How Offices Will Change Due to Covid-19

The pandemic has seen many of our daily activities changed. A main change that many have experienced is differences in the way we work.

A large number of employees were forced to leave the office and work exclusively from home. However, companies are now beginning to return to the office but this experience won’t be the same as it was pre-Covid.

Office spaces will need to be redesigned to allow for distancing and more sanitization measures will need to be implemented. Employees may also be working different schedules to before and in different types of office buildings, among other things.

Ultimately people’s mindset has changed, and employers need to create an office space and overall work environment that matches this new mindset. Work life also needs to be set-up in case of a new surge of Covid-19 cases or even of another pandemic occurring at some point.

To understand how exactly office life may be changed due to the pandemic, keep reading.

Ways in Which Offices Will Change Due to Covid-19

From office design to changes to where and when employees work, the pandemic has affected work life drastically and will continue to do so. The following are some ways in which office life will be changed due to Covid-19.

Offices will likely move away from the open plan layouts that were so popular in past years.

Office Design

The layout of offices will need to be changed in most cases while the pandemic is ongoing and may stay that way once it ends. Offices will need to be updated to comply with physical distancing measures and reduce the chance of spreading the virus between employees.

On return to the office, employees will likely see a more spaced out layout with desks further apart. There may even be fewer desks with a move toward having multiple smaller office locations as opposed to one large office with as many desks as possible.

In the longer term, more private offices will likely be demanded as opposed to the trend towards open plan layouts that was occurring pre-pandemic.

Along with more individual offices, employees can expect somewhat of a return to cubicles in the office. However, these are more likely to have clear, plexiglass barriers to keep a sense of openness allowing for easy communication and collaboration.

Different materials will begin to be used as well. These will be resistant to the harsh chemicals that will need to be used frequently to sanitize surfaces.

Within office buildings themselves, there will be restrictions on elevator use and tracking of those moving in and out of the office block. You’re likely to also see wider corridors and larger shared spaces in newly built or renovated office buildings.

For internal meetings, you may also see more use of video calls. This could be for meetings between those working in the office and those working remotely.

Meetings

The way meetings are held and where will be changed as well. There will be many more video meetings than previously. This is especially true for meetings with those outside of your company such as with clients or suppliers.

While previously these meetings would have been face-to-face, people have realized that video meetings are just as efficient and save time as well as protecting from transmission. Favoring video calls is definitely something that will continue post-pandemic with business travel reducing too in favor of digital alternatives.

For internal meetings, you may also see more use of video calls. This could be for meetings between those working in the office and those working remotely. It may even be used between departments to help keep departmental bubbles.

If in-person meetings are held, those involved will be spaced out and may be required to wear a mask.

Office Safety Protocols

Sanitization
Like in the rest of society, you’ll see increased sanitization in offices. This will include more frequent cleaning of surfaces and of the office as a whole. Cleaning staff will come to clean more frequently and staff are likely to be required to sanitize all shared surfaces and common touchpoints after use.

Employees will also be asked to wash their hands or use hand sanitizer frequently, such as when entering the office, and to clean down their desk and computer at the end of the day.

Employers should provide alcohol-based hand sanitizers in shared spaces and to each employee.

Increased Tracking of Employees
If a vaccine is not found soon or fears of another pandemic continue, you may see offices investing in more technology solutions. These include face scanning to keep track of employees coming and going and thermal sensors to check temperature as employees enter.

Even now, more buildings are implementing ID access to track who is in the building. Employees may also have their temperature taken to enter both individual company offices and the office building as a whole.

Voice Activation
Another possible addition of technology to the workplace is more voice activation being installed or more use of apps. These can be used to activate shared touchpoints without employees having to physically touch them.

It could include using voice activation or smartphone apps to control lights, open doors, or disarm security systems. Even activating the coffee machine or water fountain could be done by app or voice activation.

Office Location

Where employees work is something else that is changing in the pandemic and will continue to change. Previously, companies were very office focused, although there was some shift to more remote options.

Companies focused on finding prime office space, often in urban city centers, and looked for open plan layouts that allowed for easy collaboration.

The pandemic changed this and drastically accelerated the move to remote working. As we move through the pandemic and beyond, we will see the continuation of remote working along with a move from city centers and high rise office blocks to office parks and regional hubs.

Regional Hubs
A trend that may begin to occur is that larger companies with many employees decide to open fewer but smaller offices. These could be offices for certain departments or based on geographical locations of employees or clients.

This means that employees get the benefit of being in office, working collaboratively, and gaining the mental health benefits of socialization. But exposure to a large group of people is limited.

Office Parks
Another trend that may be seen is more demand for business park offices. Benefits of these locations include onsite parking which helps avoid the need to use public transport and the buildings are smaller than the multi-story office buildings found in the downtown core.

There are often just a few companies or just one company in each building. Many business parks also have a few shops such as coffee shops and cafes. This is appealing as they will be serving just a few offices as opposed to food and drink outlets found in downtown business districts that cater to hundreds of employees.

Remote Working
Many companies and their employees experienced good results and lots of benefits from working remotely.

In addition, the pandemic led to a much more global use of video platforms for meetings. This makes it easier to connect with clients, co-workers, and other business contacts while working out of the office.

Companies may also start using budget saved from not having to rent an office space to improve the working at home experience (and employee productivity.) This includes providing office furniture and items such as computers.

They may even offer to pay for amenities such as snacks and beverages or pay for employee meet-ups to help with team bonding lost due to not being in office.

With remote work becoming an option for at least part-time, management will be more focused on what tasks each employee has to complete.

Work Schedule

Another change for many will be their work schedule. Employees will see changes to when they will be working as well as where.

Instead of asking every employee to return to the office on their old schedule (for example, 9 to 5, Monday to Friday), management will look at who needs to be in the office the most.

You may get different groups of people coming in on different days or employees only coming in when they need to collaborate or access resources.

With remote work becoming an option for at least part-time, management will be more focused on what tasks each employee has to complete. They can then consider which tasks can be done most easily at home and which need the employee to be in the office for collaboration or access to resources.

Staggered Work Days or Weeks
Another trend that’s occurring is staggered workdays and weeks. This is intended to limit the number of employees in the office, entering the office, and on public transport and in the surrounding area at one time.

You will need to discuss these schedules with employees first but it can be a great way to keep everyone safe and offer work times that are optimal for each employee.