Redesigning Your Office Layout in an Era of Social Distancing

For the post quarantine workplace, coworkers may no longer be able to share desks, if you want to minimize the risk of infection. To maintain employee productivity, you may have to rethink your office layout. In this article, we are going to explore the changes you can make your current office layout in an age of social distancing.

1. Use Furniture That Can Be Easily Sanitized

You may have to move certain furniture away from the office, especially if they cannot be easily sanitized. In addition, you want to ensure that you keep hand soap, sanitizer, towel at strategic places. To allow six feet of social distancing, you may want to decide which workstations to be occupied and determine your maximum capacity per floor or wing.

2. Consider Activity-Based Working

Your employees have spent a considerable amount of time at home, so this means that they must have grown accustomed to the freedom that a home office affords. Getting back to 8 hours behind the office desks may be a bit difficult.

Instead, you can consider implementing an agile work environment like activity-based working (ABW). With ABW, your employees will be able to choose from a variety of different workspaces designed for specific activities—for example, one-on-one conversations, collaboration, socializing or solo work. Not only does ABW enhance employee productivity and engagement, but it has also been proven to help in utilizing space and reducing operational costs.

To fully implement the activity-based-working, you may need to get these items: comfortable outdoor furniture, canopies, fans, and heat lamps. You also need to check the strength of your WiFi signal.

3. Natural Light

Working from home meant that your employees are already used to having access to natural light. While it is hard to provide sunlight to everyone in the workspace, you may consider maximizing it as much as possible. For instance, you may want to adopt flexible seating which allows the use of partitions made of translucent material to differentiate between two workspaces. The panels should be short to maintain privacy.

You may also want to install smart technologies that allow the optimization of the lighting in your office. Some smart blinds automatically adjust based on the time of day, and others mimic natural changes in daylight.

4. Protocols

On-the-job screening procedures for employees, visitors, and contractors may be introduced. You can use the Infrared Fever Scan Systems (IFss) or other health assessment measures.

In addition, you may want to have staggered work times/days. The goal is to reduce the number of employees in the office at the same time. Also, you may want to introduce no-touch options for doors, badge readers, and garbage/recycling bins. You may also want to consider a phased return to the office.

Preparing for the post quarantine work life is an activity that corporate tenants have to prioritize if they want to maximize employee engagement and productivity in the post-pandemic world. The tips highlighted above are sufficient to get you started.