by Zoe Zorka
Image by Pawel Grzegorz from Pixabay
As the world has changed this year, so has the office. We don’t know if we’ll ever return to the office again or people will just work from home forevermore. Whatever you decide to do in your business it will be essential to have a base and a HQ where people can meet when they need to, however, if you’re going to look for new premises once the pandemic has eased then you’ll likely be looking for something new that you have never looked for before in an office building. It could be now that the doors to the building open automatically, so you don’t have to touch the handles, it might be that before you get in the lift, you tell it which floor you want to go to rather than pressing buttons and then when you reach your floor you walk into a room full of dividers and well-spaced desks instead of a crowded open floor plan. In a post-coronavirus office, you will find that there are stricter and more frequent cleaning policies and amped-up ventilation systems too. So if you’re looking for a new office, what should you be looking for?
Location
Some things will stay the same, and location is one of these things, even in a post-COVID business world. The location might even be more critical now, though, as you think about how your employees and visitors can get there. Do they need to go on public transport? How much contact will they have with other people on their way into your office? Then once you have that part answered, you should look at the security of the area as well as amenities close to the office as these are important for keeping your clients and staff happy!
Infrastructure
There aren’t many businesses that can function efficiently without a reliable internet connection. Some offices are managed, or they are serviced offices, and will generally include internet access as part of their rent. If you’re leasing somewhere privately though, you’ll need to factor in the cost of getting a line connected and the monthly payments for access. Infrastructure doesn’t just mean the internet, either. What about postal services or telephone connections? What about your energy bills? Does the building feature metal composite panels which will mean that it has good thermal and acoustic insulation? How is the building for natural sunlight and windows? Check all of these things as they will affect your business productivity and your bills.
Size
Some people will want to downsize as more of their employees will be working from home and others will be wanting to expand their office space so that they can accommodate social distancing rules and give their employees plenty of space to work safely. There is no right or wrong; it really depends on which direction you’re heading with your business. If you end up getting a space which is too big though, in the future, you could rent it out or fill it with more employees.