What does a safe return to the office look like?

“It’s got to be a nimble mindset…

things will continue to change”.
Edge Director, Michael Fern

In the Telegraph on 1 September, we saw a virologist and a doctor talking about what precautions they are taking and what they think we should do in returning to the office. Their comments echoed points in a piece in the FT, ‘Is it safe to go back to the office’, published on 3 August, which highlighted the importance of good ventilation systems, the potential dangers of hot-desking, the preference of stairs over lifts and the need for careful management in the office canteen.

“[it’s] about the transparency of the organisation and its communications”

As Edge prepares to return to the studio, Director, Michael Fern explains how our approach is all about adaptability and acceptance that change is the only constant.

“We’ve been holding company workshops throughout lock-down to prepare a ‘back to office plan’. At this moment in time companies have the opportunity to rethink the purpose of the physical office, why people visit the office and to redesign it accordingly.

As it isn’t automatically a place for day-to-day work that can be done remotely, the office can become a destination for social connections and collaboration. For this to work, employees and clients will want reassurance that the companies are listening and adapting their operations and environments to their concerns.

Putting hygiene at the heart of the workplace planning is essential for a safe return to the office with features for social distancing of desks and in common areas; the use of particular materials; air filtration systems and the use of technology to make offices contactless. But the challenge as employees start to return to the office is not only about immediate hygiene actions to comply with health and safety regulations. More fundamentally, it is about having an estate and people strategy that encompasses permanent design changes and workplace practices which prioritise wellbeing. And this includes new flexible working practices, behaviour changes and effective communication to support the new mindset and behaviours.

We’re very mindful of how important active listening is and the need for business to keep a dialogue going with their teams to understand what the barriers and challenges might be for working in the office. For example - is removing a microwave from the staff kitchen for hygiene purposes then going to have a negative impact on the happiness of staff? Is mask wearing something a business should make mandatory - or is it something we do out of respect for others more concerned/vulnerable than us?

In this way it’s less about the space and design requirements and more about the transparency of the organisation and its communications”.

Michael Fern, Edge Director