Preparing Your Office For Return To Work After Covid-19

Posted on 10:40am Tuesday 14th Apr 2020

The recent Covid-19 outbreak has undeniably shaken the world. Businesses have had to close their doors, people can’t leave their homes, and the grief being caused by this virus is unprecedented in modern times.

Of course, though, the global lockdown won’t last forever, and now is as good a time as any to start thinking about how you’re going to open the doors to your business once the dust has settled.

To help you out with this, this post will explore some of the changes which offices and other business premises should be making in the wake of Covid-19.

Preparing your office for return to work after Covid-19

Cleanliness & hygiene

Shared workplaces like offices are one of the key vectors for a virus. People share tools in environments like this, and will often have to work close to one another, making it crucial that people keep themselves clean.

Branded hand sanitiser can be an excellent option when you’re looking for a professional way to make your employees hygienic. It’s also an easier way for employees to clean their hands rather than having to go to the bathroom to wash and dry them regularly.

It's worth keeping other cleanliness factors in mind, with regular office cleaning being a good way to limit the risk of viral outbreaks. Make it easy for staff to clean their own workspaces more often by providing cleaning wipes and sprays at quick grab places throughout the office space. Alternatively, ensure your office cleaners are more present throughout each day.

Of course, people understand how to act in the workplace during a pandemic, but it would be better to remind them of this at every opportunity. To create a safe environment, it is necessary to take some social distancing measures. Use some posters and floor stickers to arrange social distancing and keep people mindful of their safety.

As of Friday 24th July 2020, in the UK, masks are now compulsory in shops and supermarkets. Following government guidelines, they may also be required in your type of work premises. The guidelines are regularly changing, so make sure you find out what is necessary in your sector. If your customers or employees need to wear masks then make this clear by displaying a highly visible poster.

Cleaning the kitchen areas

Does your office have a communal or commercial kitchen? Here are some tips for cleaning the kitchen areas:

- Thoroughly clean and sanitise the surfaces in your commercial kitchen.

- Remove all food and beverages from the premises for a deep clean.

- Disinfect all food contact surfaces, including refrigerators and freezers.

The use of commercial kitchen extraction cleaning service is a proven and effective way to remove airborne particles and bacteria from a commercial kitchen. This will remove any potential contaminants that may have made their way into your office during the time when Covid-19 was present.

Remote working

Many businesses have had to change the way that they operate to keep their doors open, and remote working has proven to be one of the most successful options for this. Even once the threat of Covid-19 has lifted it will be well worth having many of your team members working from home if possible.

This will make it much harder for sickness to spread through your company, while also limiting the amount of money you have to spend on your office to keep it open. Of course, though, this won’t work for all businesses, and it will be worth spending some time to figure out how this will work before you dive into it.

Remote working, where possible, is a great way to improve employee satisfaction, reduce office costs and reduce pollution caused by commuting.

Getting back into it

After working from home or being out of work for several weeks, it makes sense that your team might be a little rusty and out of shape for work. It’s worth taking this into account, and it could be bad to throw everyone back into the old routine straight away.

Taking it easy for a few days might cost some money, but it could have a very positive impact on your productivity going forwards. Not only will this give people the chance to get their head back into the game, but it will also enable your team members to catch up after a long time without seeing one another. This will make your office morale go up by a huge margin.

Perhaps consider a shorter working week for the first two weeks to ease your team back into office life. Maybe start the first week on a Wednesday or Thursday so they don’t have to face a full working week and can get back into the swing of things knowing there’s a weekend in a couple of days.

Final word

With all of this in mind, you should be feeling ready to brave the office after Covid-19. While it might be some time until the trouble has lifted, it’s worth thinking about how you’re going to get back onto your feet once all is said and done. Not only will this make your life easier, but it will also make for a more productive start to get your business up and running again.

Cleanliness & hygiene

Cleaning the kitchen areas

Remote working

Getting back into it

Final word

Before you go...

Recent coronavirus lockdown blog posts

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Work from home blog posts