Covid-19: preparing for a return to the workplace
Written by Donald Bentley and Antonia Cairns
(updated 03 July 2020)
On 28th May 2020, the First Minister of Scotland advised that Scotland is moving into Phase 1 of the country’s Routemap out of Coronavirus. For many of us Lockdown has radically changed our relationship with our normal place of work. In many cases that workplace will have been closed and people will have been working from home or furloughed. Our homes have become a safe place and, whilst businesses are eager to open up, the ‘return to work’ may be eagerly awaited by some but a daunting and worrying step for others.
During Lockdown we have been reviewing the most recent guidance from government and the thoughts of some of the leading workplace consultants and property advisers from around the world. This is in addition to many years experience designing the workplace of business large and small, the public sector and universities. We have also drawn on our own experience as business owners, employers and team managers, and the experiences of our friends and colleagues during Lockdown.
Introduction
Multinational companies and large corporations started preparations early, IBM started working on their global Covid-19 Task Force in late February - before many governments had woken up to the challenge. IBM initially focussed on how to move 95% of its 350,000 strong global team into a work-from-home model (WFH). Now IBM’s Task Force is working through the detail of how to bring people back. Other large corporates seem to have accepted a permanent shift to WFH being the new normal. A national retailer based in Scotland is reported to be looking at WFH becoming the norm for its office based staff. Global Salesforce.com has published a downloadable ‘Covid-19 Response Playbook’ to help business leaders “map your response journey and support day-to-day decisions at the speed and scale now required of all businesses.”
Whilst the larger corporations and public sector will most likely already have their Covid-19 recovery teams in place, many micro businesses, SME’s and third sector organisations may only now be considering the return to the workplace. So, with those organisations in mind, we have condensed our findings into key points that may be helpful in planning the opening-up of business premises in preparation for the return to work. The points are arranged in three themes of People, Process and Place.
Under 'People' we focus on considering how Lockdown may have affected your team and the importance of consultation and communication to prepare your people for the 'new normal' workplace.
Under 'Process' we look at how a physically distanced workspace will probably necessitate rethinking some of the ways that you do things. It may also be an opportunity to rethink how you use physical space at work, what is important to your business and your organisation in a physically distanced environment, and even how much space and property you might need in the future.
Lastly under 'Place' we look at the actual physical interventions that you may need to implement at your premises. As every organisation and premises is unique there is not a simple blueprint solution. If you would like help and would like to discuss how our space planners and designers can assist then please get in touch (link below).
If you want to read into this subject more deeply we will be compiling a more detailed resource page - so please revert back in due course for more information and further blogs on this broad subject.
In the meantime, if you are thinking about re-planning or re-designing how to best use your workspace in the ‘new normal’ (or you would like a PDF of this piece) please get in touch.
But beforehand...
There are a couple of caveats that we should highlight before you read on. First, please note that this summary is aimed at workplaces that are not normally frequented by members of the public and therefore does not apply to shops, showrooms, bars, restaurants etc.
Secondly, we make reference to Scottish Government guidance as that is our home country. We need to highlight that the guidance between Scotland and England is not consistent and therefore it is always worth checking with the current guidance in your home country before taking action. For example, the Scottish Routemap out of Lockdown describes a more cautious process of unlocking the workplace than in England. Scotland has a 4 stage phased process with Phase 1 expected to start on 28th May. Significantly, regardless of phase, the default in Scotland is:
Remote working for as many people as possible
Face coverings to be worn indoors
In England, current government guidance does not encourage the use of face coverings in the workplace, and people are being encouraged to return to work.
Third, we see a lot of the suggestions here as being temporary or short/medium term adjustments for a physically distanced workspace. However, none of us know for how long this situation may continue - that depends upon whether immunity can be won via a vaccine or other longer term method. If systematic population wide protection from Covid-19 is not found and we are indeed living in a ‘new normal’ it is very possible that Coronavirus will bring about far reaching and fundamental changes to our social and business networks and to the shape and functioning of our built environment. We will be giving this more thought.
update 03.02.20 We also recommend reviewing guidance from the Health & Safety Executive that can be found here. The HSE also provide some advice regarding air conditioning systems in the workplace that can be found here. The Scottish Government has published guidance for shared and coworking spaces including creative studios here.
