As more and more workplaces open post the COVID lockdown, there’ll be more questions that office managers, staff and facility operators will ask about social distancing, and how to enforce it. Workspaces that have just a handful of desks and cubicles may find it relatively easy to follow company policy around COVID-related social distancing. However, larger enterprises, with 20, 50, or even 100 or more staff might find it challenging.

Thankfully, using social distancing tools and software can make planning, organizing and managing post-COVID office space a breeze!

Effective Office space management

One important cornerstone of any corporate social distancing policy is the judicious management and use of available office space. It is imperative that office managers and HR specialists give careful thought to who sits where, and next to whom. Manually, this would be an extremely time consuming and error-prone process. However, given the right social distancing tools and software, office space managers can make space management highly efficient and effective.

Feature-rich Room Booking and scheduling software allows employees, who are temporarily working from home and planning a return to work, to plan ahead where (and next to whom) they would like to sit. With social distancing now the rule of the day, people leaders and facilities managers may use the software to “permanently reserve” key cubicles and desks, so no employee is able to book contiguous workspaces.

With COVID office space management software, such as DeskFlex, the tools’ ability to integrate with corporate calendar and scheduling systems – like Microsoft Exchange – presents yet another opportunity to implement company-wide social distancing protocols. Employees, looking to work from the office, can check a colleague’s schedule online, and then book appropriate non-contiguous office space in advance, before they walk into the office.

While being within collaboration distance of each other, staff members will still be in compliance with new back-to-work mandates. The use of integrated social distancing tools and software solutions then makes office space scheduling and management relatively seamless.

Desk Space Management in a COVID work-world

Managing office desks, cubicles and workstations, in a way that respects social distancing norms, is critical in the fight to keep COVID at bay. Spacing occupancy of these corporate assets, and scheduling their use effectively, can be a challenging task, more so if you have space sprawled over large areas or multiple floors.

Thankfully, there are desk management tools that can lend a helping hand!

FlexCube is just one such solution that office managers may deploy as part of their social distancing toolset. Place these intelligent cubes on desks, or mount them on cubicles and workstations, to display the availability/vacancy status of workspaces. Internet connected and WiFi enabled, the cubes act as a color-coded signaling system: 

1) Green (Desk is available)

2) Red (Desk is reserved)

3) Blue (Desk has a permanent user)

4) Yellow (Desk has 30 minutes before it will be available

Staff in search of a cubicle or desk, and looking to practice social distancing on the office floor. Can easily take their cues from color-coding they see on the cube. A rule of thumb might be. Don’t book a desk with a Green light unless there’s at least one Red cube between it! And that’s as easy as technology makes managing desk space in a COVID work-world!