Preparing Yourself For An Eventual Return Back To The Office

Working from home is something which been steadily on the rise in the last few years, but the recent outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) has seen many forced to work from home for the first time ever, with the government ordering people to only go out to work if they cannot do so from home.

However, the prospect of an eventual return to your daily commute, sitting at your desk and watercooler chats, is on the horizon. So how are we preparing ourselves for our staff to return to the Nordens office?

Firstly, we conducted a risk assessment (in line with HSE guidance) to identify sensible measures to control the risks that COVID-19 presents in our workplace. Our staff are our family, and their input on their home away from aka the office is important to ensure they are comfortable. In order to create effective change, we consulted all our staff on the changes we would be making, and provide them with the opportunity to voice any changes they would like.

Some of our changes include:

• Further increasing the frequency of hand washing and surface cleaning
• Where possible, meetings have been rescheduled or done via video calls
• Antibacterial hand sanistiers compulsory upon entering and leaving the building and also placed around the office
• Using back-to-back or separated desk working whenever possible
• Reducing the number of people each person has contact with by using ‘fixed teams or partnering’ (so each person works with only a few others)
• Floor signage for one way systems to prevent staff coming in close proximity of each other

We’ve all had to adapt recently – in particular the way that we communicate with clients. Meetings have been done over the phone or video call. Documents have been scanned or posted. We are now confidently at a stage where our clients can safely drop off sensitive documents. A small step in the right direction in getting us back to our usual personalised and committed approach.

Our fantastic friends over at EVS Cleaning helped to deep clean our offices this week. By using specialised ULV equipment they atomised a mist of disinfectant into the atmosphere, this settles on all surfaces, objects, cracks and crevices. It will disinfect all surfaces that can’t be manually cleaned or are water sensitive. This will not damage any sensitive surfaces, electrical or computer equipment and does not leave any residue.

We feel confident that that our office is clean and ready to restart business as usual once the time comes. Check them out and book them for your deep clean now! Mention Nordens to get 20% off.

What have you been doing in order to prepare your office for your family’s return?

For the staff preparing themselves to go back, here aare our top tips from some of our staff…

• Write a ‘To Do’ list
• – Make your work space your own. You’re more productive when you’re comfortable and happy
• Be prepared for people to want to catch up and add the time into your schedule so you don’t fall behind
• Utilise online chat – eg Microsoft Teams or Zoom for face to face, so you feel connected and in charge. Don’t just rely on email to communicate, use the phone too.
• Walk/Exercise – break up your day with some fresh air. We’ve become used to working in these environments from home. Don’t go back to being trapped behind a desk!

Should you have any other queries about making sure your work place is ready for when staff come back, check out the government website HERE.