1. People
First and foremost in this crisis are people. Many may feel anxious about a return to the workplace. For others, Lockdown will have been a period when they have learnt new skills and may also have re-appraised their outlook and aims for the future. You may also need to make decisions about who needs to return to the workplace, who can continue to work from home and whether there would be advantages to a more dynamic work schedule. It used to be that there was a perception that colleagues working from home are less effective and are easily distracted but international research has found this is not the case and that those working from home often work longer hours and provide higher quality outcomes.
Try to provide people with clear dates of when you will be re-opening the workplace and require them to come to work. This will give them as much time as possible to make personal arrangements and adjust to the ‘new normal’. If you don’t know a clear date then consider an approximate timescale and the conditions under which the return date will be decided
Once physical distancing measures are implemented it is likely that you will not be able safely to accommodate all of your people in the workplace at the same time so be prepared to make arrangements to reduce the number of people who need to be at work at any one time. Ideas being considered by firms include different teams (red/blue/green team); extending the working day; staggered start times; dispersed workplaces with smaller localised teaming areas; transitioning to a permanent working-from-home model. What works best for you will be influenced by your location(s), where your people are located and how they can travel and the work they do.
Consult your people about returning to work. Find out where their concerns are and how they feel about returning to the workplace. Try to listen to individual concerns and ideas.
If a person has underlying health conditions that put them at a higher risk it may be that working from home is their only option. If this is the case consider providing appropriate technology and training to enable them to contribute effectively.
It may be helpful to consider how people will be travelling to work and what arrangements can be made to reduce use of public transport where possible
We are likely to be coming out of lockdown across the school holidays but normal childminding arrangements may not be available - Government has indicated that when the schools do return on 11 August that this will not be full time and some home schooling will be expected. So try to accommodate the different needs of parents and discuss ways to be flexible.
Some colleagues may be carers and assisting people that are shielding. They also may need to be more flexible with their hours
The risk of infection will be a concern for many. Communicating your plan and reassuring that the physical distancing and hygiene arrangements you are putting in place are adequate will be important
The family members of colleagues may also be worried about the person returning to the workplace. Try to provide colleagues with clear information about the measures you are taking to make the workplace safer in a form that can be shared with household members before the return to work.
You will want to be confident that people returning to the workplace are healthy and infection free. You may even choose to ask people to declare any symptoms and that they are symptom free. Some employers are introducing screening using scanning thermometers - if this is something that concerns you seek professional advice on what is reasonable, practical and effective.
Scottish Government guidance is to work from home wherever possible and is asking employers to think about whether they really need people to come to the ‘place of work’. Colleagues may well feel safer, happier and more effective doing most of their work from home. This is therefore an opportunity to re-think your processes and how you use your physical space. What are the activities that colleagues in your business do when they are together in person that you don’t want to lose? What do your people value most from being in the office?
2. Process
In the last 20 years business processes have changed significantly. As technology became mobile no longer were we 'chained to the office desk' by telephone or computer. Our access to files became electronic, the city became the workplace, home working was possible but many still had a desk 'at work' and work hours became irregular as email and Whatsapp was always on. Video conferencing has been possible for years but was not popular. We still preferred to commute to our 'place of work' because, fundamentally, we are social animals.
Consequently, the office changed in response to new technology, ideas of teamwork and brand values. The office became more diverse in its design with a greater emphasis on teaming spaces, touchdown spaces, hot desks and project areas - all of which are designed around promoting personal interaction, collaboration and serendipitous meeting. The tea point moved into the centre of the workspace and became a hub for bringing people together.
All of these spaces, and how we use them will likely need reconsideration in a physically distanced workspace. For many, working from home will be considered the preferable, safer and happier option.
