As the saying goes, “Uncertainty is the only certainty.” It’s always been true, but it hits especially close to home now. There is a constant and inescapable narrative on television, in the news, and on social media echoing how “unprecedented” this pandemic is, and how “uncertain” these times are.
It may be starting to feel rote, but that doesn’t make it any less true.
One thing is certain: things aren’t going to immediately go back to the way they were before. This raises questions about what the “new normal” will look like.
When will offices reopen? What does this mean for office design going forward? Will the CDC or another government agency roll out formal guidelines and recommendations for offices? If so, when? What can be done now to prepare?
In the face of so much uncertainty, the best option is to design an approach that’s based on flexibility. The return to work will happen in phases, but the time to start designing for reentry is now. However, within a few days, weeks, or months of returning, the office design will inevitably need to flex and change … and then change again. The best return to work guidelines set today will probably not remain the gold standard in 30, 60, or 90 days from now – or even six months to a year from now.
Before Reentry: The State of Today’s Office
Over the past 20 years, there has been a revolution in office space design and implementation. Gone are the individual cubicles that divided office environments into semi-private pods for each person.
People are sitting closer together than ever before. Global design firm Gensler has estimated that 70 percent of American offices use some form of the open plan, which departs from the traditional arrangement of private offices on the perimeter and workstations on the interior.
As part of the shift, which has occurred in the past 15 to 20 years, many companies cut costs by shrinking the size of individual workstations. A typical workstation now has 36 square feet instead of 48 square feet – a 25 percent reduction.
While individual space has decreased, there has been an increase in amenities and shared spaces. From the ubiquity of the standing desk to the open office environment, most businesses have adopted designs that encourage employee movement and “collision” spaces. Gyms, coffee bars, and game rooms are common.
For companies that can’t afford to invest capital in the build out of new office space, the adoption of coworking environments allows the largest and smallest businesses to work in an environment that up until now was considered superior to “cube farms.”
As businesses start to consider what the first phase of office reentry looks like, they’ll have to recognize that there are precautions to take to minimize the risk of reinfections in the current office environment.
From calculating the safest density for office spaces, to ensuring that HIPPA regulations are followed when checking employee and visitor temperatures at office entrances, there are a myriad of return to work guidelines and issues that need to be addressed. It is vital that the nation begins to reopen the economy and get citizens back to work. However, it is just as vital to make sure that US workspaces are not the new epicenters for contagions like coronaviruses and other transmittable diseases.