Getting ready for Workplace & Making Workplace ready for us...

Most of us are still getting acquainted with the new normal of remote working; we might resume back to our workplace anytime soon!


image courtesy - Getty images

So, how as employers and employees are we prepared to yet again bring back the old normal, at least a bit close to it, how are we ready to best cope up with the situation of restarting and expanding our operations?

Those who refused to work in "good faith", shall not be treated indifferently

It’s time we become more careful and sensitive to the requests on who can return to their workplace on an individual basis, and then decide the direction of recovery of the business. Since one size fits all solution is not going to help, each company will have their own way of looking into it.
Here are some insights, cumulated for informative purpose, keeping a few in mind right now will help to be pro-active:

Physical Enhancements:

• Re-design space, open floor plan might need some partitions now, not possible? Try using alternate workstations (Ah, might sound less fun, but let’s try not to go “Weeee..” on our rolling chairs to our buddy).

• Educating employees, not using other employees' equipment or workspace. Not feeling offended anymore, when office properties are limited and marked "Do Not Touch". 

• Place Flyers, make it visible, remind employees and customers about – maintaining distance, avoiding touching places unnecessarily, washing hands properly and regularly, about wearing masks, etc.

• Adhere to hygiene standards, have a clear mention of cleaning schedule, cleaning material, quality of sanitizers, the requirement of sanitization, and fumigation of premises in an SOP. 

• Providing tissues near taps, and elevators, which need to be discarded in the nearby bin after usage

• Emergency Kit,  Maintenance of a proper stock of emergency medicines, required food packets, water bottles.

Planning Workforce & Operations

• Focus on Workforce Management - the number of employees required on-premise. Keeping who + how together in mind will be ideal while making these decisions. Plan ahead, it’s already overwhelming for all of us, let’s not make this sudden as well.

• Flexi schedules, Calling teams on alternate schedules, trying to work with 20% staff & understanding gaps & requirements for better administration & gradually increasing count. This will help in improving protocols and safety standards. 

• WFH productivity, Emphasizing more on this to improve & manage with less task force on-premise.

• A Daily Status call for COVID related updates shall be added to the SOP.

• Limiting access to increase social distancing, limit access to common zones, huge conference rooms, trying to limit as much mass gathering as possible.

• What say about those green rooms?  In-person meetings shall be restricted as much as possible, not more than 4-5 employees in a single room shall be allowed. If possible, connect without it.

• Client/Sales meetings, on or off-premise shall be conducted after calculating profit, risk, and consequences involved in executing it. If possible, network without it.

• Travel Restrictions, Cautiously going through, city/state/country-wise travel restriction & requirements before taking any decision. Providing travel Insurance covering COVID is a must. 

We all have learned most of the decisions do not require physical presence, we shall continue to utilize and benefit from it to the most.

Setting up a Screening Zone:

• Onboarding existing employees, train your employees even before they resume, make them aware of changes as you would do while onboarding a new employee.

• Guidelines for employees to wear masks per required standards, letting them know prehead if the company going to provide it, will employer reimburse it, etc?

• Putting security at heart, deciding on where and how employees/customers need to be screened for temperature measurement & health assessments

• Sensitive Areas, person testing temperature primarily is going to get most exposed, as an infected person might sneeze/cough in between, or might not even show any symptoms. Keeping anticipated exposure in mind, necessary steps shall be taken to safeguard them, might even include providing a PPE kit, face shields.

• Ensure confidentiality of employees' health-related details & medical reports, these must be kept private and employees must be well aware of it.

• Establishing security norms of allowing a limited number of people inside premises at once. Multiple punch-in and out for employees going outside of company premises shall be noted.

• Schedule Mealtime, implementing schedules within teams to have meals in cafeteria.

• Employee Health Insurance, getting in touch with your insurance agents & providing training about claim process, regarding near-by COVID test centers, hospitals (this can be done pre-opening, sooner the better).

As per WHO, Coronavirus may become Endemic from Pandemic & never go away. These measures are not going to be temporary fixes, these are here to stay for long.

Invest in Technology, futurify as they say

• Adopting & migrating to Cloud, this has helped businesses to scale quickly and optimize their operational costs. Moving active projects on Cloud provided flexibility in collaborating better while remotely, why not dig more?

• Implementing best Practices of AI & ML, from chatbots that respond in seconds to sensors that rely on AI & ML to improve operation. Utilize the data to give quick and personalized responses to your customers. Having data in hands has significantly helped decision-makers to analyze & yield the best results

• Reduce redundancy as much as possible, learn ways to utilize RPA to be able to work with a lesser number of employees, and reduce their physical workload.

• Invest in secure and safe platforms, come out strong by closely watching cyber-security concerns.

• Train your employees for adopting new technologies and take Certifications.

Needless to mention, those who were ahead in this game, were less likely to face challenges in working remotely. For some, it's not gonna be Re-opening, it's gonna be Re-inventing.

Lastly, Be empathetic and compassionate towards your people, be it employee or employer, not all are going to come strong out of this, many of them might be facing anxiety and pressure due to job security and sustainability of their businesses.

Now is the time to bring your Purpose Statement, read it aloud, and remind yourself about it.

PS: This guide is limited to my experience working in an IT/Corporate sector, hence views and suggestions may not be applicable to all.


🔺 A shot in the arm by Jeenu Vadera 🔺