The world is coming back to normal after the novel coronavirus has forced many countries to shut down their economies and ask citizens to stay at home for their own safety. Many have started lifting restrictions, allowing more activities even in cities hardest hit by the deadly virus.
While businesses are opening up, many have been affected by the pandemic. It is a challenging time for everyone. Once it is all over, how can you bounce back and regain what you have lost from the global crisis?
Here are some tips to follow as you guide your business into the post-pandemic future:
Redefining the Modern Workplace
During COVID-19, many businesses had to close their doors. They either had to make their employees work from the safety of their living rooms or seize operations altogether.
A pandemic is one reason why the traditional office setting had to be reconsidered. Apparently, many jobs can be done remotely.
It is not difficult to make the workplace more flexible. Cloud integration makes it possible to let employees work from home. Call a ServiceNow implementation service to aid you in upgrading your current platforms seamlessly and without interrupting your regular processes.
Your business will not be the only one making the shift. It seems that the future will see more companies moving their previously on-site employees to a completely work-from-home arrangement. Some might allow a few of their employees to be remote to free up space in the office.
Safety in the Office
However, remote work is not for everyone. For some, being at home where countless distractions exist can be, well, distracting.
If remote work is not feasible for your team, then your responsibility is to ensure that everyone is safe when they go to the office. Adopt measures that follow social distancing recommendations. The open floor plan may be finally bowing out. Now, desks should have ample spaces between them. There should also be changes in hygiene and cleaning habits. Areas — where plenty of people come and go or gather like the kitchen, conference rooms, bathrooms, and elevators — should be disinfected regularly to remove any virus or bacteria that lingers in the area.
Office culture should undergo some changes, too. Meetings might be limited to only a few people at a time or none at all. Paper documents that had to be passed to one person to another should be digitized to minimize close contact between people. Wearing a mask would be a common practice, especially during flu season.
Prepare for the Next Pandemic
COVID-19 will unlikely be the last pandemic to threaten the entire world. It is only a matter of time before another virus jumps from animal to humans. Once again, it will cause human activity to come in a halt, devastating economies.
So, now that you have had experience dealing with one, you should list down every issue that your business has encountered and what you have learned from them. You can apply these lessons to ensure that, once the next pandemic begins, your future is secured and your business will survive.
It will be a long time before everything returns to the way it used to be (if it ever will). You and your team will have to get used to changes you have and you will implement. However, this is only temporary. Eventually, you will have a new normal and you can continue operating your business as usual.
