Reopening workplaces post-lockdown: adapting to workspace changes
29 Apr 2020
Middle East Insights
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Starting this summer, companies around the world are poised to resume regular operations after months of mandatory lockdown. However, it will hardly be ‘business as usual’.
Given the continued importance of physical distancing, companies are recalculating their office capacities, that is, how much of their workforce they can accommodate on-site at a time, in order to allow staff to maintain a safe two-metre distance from each other. Many firms are also revisiting their workplace design and implementing major changes in the layout and use of specific office spaces.
These updates will significantly impact both the physical environment of the office as well as its culture. Let’s take a look at what may become the new normal around the office.
Given the continued importance of physical distancing, companies are recalculating their office capacities, that is, how much of their workforce they can accommodate on-site at a time, in order to allow staff to maintain a safe two-metre distance from each other. Many firms are also revisiting their workplace design and implementing major changes in the layout and use of specific office spaces.
These updates will significantly impact both the physical environment of the office as well as its culture. Let’s take a look at what may become the new normal around the office.
More controlled access to the premises
A different kind of security check is likely to be put in place at the entry points of office premises. Until the development of a vaccine, movement of visitors, new or familiar, will be restricted and subject to a series of precautionary measures, including performing temperature checks, as well as enforcing compulsory hand sanitisation and disinfection of any accompanying baggage and/or devices such as laptops and phones.
Visitors may be asked to wear fresh personal protective equipment (PPE) upon arrival. The appearance of reception areas will also evolve to incorporate Plexiglas shields at the desk and more distantly placed seating areas. Wait times at elevators are likely to increase with the introduction of a turn-based system to reduce crowding.
These necessary steps will impart a more clinical feel to the office environment, and company leadership will have to work to compensate for the lack of warmth and connection that clients and other visitors will experience.
Physically distanced workspaces
Managers and their staff will have to grow accustomed to communicating and collaborating from a distance, even after some may return to the office. Interior design experts believe that offices may revert back to closed-plan layouts. If not, desks will be placed six feet apart to facilitate physical distancing. As a result, office real estate will feel more constricted than before, and remote working will be encouraged to save space.
This means that the current reliance on virtual communication will continue and managers will have to adapt their existing workflows and accountability systems to this new normal.
Managing on-site traffic
Free-flowing movement throughout the office may become a thing of the past, as one-way hallways are being discussed as an increasingly viable option for enforcing physical distancing. With appropriate signage, offices can mitigate the early confusion as these movement routes are put in place.
Moreover, common areas like cafeterias may be decommissioned, and people may prefer not to use public restrooms at work. This may result in a shortening of the workday, with people leaving workplaces for lunch and finishing their shifts at home.
Is your company seeking professional guidance for managing your employees’ post-COVID return? At CBRE, we have developed a Workplace RESET process to help organisations reopen their offices.
A different kind of security check is likely to be put in place at the entry points of office premises. Until the development of a vaccine, movement of visitors, new or familiar, will be restricted and subject to a series of precautionary measures, including performing temperature checks, as well as enforcing compulsory hand sanitisation and disinfection of any accompanying baggage and/or devices such as laptops and phones.
Visitors may be asked to wear fresh personal protective equipment (PPE) upon arrival. The appearance of reception areas will also evolve to incorporate Plexiglas shields at the desk and more distantly placed seating areas. Wait times at elevators are likely to increase with the introduction of a turn-based system to reduce crowding.
These necessary steps will impart a more clinical feel to the office environment, and company leadership will have to work to compensate for the lack of warmth and connection that clients and other visitors will experience.
Physically distanced workspaces
Managers and their staff will have to grow accustomed to communicating and collaborating from a distance, even after some may return to the office. Interior design experts believe that offices may revert back to closed-plan layouts. If not, desks will be placed six feet apart to facilitate physical distancing. As a result, office real estate will feel more constricted than before, and remote working will be encouraged to save space.
This means that the current reliance on virtual communication will continue and managers will have to adapt their existing workflows and accountability systems to this new normal.
Managing on-site traffic
Free-flowing movement throughout the office may become a thing of the past, as one-way hallways are being discussed as an increasingly viable option for enforcing physical distancing. With appropriate signage, offices can mitigate the early confusion as these movement routes are put in place.
Moreover, common areas like cafeterias may be decommissioned, and people may prefer not to use public restrooms at work. This may result in a shortening of the workday, with people leaving workplaces for lunch and finishing their shifts at home.
Is your company seeking professional guidance for managing your employees’ post-COVID return? At CBRE, we have developed a Workplace RESET process to help organisations reopen their offices.