While adapting to remote work may be essential for every business, it is vital to make sure that physical space is fully compliant with government guidance to protect your staff. This can help you support your teams, optimise your work, and make a return to office painless and risk free.
So, what should you bear in mind when it comes to organising your space and layout and how exactly can you provide safety without compromising on your brand and look?
What do you need to consider?
When it comes to making changes because of Covid, it goes functionality first and aesthetics second.
Any office or professional space is designed to make the most of available space, especially in high-value urban locations. Repurposing those spaces to be Covid compliant takes not only oversight but considerable skill. This includes thinking about-
Spacing: Covid’s high degree of virality makes it essential to ensure that any workspace is properly divided, ventilated, and operates in a way to allow for spacing. However, this can be a challenge for smaller companies or businesses that have high staff yield.
Signage: While physical items like sanitisers and Health & Safety training can help, providing reminders and physical guides is essential. Signage should include information posters, warning reminders, detail changes to throughflow, your business policy, social distancing signs, and more.
Functionality: Making your staff safe is one thing, having them adapt to new changes and practice is another. When you are implementing changes, it is vital to consider all elements of your daily practice. While this can be daunting, following government guidance and support can help confirm the changes you need to follow and expert guidance from service providers can help you take care of your teams.
What can you potentially add?
While there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution for all businesses, there are a number of elements that can be considered that include-
Dividers: Adding dividers and other protective elements helps keep your employees safely spaced out and safe. These can help support additional actions, protect visiting clients, and make a difference if vigilance temporarily slips.
PPE and Sanitiser Stations: Setting up dedicated sanitiser stations can help make hand sanitising a part of your team’s daily routine. Marking out a space and providing clear instructions through signage can help employees adapt to new procedures with ease and refresh their memory with minimal effort.
Goods Handling: Whether it’s picking up mail or dealing with parcel delivery, it’s essential that your teams take a look at your goods handling protocol. This can involve adding instructions to handover points, making safe distance notices on floors and walls, and more.
Managing Bookings and Appointments: If your business is public facing, involves client management, or handling visitors; it is essential that you embed best practice with every interaction. As with goods management, it is vital to provide clear, legible instructions to every visitor that marks out what they have to do, where they are going to go, and what best-practice is expected of them.
Why is design so important?
Though it may be tempting to add as many items as possible, it is essential that you take a measured approach to implementing your changes. Adding elements carefully can help ensure that workflows are not disrupted, your space is a great place to work in, and that future changes can be made, refined, or reversed with ease.
If you are struggling with making the right changes, finding a professional provider can help you secure the right results for your sector. A creative professional team can help you remain fully compliant and reactive to legislative changes, help optimise your space, and ensure that your employees and clients are kept as safe as possible.
What next?
If you want to learn more about safely preparing your office space for returning employees, our team at The Binary Box is here to help. With many years’ experience, we work with you to find a solution that works for your unique professional needs.
You can view our full list of services from here or take a look at our regularly updated case studies.
If you have any other questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact us directly and let a member of our team know exactly what you need.