Last week, our team was excited to hear the governor announce a phased approach to reopening the state, however, this reopening presents some unprecedented challenges for all of us. One of these challenges is figuring out how to methodically and gradually re-enter your workspace. There are many questions to answer, here we have outlined a few key points to consider as you prepare for a successful re-entry.

Scheduling the Return of your Employees to the Office

  • Stagger the return of your employees and allow those who can work remotely to continue to do so. The state guidelines recommend that your office(s) be at no more than 25% capacity during this first phase of re-entry.
  • Rotate your employees’ work schedules to minimize headcount at your office(s).
  • Continue to support remote workers by providing the tools they need to work from home successfully and securely.

Configuring Your Office to Maintain Social Distance

  • Thoroughly examine and plan the reconfiguration of your office to add more distance between people.
  • Redraw the map of your office, identify:
  • If more cabling or better wireless network technology is needed to allow your staff to spread out more.
  • If any additional electrical outlets are needed.
  •  Keep in mind the office aesthetics, noise levels, flow and general efficiencies.
  •  Display health and safety signs prominently.
  •  Space desks at least 6 feet apart.
  • Install protective barriers.
  •  Reorient workstations so employees do not face one another.

Leveraging Technology

  • Implement touchless technology solutions wherever possible, including external and internal doors, locks, restrooms, and kitchen facilities.
  • Eliminate traditional desk phones, use softphones with headsets instead where possible. They are cleaner and often less expensive than traditional handsets.
  • Deploy furniture with built-in meeting technology for screen sharing and whiteboarding in your conference rooms.
  • Discourage the use of shared equipment and tools such as remote controls.
  • Update old touch-based equipment with new voice activated technology.
  • Consolidate and decide on which communication systems your company will standardize —train staff on all the new ways to leverage communications securely.  Be sure to cancel other services that you may have used that did not work for you.
  • Keep track of your data and where it travels. Update related policies and make sure that they are followed.
  • Secure your IoT (Internet of Things) devices. These devices should NEVER be on your regular network. Call us if you would like us to help you make sure that your new IoT technology is not compromising the security of your network. (Note: Some of the biggest security breaches have been caused by poorly deployed IoT devices.)
Lastly, continually communicate with your staff. Involve everyone in the planning of the re-entry. Keep them apprised of the latest happenings, schedules, and changes. Deploy new policies and tools and train your staff.