Getting The Office Space Ready In 2021
The year 2020 has been one for the record books. With COVID-19 invading our everyday lives, it didn’t take long to find its way into interrupting our workspaces. For those who were lucky enough to keep their jobs during this time of turmoil, many found themselves working from home. Workplaces that normally occupied them and their co-workers were shut down to help prevent the disease’s transmission.
With the advent of the vaccine, businesses will eventually begin the transition to bringing workers back together in an office environment. How will these workspaces look when people return to work? Probably much different. In this article, we will discuss getting the office space ready for workers to return to work. In addition, we’ll explain how to organize the workspace, and remove any unneeded furniture to keep things clean and COVID free.
Nothing Remains the Same
Maybe the most important thing to remember when bringing people back to the office is to understand nothing will be the same as it was. Even with the vaccine helping to reduce the risk of the pandemic, people will still need to follow certain protocols to stay safe.
Here are a few things to expect when returning to work.
- More distancing than before: Over the last few years, office space has been at a premium. To counteract the cost, companies pushed as many people into cubicle workspaces for the most efficiency. With continued social distancing, some of these cubicles will no longer be needed within the workplace.
- There will not be a need for everyone to return: If the pandemic has shown us anything, it’s that most office positions can work remotely. Many predict that even after COVID-19 is not a threat to society, a new norm in remote work has been established. With this development, the infrastructure needed to support a large group will no longer be needed.
- Meetings will take place online: New technology has come to fruition during the crisis. Companies have found that using virtual platforms to conduct meetings are both efficient for time and in many ways, more effective than face to face group meetings. This allows for meeting rooms to no longer be needed as many companies will continue to take advantage of online meetings. Of course, this begs what to do with the traditional items used for such meetings.
- Break Rooms will be redesigned: Again, with fewer people commuting to the office, common areas will no longer be necessary for holding a large number of people. This is important to consider when getting the office ready for 2021. Areas such as break rooms will reduce the size of tables, the number of chairs, fewer microwaves, and other once needed items. Read this handy New Year junk removal plan to get started.
- Office space will be reduced as a whole: To climb out of any negative economic impact of the pandemic, many companies will reduce the size of their entire offices. Large workspaces sought after in the past will give way to smaller rental spaces that will save the company money and get them back on track financially. Infrastructure to support staff will be greatly reduced.
- Filtration systems will change: Keeping everyone healthy and not allowing what is left of the virus to spread will be important. Air conditioning systems will have their filters replaced with ones that do a better job in protecting workers from the virus. As most companies will change to these new filters, the old ones that are removed will need to be disposed of.
- An excess of cleaning supply waste will build: With employees returning to the office, a plan to keep the areas clean and disinfected will be essential to the worker’s health. A higher frequency of wiping down objects and surfaces will cause much more waste for disposal.
Removal of Excess Infrastructure and Waste
With all of the steps taking place that are mentioned above, it will be necessary to remove items that are no longer needed. Tables and chairs for conference rooms will need to be removed. You can hire a furniture removal service such as NJ N Vitale Disposal Inc. to do this.
With break rooms getting smaller and large tables replaced with smaller ones, the bigger ones will have to be disposed of. Cubicles that once served employees are almost never able to be reused and will add to the waste that needs to be hauled away. Finally, waste that builds up will need to be disposed of safely to keep cross-contamination at a minimum.
How to Handle the Removal
With so much material needed to be removed, it is not cost-effective for companies to try and haul it away themselves. Thought must be given to hiring a professional junk removal company or dumpster rental service to meet your removal needs. These companies will deliver dumpsters to place any items that your company no longer needs. If recycling and repurposing are wanted, these companies can give you a solution that meets your needs.
Using a professional disposal company like N. Vitale Disposal Inc., you do not have to worry about what to do with items removed as they have a plan already in place for the best removal options. We hope you learned some great information on getting the office space ready in 2021 and wish you the best of luck.