The pandemic affected so many individuals on a personal level, and it has also affected so many businesses in their economies and in having to make office changes. Many businesses even shut down for months, but they are eager and ready to open their doors again and start again as usual. Some businesses were able to stay open throughout the pandemic by allowing for remote employees, but this simply does not work for all companies. It is possible to stay safe at your office and to adapt to social distancing by following the tips that are found below which other businesses have adapted to.
Floor Plan Rearrangement
If you have multiple employees at your place of business, you may need to rearrange your layout and consider new options for where everyone can work. Try to keep every employee six feet apart from one another if at all possible, and give ample space even for walking around when necessary. Place desks throughout the entire floor plan and even look into large desks where everyone can sit six feet apart from one another if possible. Make sure that you have handwashing stations and stations that have hand sanitizer throughout so that every employee feels as comfortable as possible.
Consider Adaptive Office Furniture
Another way that many businesses have adapted to the laws of social distancing is by considering new types of office furniture. These aid in the layout changes mentioned above to ensure that everyone has their own space and is not having to touch or interact closely with others. There is even hot desking, which allows for workstations that are shared and sanitized between employees. Some of these desks are set up to where there are sneeze guards between employees or to where the desks alternate in a zig-zag type of arrangement in the floorplan.
Create Alternate Schedules
With the alternate layouts and alternate office furniture ideas, there is probably less space for every one of your employees in the office. Consider, if possible, creating alternating schedules in which half of your employees come in on a few days, and the other half come in on another. Let them work remotely on the days on which they do not come in, and if you feel more comfortable, opt for task management software so that you can observe project completion. You can even limit the number of customers that are allowed in your office at one time if you have the space for all of your employees that you need.
Put Down Floor Markers
If your business is an office-like setting, there are probably bathrooms, water fountains, and even copy machines that everyone has to use at some point in the day. So that you do not have a line of people too close together, place floor markers on the ground near these stations. This will allow your employees and even your customers to know where to stand while waiting so that they can remain socially distant and stand six feet apart.
Disinfect Regularly
The final adaptation that many businesses have done in response to social distancing and the pandemic is to disinfect on a much more regular basis. Make sure that you hire a team or that your employees take the time to clean every surface in your office, whether those be the doorknobs or the desk surfaces. Make sure to clean any area where your employees or your customers go. This can help to eliminate any bacteria build-up that there may be in your office so that the disease has less of a chance of traveling.
Many businesses have had to make significant adaptations in response to the pandemic in order to stay open and to allow their employees to work there. Some businesses took the route to close down, but are now starting to re-open and have to implement these adaptations that other businesses already have done.
Start with the five tips above to ensure that your employees remain apart from one another so that everyone feels safe. This will make your employees all feel safer about coming back in, and they will probably be more than willing to practice these protocols so your business can stay open.
