Post-COVID: Redesigning the Workspace
September, the moment of truth. So this is the month when the immediate priority of many companies will be for people to get back to work on-site as quickly and safely as possible.
Those that try to go back to their pre-COVID-19 habits are likely to have a hard time. They need to reinvent themselves to be able to respond quickly to a changing situation. The role of the workspace is more important now than it ever has been.
The changes have come to stay, changes which also represent an opportunity to make workspaces even better than they were before the crisis.
In this article, we aim to explain what these changes in the business world are in terms of workplace design and how Dynamobel is successfully responding to the demand they are generating: comfort, health, hygiene and adaptation are the keys to the new workspace.
PHYSICAL DISTANCING
Las estrategias que se están llevando a cabo, incluye principalmente, un distanciamiento físico. Esto es, la separación de los puestos de trabajo, barreras para distinguir zonas, soportes que permitan una mejor y mayor limpieza, entre otras opciones. Paneles, biombos protectores y fundas para sillas son una de las soluciones más reclamadas por la red empresarial.
The strategies being put in place include, above all, physical distancing. That consists of separating work stations, creating barriers to demarcate areas and enabling more extensive and enhanced cleaning procedures, among other things. Screens, protective space dividers and seat covers are some of the solutions most demanded by business.
SPACES THAT BREATHE INNOVATION, COLLABORATION, CONCENTRATION AND INSPIRATION
According to Robert Walters’ latest “Smart Workplaces” report, the employees surveyed thought that an attractive, modern workplace should: have an innovative, friendly design which facilitates collaboration with co-workers; be an environment that inspires people to work, interact and generate new ideas; have sufficient seating, meeting areas, rooms for breaks and areas where you can concentrate, and a place where the latest technology is made available to workers.
Ideally, HR should ask most of the company’s employees for their opinions and these should be taken into account to try to provide workspaces tailored to meet their needs.
SEMI-OPEN PLAN SPACES
Neither open nor closed, 7 out of 10 of those surveyed for the report said that they preferred to work in semi-open plan spaces.
TEAMWORK ROOMS, BOOTHS FOR PHONE CALLS/VIDEOCONFERENCES AND INNOVATION ROOMS
These are the three kinds of spaces most valued by the respondents; innovative solutions which make it possible to create different functional areas within a single office.
An office design which offers functional areas in line with the varied nature of its workforce makes for a truly smart workplace because it is able to meet all the different needs of those working in it. Depending on the kind of company and the line of business it is in, the types of employee and approaches to work will vary, but, be that as it may, aligning the preferences of the workforce with the design of the workspace will help attract and hold onto talent, boost productivity and create a good working environment.
Constructing a smart environment is not just a case of providing a visually appealing space. In addition to a modern design, heterogeneous, functional spaces in line with the new models, values and practices found in the workplace need to be constructed and all the technology required needs to be made available.