But, if we can no longer gather in the office, yet we can do our work remotely and collaborate online, what value does the office still have to the employer? What things are still best done by people in the same physical space? Which teams really do work better when they are physically together? Where do you need to keep all your 'stuff'? How do you make sure that your data is secure? Where do you meet your customers and external collaborators? How do you project your brand and values to your people and create a sense of community and shared purpose? Is this a temporary situation or really the 'new normal'?
Changing workplace processes:
If you haven’t already done so, (and depending on the size of your organisation) you might want to consider establishing a small task force to investigate and support implementation of changing working practices, establishing a roadmap for change and a number of work streams linked to the transition to new processes.
Communication will be particularly important at this time so identify channels or champions for different work streams and expect the volume of communication to be higher than normal for your organisation
Remember that communication if a two way street and to integrate channels through which people can feedback problem spots for troubleshooting and input ideas as they are explored in a structured way
Anticipate increased use of online collaboration platforms such as Slack and Microsoft Teams to manage communications more effectively virtually and reduce the email burden
Expect continued widespread use of virtual meeting platforms such as Zoom both at home and when in the office, as by default not all of your collaborators will necessarily be in at the same time - combining into the office will not remove this need to virtual and face to face work process need to work together in an integrated way in the workspace.
Get ready for the demise of print based material and procedures. Plan clear-outs and digitising of paper based resources, subject to data handling requirements and obligations. This could be your biggest change if you are a paper based organisation - such as a design studio.
Anticipate the need for increased usage of personal mobile devices including tablets, phones and laptops and other personal wireless equipment and revisit your IT hardware and software processes to align the changes
Expect a drive towards ‘team days’ where on certain days of the week co-workers can come together while remaining at safe distance: ideas like this have been in practice in educational contexts for years - cohort thinking
Plan for extended office hours to enable staff to avoid peak times when the risk of infection travelling on public transport may be higher and passenger capacity will be reduced.
Facilitate more autonomous working for colleagues, and adopt more outcome based models for reviewing progress and performance
Prepare new processes for managing visitors to your space as may need to change and could involve new concierge roles.
Security and Resilience
Your security brief may now need to include your workplace’s health security. How do you protect your business from infection shutting you down? You may need to prepare for the risk that, at the drop of a hat, you are instructed by contact tracers to close your workplace and send everyone home for 14 days. If this happens how will you keep the business going and minimise negative impact for your customers, key suppliers and your bottom line?
Think about reviewing your ongoing operational resilience. This means not only the usual data back-ups but also your human back-up. This could involve training and opportunities for up-skilling
How do you know that your colleagues are not taking health risks in their personal lives that could impact your whole business? Think about how to reinforce your ‘community of trust’ within which people feel comfortable that their colleagues are not a threat.
Visitors
Do people really need to come to your building? What was normal before can maybe now be managed to save people travelling time and reduce risk for everyone.
If you need to have a regular flow of visitors consider employing a concierge or greeter to open the door, welcome people and take them through security and your Covid-19 protocols. This doesn’t have to be a guy in a top hat and uniform. Have a think about how you log-in visitors and consider investing in a contactless system.
If you are in a shared building is it possible to have a meeting area near the entrance to avoid bringing people into your space? If so, maybe equip it with a contactless monitor for sharing presentations.
Cleaning
You will be most likely be upgrading your cleaning regime and securing a supply of essential cleaning products. You will want to clean all surfaces and touch points in shared spaces between use. Regularly clean keypads, door handles, sanitary areas, copiers and printers (if you still use them). You will need to define your new cleaning regime recognising that the Sars-CoV-2 virus lives on different surfaces for different periods of time (link).
Paperless at last
Paper based processes generate a huge amount of tactile handling. This is the time to rethink how by becoming paperless reduces the health risk. Think about the paper trail - from taking deliveries of paper and stationery, stocking the copier, printer maintenance visits, touch screen operation, document handling, filing - how can you cut down contact points in your work environment to reduce the chance of the virus bridging between people. If paper is integral to your business process are there IT solutions - such as collaborative sketching tools - that can help to reduce risk?
