Modular Offices Offer Solutions Amid COVID-19

The pandemic brought on significant changes in the workplace. For months, more Americans worked from home than ever before -- and a record number are now working from home permanently or at least some of the time. While it may seem ideal during the pandemic, there are some industries and professions that are ill-suited to working from home indefinitely.

Those employers will need to take demonstrable actions ensuring employees that they are taking their safety and health seriously. One such action is to take advantage of modular warehouse offices and/or portable office walls. Learn more below!

Coronavirus Dates Hybrid Working Models

Environmental, Health, Safety (EHS) Today reports that 50% of American workers fear they will be exposed to coronavirus on-the-job. With these fears running amok, it is wise for employers to know the types of office environments that are no longer practical -- at least for the foreseeable future. These include:

• Hot-Desking. Hot-desking is a style that may be adopted in modern work environments, or in environments where employees have the option to frequently work from home. In these work environments, employees share communal desks and workspaces. Employees are not assigned a particular desk. Instead, they choose a workspace when they come in, usually on a first-come, first-serve basis.
• Hoteling. Hoteling is very similar to hot desking. Often, the only distinction is that employers and employees use an app or system to virtually manage the communal workspace. Using that app, employees can log in, reserve a desk before coming in, and be guaranteed that desk for the day. Typically, employees do not get the same desk day after day.
• Open- Or Conference-Style Work Environments. In open or conference-style work environments, workers do not have offices, cubicles, or partitioned desks. Instead, employees sit around a conference table or at a long, open table and work alongside other employees.

Unfortunately, the pandemic renders all of these models moot -- at least for the time being. Open-style workspaces are not conducive to social distancing, and hot-desking and hoteling may involve too many shared or communal surfaces, unnecessarily increasing employees' risks of contracting the virus.

When Remote Work Falls Short

Working from home may seem like the perfect solution in practice. In reality, there are some notable shortcomings of remote work. Those include communication, collaboration, and culture.

While it is possible to communicate some things through email or in a Zoom meeting, some things get lost in translation. For difficult or involved topics, sometimes face-to-face communication is still best. Likewise, it may be easier to designate tasks and get feedback in-person than it is through task management software. Finally, culture and feeling like a part of the team are tricky when work is entirely remote. It is much more challenging to create a laidback, modern vibe if you do not have the opportunity to regularly speak to or interact with your employees.

Meeting Halfway: Constructing Modular Office Buildings And Putting Up Portable Office Walls

Some of the potential solutions during this time are modular warehouse offices and portable walls. Modular offices can be put up to your specifications. Instead of having an open office environment with hundreds of employees, consider having a small, contained, and partitioned environment. Consider putting up several, separate modular offices. Limit employees per office. Employees can be divvied up by department, project, or team.

In addition to modular warehouse offices, you may want to consider investing in portable walls. These can be put up to create individual workspaces or offices for now. Use the partitions to help the employees in the modular office maintain social distancing. In the future, when the risk of transmission passes, the walls can be taken down to create a more open space if desired.

Do not risk the health of your employees. Look to creative and effective solutions during the coronavirus, like modular warehouse offices and modular office buildings.