How to Plan a Safe Return to the Workplace

Let’s face it–our hands are germ-spreading machines. We’ve heard over and over again since the onset of the coronavirus that the best way to stop the transmission is to wash our hands. We’ve been told to stop touching our face and avoid shaking hands. So, as some organizations begin to return to the workplace, there’s a logical focus on changing behaviors to avoid unnecessary contact. The good news is that technology already exists to create a more hands-free workplace.

Careful and responsible choices about employees’ return to the workplace make safety paramount. People need to be safe and feel safe. That means not only putting infection control measures in place, but also reinforcing new protocols and processes with better tools and persistent visual cues. These are areas where technology is already ahead of us. Here’s how:

Touchless Reservations

Reserving a space in the office can mean walking around until you find what’s available and then touching an on-demand device to secure the room’s use. There are two problems with this in a post-COVID world: We no longer want to be wandering around aimlessly searching for space and passing lots of other people while we do it, and we don’t want to touch devices others have used unless they’ve been cleaned first.

Engineers and designers were thinking about ease of use when they designed Auto Book and Auto Release. These features integrate Workplace Advisor Subscription sensor data with RoomWizard, a room reservation system. Now, Auto Book and Auto Release are in place to add more safety to the office environment by automating the booking experience when someone walks into a space or doesn’t show up at all. The room knows when it’s occupied and when it’s empty, and can automatically book the space or release it without anyone having to touch a thing.

Visible from a Distance

Many organizations are considering adopting new circulation patterns upon a return to the workplace. They’ll be asking people to walk their space in one direction to avoid bumping into others and eliminate close encounters in hallways.

So, while it used to simply be an annoyance when room signage was hard to see, now being able to see at a distance if a room is occupied can help create a safer environment. Designers who created the recently released, next-generation RoomWizard equipped its digital signage with a bold interface that displays critical meeting information that’s easy to read at a distance. Clear, simplified digital signage can help avoid unnecessary hovering outside of a room and prevent people from having to traipse across the office floor just to see how long a space will be in use. In addition, these visual reinforcements can help accelerate behavior changes. For example, use