Maybe think about how to reduce your paper post - from your suppliers and to your customers - can you make a final move to being paperless?
More people time
As your team is dispersed it is likely that managers may need to spend more time managing - particularly in the first stages and at times of significant, and potentially sudden, change.
Be careful to not think that technology will solve everything. Some team software can be counter-productive and isn’t a replacement for the personal call. As interpersonal contact becomes more awkward, face to face communication (even if using a screen) will become more valued. Whilst everyone is working from home we are all equally disadvantaged - but once the office re-opens, it will take an extra effort to keep remote workers from feeling detached and left out. Take time to build-in team time to the working week. Find new ways to socialise ‘at work’ virtually.
The floor plan of the 11th floor of building X, the site of a coronavirus outbreak in Seoul,. The blue indicates the desks of people with confirmed cases. (source: Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
3. Place
You are very likely going to have to make physical changes in your workplace to ensure compliance with physical distancing and hygiene health and safety guidance. This will be your responsibility as an employer and will be needed if your people are going to be comfortable in the workplace and work effectively. This is about preparing your place of work for your people and whilst it should be in place before people return to work, you should also ask for feedback from users and be ready to change things around to improve how it works once people start using the new protocols. (You have probably noticed how the supermarkets have already been doing this).
On 26 May The Scottish Government ‘Safer Workplaces Statement’ said:
“It is essential that, in order to prevent transmission of COVID-19, physical distancing continues to be practiced along with other good hygiene practice such as regular and thorough hand washing and good respiratory etiquette. This applies equally to employees, customers and all those on business premises.
It is essential that employers also carry out a COVID-19 risk assessment. These should be developed where possible together with union health and safety representatives. For workplaces, without union representation, union health and safety representatives will be available upon request to support the development of workplace risk assessments and contact details are included at the end of this statement.
It is important that employers understand that they already have statutory duties towards their employees, for example, to put in place measures to keep workers safe. During the pandemic, this includes taking steps to help people work from home where they can do their job in this way, providing handwashing and hygiene procedures in line with guidance, and taking steps to maintain a minimum 2-metre distance between people in the workplace. The Scottish Government and the regulators will ensure that there is effective advice and guidance in place to support employers meet these obligations.
Working together – employers, workers, unions and the regulatory bodies – we can create safe workplaces for all.”
Shared premises
If you share your premises with other businesses and organisations you will need to discuss requirements for social distancing and hygiene with your landlord, building manager and/or the other building owners depending upon your occupancy arrangements.
Check you lease arrangements so that you are clear about the duties of the building manager
If you are the building manager and have tenants then you should ensure that all of your tenants are aware of the physical distancing rules, the measures that you are implementing and what is expected of them. Work together, share plans, strategies and tactics for implementation, feedback and response. Put this in writing.
Building Systems
Seek professional advice on the health risks inherent in your premises ventilation - particularly if your premises has an active HVAC system. Is this an opportunity for an overhaul of the system to ensure it is clean and functioning effectively to provide clean fresh air. Does the system potentially compromise any physical distancing that you might introduce. Can you fit better air filters (more guidance on air filtration is available here). Some advice is available from the HSE here.
If you are thinking about turning off your ventilation system and just opening the windows get in touch - it may be a can of worms. If you already open windows to vent the office - thumbs up.
Reducing touching of surfaces will be significant in reducing the risk of infection. Consider what aspects of your IT network may need to be upgraded to allow increased use of smart phone operated apps rather than keypads, copiers or lighting.
Lighting is becoming smarter. You may look at PIR operated light fittings to reduce the need for light switches.
In sanitary areas consider changing taps, WC flush and driers to being operated hands free with movement sensors.
