Office Life After Covid

It shouldn't come as a surprise that everyone is wondering what returning to the office will look like after the COVID curve has been flattened. With a focus on healthy social distancing standards, the traditional office will certainly be different. Here are our recommendations on how to set up your office to ensure a healthy and safe environment for employees:

• Space: Maintain recommended social distancing standards between desks by installing temporary dividers to provide privacy and a barrier against germs when needed. Dividers are a smart choice because they can easily be taken down when things return to normal. At a minimum, workstations should be placed 6 feet from one another.
• Office supplies: Your list of office supplies will inevitably look different in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Make sure you've got ample latex gloves, masks (which should be made mandatory), face shields, cleaning products (both sprays and wipes), and sanitizer on desks and in common areas. Stock up on regular hand soap too. Invest in a good label maker so everyone has their own set of supplies marked with their name – this is not the time to be sharing pens!
• Snacks: Keep all food sterile by including a variety of individually wrapped snacks. Discontinue the use of water fountains and trade in your communal coffee pot for coffee pods. Stock the fridge with small bottles of water – you don't want to risk the buildup of germs that are inevitable with water filling stations. Consider disposable cups, plates, and silverware to stop the spread of germs. Encourage your staff to bring lunch from home in a cooler with an ice pack and limit what gets placed in the refrigerator.
• Meetings: Cap the number of meeting attendees so a healthy distance can be maintained between each employee, and question whether an in-person meeting is even necessary. Relying upon video conferencing a great way to maintain a connection with your workforce while ensuring everyone stays safe. Make it a policy that everyone uses the camera functionality - being able to see one another via video will make sure people still feel connected. Limiting client meetings “by appointment only” will ensure you remain in control of how many visitors you allow into the building at a time.
• Cleaning Standards: At a minimum of four times daily, encourage everyone to stop working, wash their hands, and sanitize workstations. Implementing volunteer teams to clean at organized times throughout the day will help keep your space germ-free. This might sound like overkill, but employees will thank you for it in the future!
• Isolation Rooms & On-Site Health Screening: If employees become ill at work, make sure you have an isolation room available to immediately stop the spread of germs. On-site health screening with infrared thermometers should be made mandatory when employees enter the building to ensure the safety of the entire workforce. At Rework, we are also taking our employees' physical and mental health seriously by offering complimentary, confidential access to ComPysch Guidance Resources.

We are continuing to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic and we want to assure you that we are taking every necessary precaution to keep our employees, customers, and partners safe during this time. As always, Rework is here to provide you with top-quality customer care.  Read more to learn the steps we have taken to maintain the health and care of everyone. Our team of experts are eager to help with a variety of office related disciplines such as:

Rework is uniquely positioned to serve Chicago-based customers as we are experienced with the intricacies of urban office moves and deliveries. Offering a huge selection of in-stock  furniture available for quick ship, we are the perfect option if you find yourself needing furniture in a jiffy as our lead times are often times much faster than the industry standard. And because we are experts in refurbishing and pre-owned furniture, you can rest assured you are choosing an economically and environmentally sound solution for your office furniture needs.

We are all in this together - if you have any questions or if you need help with configuring a COVID-friendly office setup, please don't hesitate to  reach out to us today. We look forward to serving you in the future.