“6-Foot Physical Distancing” – we’ve heard the term plenty of times, but it’s more important now than ever! Our Return-to-Work plans are evolving, and we’re placing a greater emphasis on carefully controlling and cleaning the workspace to keep our teams as healthy as possible.
But the questions remain… what sort of changes can we make? Are there ways to make a room “6 foot”-friendly without changing everything? Continental Office is helping countless clients review their spaces and find solutions that fit their spaces, budgets, timelines, and plans. Let’s check out some of the ways we’re helping our clients make their spaces safer and healthier for all:
1.) Screens & Dividers
We know from our Return to Work Survey that 71% of today’s workers think adding dividers and partitions for open workstations is important! Fortunately, there are options and styles to fit your space and your budget:
Likely the most frequently noticed change in some retail, restaurant, and office settings is the addition of screens and dividers to separate spaces. Providing a transparent barrier, like an acrylic or plexiglass sheet, keeps a space feeling as open as ever while still providing a layer of protection for your team; mountable sheets can be added to the tops of cubicles, and workstations can be reworked to keep your team feeling connected and protected!
Alternatively, larger standalone dividers or those attached to workstations can provide a more isolated feeling of protection, furthering the atmosphere of separation in your space. Even moving, flexible dividers are a perfect solution for classrooms, office spaces, and nearly any setting! A combination of both transparent acrylic and fabric/hard-surface dividers can help the right areas in any space, but of course, whatever kind of screens you employ, keeping it all clean and regularly disinfected will help your team stay healthy and safe!
2.) Physical Separation
One of the most popular and easiest ways to create separation in your space is exactly that: physically moving and arranging furniture so that people are at least six feet from each other. While some spaces may pose greater or fewer challenges than others, our teams are helping all clients (with big and small spaces!) to create a physically distanced workplace that keeps their teams safe. Often, our Design team is able to find a solution that our clients hadn’t yet thought of, reworking their space to keep everyone safe.
Some ideas to get thoughts flowing about your space include:
Simple Workstation Adjustments:
Added Partitions | Added Mobile Whiteboards/Divider | Same density per day
More Advanced Workstation Adjustments:
Furniture rearrangement | Added Partitions | Increased Screen Height
Common Areas:
Increase spacing | Add boundaries | Remove pillows, accessories, etc.
You can also reduce the occupancy of enclosed spaces like conference rooms or even convert them to dedicated workstations.
Conference rooms:
Adjust quantity and spacing of chairs | Add standing height tables
3.) DIRTT Physical Distancing Solutions
As we discover new information about COVID-19 and how best to keep our teams safe, our spaces have to be able to adapt and change accordingly. One of the best ways we can help your space now and in the future is with our DIRTT solutions! Sure, DIRTT's prefabricated construction means a fast build time and incredible customization/design options, but it also means it can be moved and reconfigured as time goes on!
DIRTT Reconfigurable Interior Construction can fit any need in any space!
Having the flexibility in your space to change quickly, adding a panel here or there, changing one wall from all-glass to wood, etc., means your space can quickly and easily change to help your team stay safe and match your specific needs! Check out our DIRTT Prefabricated Physical Distancing Brochure for more ideas and to see how we can help:
4.) Asset Inventory Management
With all of the physical separation, new guidelines, and changes to our spaces, we’re finding that many of our clients temporarily have more furniture than they need! Rather than sell and have to re-purchase or otherwise find an inconvenient solution, Continental Office offers our Asset Inventory Management service (AIM) as a great service to store pieces that you may not need at the moment and help keep track of your inventory. Reach out to our services team to see how our AIM system works and can help your organization save headaches and resources!
Want more resources on Physical Distancing? Check out both our Physical Distancing Layouts Brochure to see how our resources can help your space both now and in the future!
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