Returning To The Office With Care, Diligence & Preparedness

We need not wax lyrical about why you may have vacated the office for the past year and why now you might see it relevant to bring your staff back. You know why that’s a consideration you may be thinking about, and as it’s influenced most of your decisions for the last ten months, you don’t need to be bored with another explanation.

However, it is important to consider just how structuring a return to your office should take place, without tiring out your staff, or making the new normal seem like a shock, or without considering how to best prepare and prosper in this new space. It might even be that in the last year you decided to downsize your premises to cut costs and embrace the potential of more standard remote work responsibilities.

So, returning to the office with care, diligence and preparedness may take some proper planning and even healthy discussions with your staff before it takes place. In this post, even if you don’t use our advice directly, we hope you can more easily consider all the variables:

Curating The Space

Curating the space is very important to consider. It might be that you need to have the exterior of your business premises powerwashed so that the accumulated dirt of the last year can be washed off, and your business and associated external signs look proud and confident. You might replace dead light fixtures, and make sure that Covid-19 protections are still in place, as we’re not out of the woods yet. Implements that add to the space can be nice too, such as a renewed wall mural at the side of the office celebrating your team and the challenges you’ve overcome.

Pexels – CC0 License

Implementing The Furniture

It’s a good idea to make sure your staff are comfortable at work, but it’s quite hard to achieve that when they’re given unhelpful furniture. This is why investing in ergonomic furniture such as chairs with great lumbar support and adjustable arms can make such a difference in how active, proactive, and healthy your staff are. Investments like this can keep them alert at their desk, less liable to encounter health issues from sitting all day, and in general, it will give them room to apply themselves as much as they can.

A Deep, Thorough Clean

It’s important to make sure your office is thoroughly cleaned, from top to bottom. This should include storerooms, desks, toiler areas, foyers, entrances, and loading bays to the extent this can be done. We need not describe why that’s important at this time. However, extensive considerations such as pest control can help you humanely deal with infestations that might have taken place in your absence, so that everyone can come back to the office in the healthiest and most comfortable light possible.

With this advice, you’re sure to return to the office with care, diligence and preparedness.