 tips for approaching your 1.5 meter office.
- Map the User Journey
- Space planning is the basis of your 1.5 meter office
- Redesign your meeting rooms
- Use markings
- Divide the space
- Limit the movement
- High priority for hygiene and cleaning
- Use free workplaces as permanent workplaces for the time being
- Customize telecom and IT hardware in the workplace
- Choose an isolation room
1. Map the User Journey
What is most important for the people who return to their working environment? What do they think and feel? What do they need?
Explore the entire user journey, from the moment they leave their safe home to the moment they sit at their desks and move through the office.
This is not only about practical instructions for keeping your distance and preventing infections, but also for emotion.
Je kunt denken aan vriendelijke boodschappen zoals ‘Welkom terug’ bij de ingang, ‘Laten we onze handen wassen om elkaar te beschermen’ en gemarkeerde staanplaatsen in de lift. Met gemarkeerde looproutes zorg je ook dat medewerkers niet te dicht langs werkplekken lopen.
2. Space planning is the basis of your 1.5 meter office
Je ruimtebehoefte verandert, dus start met monitoring, analyse en evaluatie van het gebruik van je ruimtes. Waar is ruimte een verspilling, waar biedt ruimte juist waarde en hoe maak je vervolgens optimaal gebruik van die ruimtes?
A space planning is an ideal step to provide insight into the impact of social distancing measures. Don't forget to ask those involved for feedback, including your landlord. This way you know what is and what is not possible in planning and building safe common areas.
We like to work with so-called test fits, with which we make the effect of the adjustments visual and therefore more tangible.
3. Redesign your meeting rooms
Extra meeting space can help you make more efficient use of space in the office and the time employees spend there. An important reason for coming to the office is the social aspect, meeting people, face to face contact and meeting - now again physically together instead of through a screen.
It is therefore important that spaces are available at the times when teams work together in the office. Keep in mind that there are far fewer participants per room and that (semi-open) rooms have very good ventilation.
However, there is another option.
If you keep every other desk free, your capacity will decrease by half or more. Your conference rooms, focus rooms and break-out areas then offer a nice addition to the number of workplaces.
Your space planning and your employee surveys help you prioritize and make the right choices.
4. Use markers
Clarity about the minimum distance, walking routes and is pleasant for everyone who enters the new working environment. It creates clarity and continuously reminds everyone to stay alert.
Markers are available in all types, from floor stickers to posters and signs. Mark the workplaces so that it is clear which are and are not in use. You can mark a 1.5 meter circle on the floor around the office chair, so everyone can see how much distance to keep.
5. Divide the space
With flexible walls and screens in all shapes and sizes, you can divide the working environment into safe and practical spaces.
A screen on the floor and on the desks is often enough to create safe workplaces. With standing floor screens you create barriers where necessary and you help to muffle sound. Whenever possible, choose transparent material such as perspex between the desks to keep light and atmosphere in the office.
Also use your existing furnishings such as cupboards and plants to rearrange spaces and force the desired routing through your work environment.
Keep it as flexible as possible. There is a good chance that the requirements and wishes in The New Normal will still be adjusted regularly.
6. Limit the movement
Adequate exercise is important for everyone. The walkways to the coffee machine or printer help with this. But in the Corona-resistant office, that movement is not always desirable.
Good facilities in the workplace such as telecom, power, USB charging points help limit traffic in the rooms.
7. High priority for hygiene and cleaning
It does not matter whether you opt for flexible working, more space in the workplaces, a new office layout or a combination of everything: hygiene and cleaning are the cornerstones of Het Nieuwe Normaal at the office.
Tidy workspaces make cleaning easier, so make sure everyone has enough storage space and cleaning supplies are readily available. Clean desk is the norm.
This also applies to disinfection points: place and maintain enough so that the threshold for their use is as low as possible.
Plan and communicate the cleaning of your office. The cleaning plan is important for employees' sense of safety. So communicate and maintain this. Inform the cleaning team and also listen to their experiences and advice.
Make clear agreements with your cleaners about the frequency of cleaning, the use and refilling of hygiene products and the cleaning of contact points.
8. Use free workplaces as permanent workplaces for the time being
Free workplaces generally work on a first-come, first-served basis. The main concern is hygiene and the risk of cross-contamination when several employees share a desk.
To reduce that risk, you can make it permanent workplaces for a certain period of time. They may still be shared with other permanent users when you work with varying occupancy.
In that case, provide additional disinfection and communicate this clearly with the employees.
9. Adjust telecom and IT hardware in the workplace
To prevent the spread of the virus as much as possible, it is wise to share as little stuff as possible.
Remove landline phones and have everyone call on the personal mobile device or on the computer.
It is also wise to provide each employee with their own IT facilities such as: a keyboard, mouse, screen and docking station. Provide sufficient items in disposable desk pads that employees can take with them to their workplace upon entry. Make its use mandatory.
10. Choose an insulation space
If an employee shows symptoms, you need a predetermined space for insulation. The space and the entire process surrounding the isolation and follow-up must be known to everyone.
An isolation room can be any type of enclosed space. Consider special cleaning protocols in these areas, ideally with special ventilation or negative air pressure to further reduce exposure to others in the area.
New times, new thinking
Times have changed and - in the short and long term - we need to think further about our way of working.
Our office, including the open office, will continue to be part of this, but with a good layout to protect our colleagues and visitors.
Laat ons weten als je met ons wilt sparren over praktische en creatieve oplossingen voor je 1,5 meter kantoor.
