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COVID-19 heavily impacts the way we work and requires many office workers to work from home.

With lockdowns now being relaxed in many countries, the future will probably require a more hybrid approach, transitioning between working from home and the office. The home office will in many ways, become an extension of the corporate office.

If you are looking to establish this new way of working as a longer term or more permanent practice in your organisation, make sure you tackle the following three topics as part of your strategy – safety, organisation and wellbeing:

1. Safety first

In preparation for a return to the workplace, it is essential to create a safe and healthy environment for you, your colleagues, potential customers and visitors, which means everyone needs to respect the rules for social distancing in the workplace. What changes can you make to limit physical contact and enable social distancing in the workplace?

• Limiting number of people on site (and in busy areas)
• Desk layouts to ensure enough space in between
• Screens and partitions
• Clean offices (surface and screen cleaning products and upscaled services)

Just announcing measures will probably not be enough. You need to make people constantly aware of the rules and guideline that they need to follow when they are at the office. You can do this by placing signage at strategic points on walls and floors with instructions on distance and hygiene practices.

At the same time, as more employees work remotely, businesses must still remain compliant with GDPR. Employees accessing sensitive data at home may be at risk of breaking rules, especially when paper data is involved. Make sure that employees handling confidential information are aware of their requirements under the data protection regulations, both in the corporate office and within their home office. Personal data is any information that identifies an individual, whether a customer, client, employee or associate.

If data needs to be destroyed, consider the Fellowes range of home office shredders. The patented SafeSense^® technology is perfect for a home office where children and pets jump around. If your employees need to store confidential data on paper, use archiving solutions, like transfer files and storage boxes.

2. Organisation is key

Having a streamlined home office, is fundamental in the efficiency and productivity of your employees, both at home and in the corporate office. Use magazine files, desktop drawers or boxes to organise documents in a structured way. When you switch between the home office and corporate office, use a portable handifile to make sure you have your important documents with you wherever you go.

3. Take care of wellbeing 

This topic can often be overlooked in the current times of chaos and uncertainty but perhaps the wellbeing of yourself and your employees is now more important than it ever was. This goes far beyond a phone call every now and then to find out how your employees are feeling.

To work productively from home, it is essential that you keep your staff connected and motivated and that your home office is equipped ergonomically to prevent pain, discomfort or injuries. Make sure you prevent tension in the back and neck whilst staring at a computer screen, avoid pressure on the wrists whilst typing and reduce inactivity. Find out more about the Fellowes range of homeworking solutions .

By investing in safety, organisation and wellbeing, your workforce will be more successful and productive wherever they work.