Post Covid-19. Returning Back to The Office.

Advantages of Returning to Work

After a long stretch of employees working from home, companies are now taking steps to re-open offices for staff to come back to work. They may be asking what precautions and new procedures their company will implement to ensure a safe work environment—several new policies to keep their employees safe once the company re-opens. The workplace will experience pains as companies rethink and change office procedures.

Fundamental change’s that companies may implement include:

• One-way hallways

• Sneeze guards at front desks

• Properly spaced desks to ensure social distancing

• Staggered schedules to lessen occupancy in buildings

• The disappearance of shared keyboards and other equipment

• Introducing clean desk policies for nonessential items stored in drawers

For many, it will be stressful going back to the office. Working remotely has been a “new norm,” and employees have gotten used to the routine of working from home, but there are some advantages to going back to the office.

According to I-sigma, there are some advantages to going back to the office.

Productivity

It is tough to stay focused and productive when working from home. There are a lot of distractions such as a doorbell ringing, kids disrupting, doing household chores. You have a structured work environment in an office that you can adhere to and get your work done without outside distractions.

Face-to-Face Camaraderie and Collaboration

Even though Zoom has been the new way of communicating, virtual meetings do not provide the same face-to-face interaction and community as seeing people in person. Besides, working from home can make one feel isolated. Collaboration is complicated, with limited face-to-face communication. A recent study from PwC showed that half of the businesses expect a dip in productivity during the pandemic because of a lack of remote-work capabilities.

Office Equipment, Supplies, and Services

An office has all of the office equipment you need just steps away, such as high production printers or scanners. A person is out of luck in a work at home scenario. Also, it is helpful to have office supplies at your fingertips, such as folders, paper clips, binders, and copy paper.

Security Risks

There are many security risks when working remotely. Documents that are received electronically or as hard copies or servers accessed by home-based equipment; can put data at risk. If Employees download files to their household computers, security risks also increase. Another security risk is when employees do not take proper precautions to discard and destroy media and confidential documents, such as using a professional shredding service.

There will be definite adjustments as offices open, and employees return to work. With proper procedures in place, it can be a smooth transition.

Shark Shredding offers various shredding and document management services to secure your data, whether you are back in the office or still working from home. Contact us to learn more about how we can protect your documents.