5 Top Tips for Preparing Your Office Space for Post-Lockdown

Although plenty of businesses have thrived whilst working from home, it’s thought that many will be back in the office soon with the emergence of vaccines. Lockdown has certainly taught us a lot about our priorities in the working world. With this in mind, and with a new wave of hygiene guidance doubtless to follow the pandemic, what will office spaces look like in the near future, and how can employers prepare their office space for these inevitable changes?

Do you need an office space post-lockdown?

Before diving into the ways in which employers can prepare their commercial properties for post-lockdown employee returns it’s worth considering whether keeping hold of a commercial office space is necessary for your business.

The pandemic has demonstrated to many that working from home is entirely possible. For some, it’s created a more productive workforce with a greater work/life balance. With commercial property disputes and huge property prices, employers must seriously consider the following before committing to their commercial space:

• Are office prices worth it: knowing what you now know is possible with working from home, are office prices worth it?
• Is an office necessary for your company culture: for companies built around their culture, having an office space for communal work is essential, so this must be considered.
• Is an office needed for teamwork: virtual teamwork is, as we’ve seen, completely possible, but do you think working together in-house would benefit your productivity?
• Is your company client-facing: you also need to consider if your office is required for client communications.
• Was it too much trouble keeping an office space: for some unlucky people, an office space may have been more trouble than it was worth, due to disputes with the leaseholder and costs. Maybe now’s the time to reassess things.
• Can you afford it: considering the economic struggles of the past year, the companies that have managed to stay afloat may be looking to cut costs. Could your commercial property be the place to start?

What should you consider before welcoming employees back to your office space post-lockdown?

If you’ve decided you need to keep your office space, you next have to consider how things need to change to fit the times. After all, priorities have changed, hygiene practices have increased and economics must be considered.

Although we’d hope to be able to get back to a world where we can gather together without a care, it may not end up this way. In fact, some researchers believe that cases of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder will rise even after the vaccine.

This comes as no surprise considering how it’s become commonplace to wash your hands thoroughly after every outing. As an employer, you have to consider this may be a genuine fear of many employees now. Here are some ways you can cater for these concerns:

1.    Invest in your meeting rooms

Perhaps you should consider investing in larger meeting rooms designated for smaller meetings. For example, have large meeting tables with a smaller number of chairs to encourage smaller gatherings.

There’s no doubt that you may have to hold whole-company meetings now and again. For these, you may need to consider holding these in the main office floor. Alternatively, these could be kept virtual until everything is more settled.

2.     Restructure and rethink kitchen spaces

People may be less inclined to share food, crockery and cutlery or sit shoulder to shoulder. This means you may need to rethink the layout of your kitchen space, as well as the utensils available.

For example, having set and labelled cutlery and crockery for everyone might work. Having smaller tables rather than one large communal table to eat from may be effective. Alternatively, encouraging staff to eat at their desk might work in the meantime, whilst the creases are ironed out.

3.    Main office layout

With our current emphasis on hygiene and social distancing, it’s highly likely that many people will wish to continue these practices even after the vaccine is delivered. With this in mind, employers should consider how their employees may wish to work after all this. Some potential layout options to consider might include:

• One-way systems
• Greater spacing between desks
• Glass panels between desks

4.    Down-size

Even if we don’t all head into the office every day, like before, we’ll no doubt see employees coming and going as they please more regularly. We might also see flexible working becoming the norm. So, you may not need an office space that caters for as many people.

With this in mind, smaller office spaces may be more sensible. After all, if employees aren’t working there, it’s a waste of money. It’s definitely a conversation you need to have with your staff to see what their thoughts are for the long-term future.

5.    Implement regular deep cleaning practices

Prior to the pandemic, cleaners were expected to do their weekly or even daily run around the office to ensure floors and surfaces were tidy. That said, maybe monthly deep cleaning could become the norm to keep employees feeling safe.

What’s the future of commercial property?

Although none of us want to go back into the working world with fear in our hearts, there’s no doubt that anxieties will be high. Be it worries over hygiene or sharing space, the vaccine will only do half the job. We can’t assume that everyone will want to go back to our old ways as soon as we can.

Making sure your employees are completely comfortable when they work should be one of your number one concerns. Be sure you take their feelings into consideration before opening your office space up for business as usual.