A safe and effective workplace is possible as we begin our re-entry during the COVID 19 pandemic. Possible, but wrought with challenges…. or put another way, it can be done, but it is going to be challenging, and the CHOICES we make today will shape our tomorrows.
Here are 8 simple rules to save you, your organization, and community a lot of time, and avoid a lot of pain:
- CHOOSE EXPERTS. No-one will be an expert at COVID 19; however, you can find experts in workflow optimization, and solutions as a service, which translates into human workflow.
- HAVE A STRATEGIC PLAN. Working with your expert, make the time to talk about what is known about your specific workspace. Explore obstacles, discover the unknown, and together, develop the strategy for opening day.
- HAVE A TACTICAL PLAN. The strategic plan sets the direction down on paper. The tactical plan puts in place the hard solutions such as directional flow signage, distancing reminders, sneeze guards, masks, etc.
- BE FLEXIBLE & PIVOT. You can have the best strategic plan in the world, and sound tactics to role out that strategy, but the real world begins to happen, and that is where planning a “what if” option allows your organization to be flexible, nimble, and adapt seamlessly.
- CHOOSE A SINGLE SOURCE. Find those experts that take ownership of the strategic solution, deliver the tangible/tactical solutions, such as mask, directional and distancing solutions, and will be onsite to aid in the real world need for flexibility and pivoting.
- CHOOSE RECOMMENDED SOLUTIONS THAT DO NOT ERODE. There is a lot of information available. Not all of it is accurate, and much of it focuses on tactics (masks, direction or distance signage), and lacks strategy. Others have lofty strategies, and no means to implement tactically. Find a source that learns your unique team, the challenges you face, and stays with you past the end of planning, but rather rolls through until no more pivots are necessary.
- AVOID CHEAP FOR EASY SOLUTIONS. COVID 19 is not an easy virus to figure out, and certainly, not easy to avoid. No-one is exempt from this virus. It is better to plan for the long haul and have a mindset that challenges “THE PRICE OF THE PRODUCT VS. THE COST OF THE SOLUTION.”
Your single source should live and breath the cost of the solution, and you should rely on them to do that.
- TRUST MATTERS. Single sources you trust will guide you safely to the “new world”, through all that is unknown and lies ahead. Trust that you can share your budget, and they will respect that as the boundaries to work within.
When we look back on this time in our life, we will look back and be reminded that getting through the COVID 19 pandemic was all about CHOICES. What have you chosen today to help your workplace for all the tomorrows to come?
Photo by Edwin Hooper on Unsplash
