BY EMILY ADAMS
BACK TO WORK ADAPTING THE OFFICE FOR POSTPANDEMIC SAFETY Over the past 14 months, home offices and zoom calls have replaced communal workspaces and lunch meetings. Terms like “the new normal,” “social distancing” and “unprecedented” still dominate the narrative around our daily lives. We have begun to question the modern workspace. The way we work and interact with one another has evolved, and spaces will change to reflect this. Across Canada, workers have been shifted out of their traditional office spaces and adapted to remote working. While we all hope that the end is near for COVID-19 and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, there are some lessons we will carry with us far into the future. Now that a pandemic-free future is approaching, companies are working to adapt their spaces for a safe return to the physical workplace. We will cover some steps you can take to ensure safety today and follow the workplace design in the future. ADAPTING YOUR CURRENT WORKPLACE The official guidelines for a safe workspace are location dependant and vary depending on the industry, but everyone can make some overall changes. 8 APRIL 2021
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Take steps to identify what teams will be working from home versus your total office occupancy. This will give you a good idea about adapting your floorplate, so everybody feels comfortable and safe while in the physical office. You don’t need to purchase new furniture or perform costly renovations to ensure your office has social distancing measures in place. There has been a surge of popularity in partitions and glass screens that can be added to workstations and between desks. Glass
screens and partitions are cost-effective ways to adjust the furniture you already own. They provide distance and screens between employees but still allow for an aesthetically pleasing design. Co-working spaces saw a rise in popularity over the last decade. Companies scrapped the individual workspaces and opted for open-concept space with ample lounge seating for on-the-fly meetings. Collaborative spaces still play a vital role in the modern office but need to be adapted to allow social
distancing. Fewer people will be physically in the office, so look at rearranging your design to allow for the recommended six feet of distance between individuals. Incorporate more solo guest seating into the layout, and stay away from large, shared furniture pieces like couches. Typically, home offices do not have ergonomic-friendly furniture. This can cause negative long-term effects on employee health. Ensure that your layout is ergonomic and your team is physically supported. These changes will be crucial after months of workers sitting at kitchen tables or couches. Look at incorporating sit-to-stand desks, monitor stands and proper task chairs into individual workstations to optimize employee health. DESIGN FOR THE FUTURE Workplace design for the future has an emphasis on flexibility and adaptability. If there is one thing that we’ve learned recently, it’s that no one knows what the future holds. Prepare your workspace so that it can handle any hurdles and challenges that may come your way. An excellent way to stay agile is to incorporate flexible furniture into your design. Flexible furniture allows for easy day-to-day changes and quick modification of every kind of workspace. There are tons of great flexible furniture options on the market, including moveable office furniture, modular office furniture and moveable walls. Moveable office furniture can enable mobility and productivity while still being stylish. Modular furniture is made to provide your organization with long-term flexibility and use your office space as efficiently as possible. Moveable furniture allows for day-to-day changes, while modular furniture does require trained installers for reconfiguration. Moveable walls are a modular system that lets you adapt your space in hours, compared to weeks, without any major renovations. No matter what your priorities are for your workspace, flexible furniture will keep your workspace versatile for the present and future. SUPPLY PROFESSIONAL
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