Arrival
Consider staggered start times so that people do not ‘bottleneck’ at the building entrance
Provide sheltered queuing spaces outside of larger office developments,in particular any that have multiple floors and where people typically regularly use lifts to access workspace floors
More people may be cycling to work, if possible provide a secure place for bicycles to be stored
If parking is limited, find out how many people will be driving and try to find adequate parking nearby or consider more people to work from home or stagger their hours or days in the building
Liaise with landlords to identify a circulation strategy within communal areas, for example designating different stairwells to ‘up’ and ‘down’ circulation
Liaise with landlords to ensure that lift capacities are clearly identified both outside and inside the lift, and alternative stair routes clearly marked
Entrances
If possible designate physically separated (2m minimum) entry and an exit doors
If a keypad entry is fitted consider having this changed to a keyless fob or proximity release. If an audio or video door entry is fitted then let people call reception to have the door released without having to touch the call system
Provide a hand sanitising point outside the entrance
Provide signage and floor marking reminding people to maintain physical distancing when queuing for the entrance door (Tip: new signage is an opportunity to design and brand your building or workplace)
Reception
Consider transparent screening on the reception desk (tip: glass is much nicer than plastic). Alternatively consider a virtual receptionist via video or digital greeting and logging technology.
Do you ask visitors to sign-in or to wear visitor lanyards? If so, you might want to reconsider if this really is needed. Consider disposable ID badges or stickers.
Look at your waiting areas, is the seating physically distanced? Consider removing some of the seating. Do you still offer refreshments?
Provide physical distancing markers and signage on virus-safe protocols on the premises.
If you must bring visitors into your work areas you will probably want to have a member of staff provide your visitors with a safety briefing on arrival? This will help put them and your staff more at ease.
For visitors coming for a short meeting or consultation can you provide a private meeting area in or next to Reception with appropriate screening across a table?
Communal Areas
It will be difficult to physically modify the communal areas of your premises such as lift lobbies, stairs or toilet facilities. Lobbies and corridors may be too small to allow for physical distancing and fire doors should not be wedged open as these compromise the fire integrity of the building and could put occupants at risk.
Lifts
It is likely that any lift in your building will not be large enough for even two people to stand 2m apart - very few lifts will be. Therefore, lifts will generally only be large enough for one person to use them at a time. Consequently, a physically distanced queuing system will be needed and it is likely that your lobby will not be big enough to allow many people to queue. At peak times people could be spending a lot of time waiting for the lift. If you are in a tall building this could be a problem. Try and prioritise use of the lift to those that need it most and encourage everyone else to use the stairs.
Stairs
In many commercial buildings stairs are designed for evacuation rather than for circulation, so they are not very wide. If you have more than one stair it might be possible to have a one-way system; Stair A for up, stair B for down - but if this isn’t practical then adopt a drive on the left policy and remember to ask people not to loiter on the stair.
Fire Doors
Most buildings will have fire doors that are designed to stay closed to protect escape routes from smoke in the event of a fire. Do not wedge these open as that will compromise safety. Instead, to reduce the need for people to touch handles, consider changing the door closers to a hold-open /fail-closed type - these are linked to the fire alarm and close automatically when the alarm is triggered. Other fire sensitive hold open devices are available - some can operate using wifi to reduce the installation cost and inconvenience. All devices should be British Standard certified.
Toilets and Washrooms
This is an area that many people will be concerned about and where, due to the size of lobbies, people often come in close contact. If possible consider wedging these doors open (they are not usually fire doors) and extra screening outside the door to provide privacy. Depending on the size of the facility you may have to close off adjacent basins or urinals and even work out a way to limit the number of people using the facilities at a given time.
For a longer term solution consider changing taps, WC flush and driers to hands free operation.
Provide hand sanitizer stations outside the WC’s
Flow Space
Walkways
If possible, increase the size of walkways between desks and reconfigure your work areas to enable a one-way system within the office. Don’t worry about having fewer desks because you probably won’t need as many as before.
Think about the flow of people and how they are likely to want to move around during the day - be prepared to change things around as you resolve pinch points and bottlenecks. Ask for feedback.
Install signage to reinforce the one-way system - the signage can be creatively designed.
Internal Doors (non fire rated)
If possible wedge non-fire doors in an open position so that people don’t have to use the handles.
