We are now in a coronavirus economy. Businesses have to open up, sell products, and provide services to survive. One of the most affected sectors is the shared workspace industry. Since people can quickly come and go, the risk of exposure is higher. However, their demand post-pandemic seems to surge as people try to do as much work remotely as they can. Opening and allowing workers to share a workspace poses a significant concern. How can co-working spaces adjust to this? Here are some adjustments that these shared workplaces can apply:
Address Spacing Concerns
One of the main issues that coworking spaces have to look into is the space itself. They have to provide a space that allows members to work with proper physical distancing from each other to reduce their risk of exposure to the virus. Similarly, they also have to make sure that they can still accommodate a good number of people to earn a profit. To achieve this, they can redesign their offices to include both indoor and outdoor spaces. This way, they can practice safe distancing without sacrificing much of their profits. A more cost-effective approach is putting up acrylic panels to separate each client from others.
They can also try to schedule several people coming in and out of the office. Limiting access to members only and preventing walk-in clients can also help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Plus, it will also help coworking space managers to identify and trace people should one of the patrons end up testing positive for the disease.
Practice Daily Disinfection
The coronavirus is a deadly disease. But it can be effectively prevented by maintaining thorough sanitation and disinfection procedures. It should be done daily and religiously. If possible, each station should have a dedicated supply of cleaning products, such as alcohol, wipes, and sanitizers. Having an air purifier in high traffic areas also helps kill viruses that may be present in the air.
Screen Each Client
Each client should be screened before entering the premises. By checking whether they have a fever or any symptoms similar to those common with the COVID-19 virus, office managers can prevent the spread of infections. It would also be prudent to have each client fill out a health declaration that they were not exposed to the virus, they do not have symptoms, and that they do not have any recent travel to a place where there is a high incidence of the coronavirus. This frees them up from liability if someone in the coworking space contracts the disease due to their exposure within their office.
Offer More Personal Offices
Another way to entice more people is to convert open spaces to personal offices where they can work with privacy and lesser exposure. By having their own office, clients do not have to spend hours facing other people who may accidentally sneeze or don’t care about other people’s well-being. Offering small office space can also be an excellent way to allow people to continue their work without exposing themselves to other people. Since some may argue about wearing a mask while indoors.
Humans will always need to meet and work in a community. As such, the demand for coworking spaces will be there, even in the new normal. The challenge for these startups is to come up with ways for how these remote workers will consider them over the rest. There are various ways to adapt and continue to emerge as one of the most promising real estate trends of today – even in the post-pandemic era.