How to Maximize Office Space and Ensure a Safe Return to the Office During the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 has presented businesses with unforeseen challenges, including managing a safe return to the office in the age of social distancing. Whether you’re looking to bring some or all of your workers back to the office, changes will need to be made in order to accommodate a new way of working.

From staggered shifts to hybrid work schedules that include both working in the office and at home, there are many ways that businesses can tackle the challenge of safely transitioning to life back at the office. Regardless of the chosen strategy, having the ability to implement, communicate, and monitor new safety procedures is crucial to their success. That’s why having the right tools can make all the difference.

Address Space and Seating Issues 

Look for ways to create more social distancing in your office. The Workspace App allows you to space out workstations without requiring you to redesign your office. You can simply block off every other workspace to prevent them from being booked and ensure that all of the bookable workspaces are distanced from each other.

You may find that underutilized conference rooms can be used in different ways to maximize space. “Dead spaces,” such as common areas, can also be repurposed as workspaces so that desks can be further spaced apart.

With the Workspace Booking App at their fingertips, workers will never have to worry about finding a place to work. The interactive, color-coded floor plans guide them to their desired desk or conference room. What’s more, they can book a workspace directly from the floor plan by tapping it on their mobile device.

Ensure the Cleanliness of Shared Workspaces

Keeping workspaces clean is of utmost importance during a pandemic. Resource Central meeting room manager enables companies to add a buffer to bookings so that there is time to clean the space before the next person or group arrives. Resource Central automatically notifies cleaning staff when they need to sanitize a meeting room or desk.

Extract Invaluable Insights to Inform Workspace Management Decisions 

Collect powerful data on how your staff use meeting rooms and workspaces. Leverage those insights to maximize real estate usage and prevent the problem of over- or under-booked meeting rooms. Data you can evaluate include peak meeting hours, reservations per user, room usage, meeting duration, and more. These analytics can inform decisions about office design and workspace management to ensure that existing space is used to its maximum capacity.

When designing a return to office plan, it’s best to take a phased, gradual approach and ensure that you communicate with employees at every step of the way. Make it clear to employees exactly how they can expect to interact with the workplace during each phase.

Adopt policies that will help to ease the transition back to the office, and implement tools, such as Resource Central and the Workspace App, to make it easier for employees to adapt to the new normal.

To learn more about how Add-On Products can help you with your return-to-office strategy, contact us today to schedule a free trial or free online demo.