Occupancy and Desk Arrangements
Recent commentary suggests that physical distancing could reduce office occupancy to between 30% and 50% of current density. So, to provide desks for your pre-Covid numbers could require doubling your floor area. In this scenario working-from-home is an attractive financial option. Furniture and signage suppliers have been quick to market with an array of plastic sneeze screens for framing desks but while these may provide a manner of comfort in facing desks it is unlikely to be an effective solution as soon as people move away from the confines of their enclosed desk. Consequently we see the space between desks increasing and occupancy density drastically reducing. Even if for the short to medium term this is likely to involve removing screens and chairs from the work area - you are going to need some storage space.
Disposable desk covers are likely to become the norm for shared workspace and individual laptops, tablets, wireless keyboards and mice will become preferred.
Meeting and Team Areas
Just as you will need more space between desks in the work areas, meeting and team spaces will need more elbow room. Please don’t go swinging any cats but the metaphor gives a fair indication of how much space will be needed between people in a team meeting. That 3m x 3m four-person meeting room now might just work as a solo office.
If half your meeting is with people elsewhere you might need to consider upgrading your tech. Is your meeting room monitor big enough to see all the folk attending by Zoom? Can they see and hear you clearly? Maybe invest in some better room acoustics, microphones and speakers?
Unless you have a big table it is unlikely that traditional boardroom tables will work. You will already have taken away half of the chairs. Maybe think about other spaces for your bigger meetings. Your nearest hotel might be available, can they accommodate you safely? It’s going to be a challenge so be prepared to think outside the box - literally!
Refreshment Areas
Government advice is for every household to take its own food, plates and cutlery to the BBQ. So, at work expect to see people reverting to pack lunches and names on mugs. Maybe instead of ‘Bring a Thermos Thursday’ consider some hygienic dispensing gadgets - paper cups at the water cooler, coffee machine controlled by an app. What may have before seemed ridiculous could well be a life saver.
If you operate a canteen/cafe/restaurant in your workspace you will need to consult your chef or catering provider, but your numbers are likely to be lower and hours of service extended. Keep an eye on government advice before opening up your workplace food offer.
Copiers and Printers
Those serendipitous chats by the printer are probably over. Sharing paper will be minimised and all filing will move online - be prepared to invest in more cloud storage. Saving paper could well become a health issue.
Hand Sanitizer Points
These are now being made available from most office consumables suppliers. Think about where people are going to need to touch something and that’s where you need them.
Place hand sanitizer stations at entrances for use on the way in and way out - just like a hospital ward.
Feedback
Invite feedback from your colleagues on how the workspace makes them feel and what you could do to improve. Designate a feedback lead (or more than one depending on the size, structure and locations of your business) with a specific remit to mitigate risks and concerns. Timetable formal meetings to share learnings and update procedures - and your risk assessment. This is the team that will be in your front line in the event of a second wave emergency response.
Keep in contact with home workers - they will have their own issues in managing their work/life balance. Be prepared to make adjustments.
Build a community of trust - your colleagues will need to believe that everyone in your workplace ‘bubble’ is acting responsibly to keep you all safe.
Finally, a note on PPE
Opinions on PPE vary. UK Government guidance is that PPE is not required in the workplace however, other countries insist upon face-covering and that wearing a face covering significantly helps to protect other people. The Scottish Government guidance is for face coverings to be worn inside AND for physical distancing to be observed. Individual organisations will need to form their own opinion on the use of face coverings and other PPE in the workplace. We suggest consulting colleagues and reaching a shared view that everyone is comfortable with.
About the authors:
Donald Bentley is an independent architect and designer in practice. Donald was previously an Associate Director at DEGW plc where he worked internationally in briefing and design of corporate workspace, head office architecture, higher education architecture, estate strategy and city scale intervention. Donald has worked from home since 2016.
Antonia Cairns lectures in Interior Design and Space Planning at Napier University, Edinburgh and is a director of Realm-ISD specialising in workplace design and consulting. Prior to Realm Antonia worked at Aecom/DEGW where she worked internationally for national and international corporate, public sector and higher education clients.