Resuming Back To The Office? Here’s What Businesses Need To Know

June 23, 2023

Resuming Back To The Office? Here’s What Businesses Need To Know

Are you a business owner bringing back the working from office model after two long years? Well, there’s a lot of work to get done in that aspect, especially if you gave up your office space for the duration of working from home. The first would be to arrange for all the amenities and also look for a suitable property that could hold all your employees and business operations. While the former may not take very long to arrange, the latter is a task to pursue very carefully. If you haven’t gotten started yet, this article will help you with the two categories. Read on below to know all about it!

Key Takeaways on Returning Back to the Office:

  1. Sanitary Arrangements: Ensuring sanitisation and pandemic protocols, including sanitiser dispensers, temperature checking tools, and rapid COVID tests.
  2. Lunchroom and Snack Bar: Providing a dedicated space for breaks and a well-stocked snack bar for employees to unwind.
  3. Hygiene Products: Stocking up on hygiene products like handwash liquid and tissues for employee convenience.
  4. De-stressing Zones: Creating a relaxing space for employees to cope with stress, which is particularly important during the ongoing global crisis affecting mental health.
  5. Connectivity: The property should be conveniently located, allowing easy access to significant places like the freeway, airport, and subway.
  6. Landscape: Consider the surrounding environment and views from your office space.
  7. On-property Functionalities: Ensure the office space has necessary amenities such as solar panels, central cooling, extensive WiFi, and an active security system.
  8. Healthcare and Emergency Facilities: Proximity to emergency services like hospitals, fire brigade, and police is critical.
  9. Security: The safety of employees, particularly those working late hours or belonging to minority groups, should be a top priority.
Online Business Startup

The Back To Office Essentials Checklist

No office space is complete without the essential provisions that make working easier for your employees. As they transition into a full-time working from the office model, bringing changes from two years of habitual work-from-home will take a while.

It is best if you make all the necessary preparations in order to keep them happy so that they remain optimistic and productive. Here’s our list of the four most important aspects:

1. Sanitary arrangements

One of the most crucial things to keep around is all the sanitation and necessary pandemic protocols in office spaces. Let’s not forget that the outbreaks change variants and could affect anyone. Hence make sure that instruments like sanitiser dispensers, temperature checking tools, and rapid covid tests are available at the office. Anyone suspecting symptoms must be immediately tested and recommended rest. Regularly sanitising the seating areas will also help keep everyone healthy. If you have a lot of employees, creating a viable seating arrangement will help reduce the transmission.

2. Lunchroom and snack bar

A dedicated space for taking lunch breaks is the bare minimum of office spaces today. Eating at their desk may not just create some negative emotions within your employees, it is also not the most sanitary habit. Invest in having an office space that has a lunchroom for some downtime where employees can bond and talk to each other. Make sure to have a well-stocked micro market snack bar at the lunch zone so that the employees feel cared for away from home.

3. Hygiene products

Having a stock of hygiene products for your employees so that they don’t have to inconvenience themselves to run out and buy them is a great gesture on your part. Buying products like industrial paper towels in bulk can also help you save up rather than buying small packets! Get in touch with vendors who can help you keep your stocks up so you never run out. Have your sanitation staff switch these products like handwash liquid and tissues regularly.

4. De-stressing zones

Today, workplaces are actively involved in helping their employees receive mental healthcare. This involves investing in space to create a de-stressing zone. This is essentially a zen corner with tools and relaxing activities that one can come to if they’re feeling overwhelmed. As we’re in the middle of a global crisis where mental health is highly affected, we highly recommend that you make such a provision.

Here are some office property hunting tips

The process of finding the right office space for your business after two years can be easy if you’re aware of what you want. However, for most business owners, it can be a confusing process now that the real estate prices are climbing.

There are a few factors that come into play while leasing commercial property, be it an individual building or a floor in a high-rise building. To make your job of office hunting easier, we’ll cover five aspects all organisations search for in their potential commercial real estate investment.

1. Connectivity

One of the biggest aspects of getting a commercial property is taking a look at the connectivity to other significant places. Your employees would want to save some time on travel, so make sure that the freeway, airport, and subway are within reasonable distance. If your officials are required to travel for work to other states pretty often and at short notice, watch out for properties that make the task of getting to these major places easier.

2. Landscape

Would you prefer to have an office with greenery around the premises, or do you want a beautiful skyline painting stunning sunsets? The view of your office space may be a perk but has an impact on where you buy or lease a property. As a reminder, this is the office you’ll be working at and inviting investors over for the next n number of years, so make sure the view is worth it!

3. On-property functionalities

When we like commercial property, it is worth mentioning that absent functionalities can increase your overall investment since you’ll have to install them yourself. Make sure that the office space has all the amenities such as solar panels, central cooling, extensive WiFi, and an active security system. Speak to your realtor about negotiating the pricing of a property if you find a couple of these missing so that the expenses even out.

4. Healthcare and emergency facilities

How close is the nearest emergency clinic and hospital to this property? The proximity to emergency services like the fire brigade, police, and paramedics is a given when looking for an office property so that your employees needn’t worry about getting help at the earliest in case there are any problems.

5. Security

Is the commercial complex or society secure for women employees working late, or minorities? Take into consideration the safety of your employees by asking around and speaking to the other offices presiding at the complex to get more insight about the area.

Wrapping Up:

All organisations have different needs based on their employee strength, holding capacity, and budget. For instance, a small-scale start-up would thrive in a coworking space, but a larger and more established business needs a leased property to itself. However, the amenities are non-negotiable since they ensure that your employees working hours sail by smoothly, minimising frustrations and stress. We hope that this blog brings you much-needed insights.

Related Articles:

Don't forget to check out our Case Studies and also how Small Business Coaching can help your business. If you're ready to talk further and get the full coaching experience you can book a FREE 30-Minute Coaching Session.