Many people remain working from home in 2021, but it is likely that people will start to head back into the office in the coming months as the vaccine rollout continues, the numbers continue to fall and hopefully, the restrictions ease as outlined in the roadmap to recovery.
While some businesses may offer some remote work opportunities, it is likely that others will want staff to come in at least a few days a week but the office might look different to how it was before.
Socially Distanced Workspaces
Probably the major difference will be socially distanced workspaces. It is said that social distancing may need to remain in place for a while, plus you must also consider that socially distanced workspaces is smart and could help to prevent other illnesses. Those that work in open-plan offices know how once one person has a cold it will quickly spread through the office, so socially distanced workspaces could help to prevent this from happening (it is also likely that the attitude on coming into work when even mildly ill will change).
Health & Safety
Health and safety is always important, but coming out of a health crisis there must be a new emphasis on this and business owners need to take their responsibility of creating a safe workspace for staff seriously. This should include regular cleaning of the office, having hand sanitiser available, ventilation and other measures specifically to curb the spread of the virus (and any others).
New Equipment
If your business needs to invest in new office equipment to get up and running to a safe standard then this can be at a major cost. You might need to buy new desks, office chairs and other office furniture so that you can socially distance and a secured business loan can be a smart way to raise the funds for this. Many businesses have obviously been struggling financially over the last year, but it is important that you have the right equipment to open safely and a loan could be the best solution for this.
New Technologies
Following this, there may also be new technologies that are worth investing in to ensure that the business can run both smoothly and safely.
Contactless technologies, such as doors opening from motion sensors, along with technology such as augmented reality could allow staff to collaborate while still socially distancing.
These are just two types of technology that could be worth looking into but there are many others too.
It will not be a case of business as usual when people start to head back to the office in the coming months. The above are a few changes that a business could implement that would allow them to protect staff while still operating smoothly and efficiently.
