How to prep your meeting rooms for a return to the office

More than 60% of adults in the United States have had at least one COVID-19 vaccine. As vaccination rates increase across the country and world, employers are preparing to reopen offices and meeting rooms to resume regular in-person meetings for the first time in over a year.

The world has seen social distancing in everyone's daily lives, but the first all-hands meeting back in the office is going to bring something new into play: social distancing at work.

Prepare for social distancing at work

A recent study showed less than 30% office occupancy across 10 major United States cities, but this number is increasing every week.

There are several steps to prepare for social distancing in the workplace.

The CDC has released these guidelines to keep everyone safe returning to work.

1. Ensure the office Is ready for occupancy

Many hazards can arise when an office is closed for prolonged periods of time. There could be mold, faulty water systems or pests and rodents.

You should also check the air and water circulation. Poor quality in either of those areas can increase chances of your employees getting sick.

Any potential issue needs to be identified and taken care of before employees return to the office.

2. Identify potential ways employees might contract COVID-19 on the clock

Conduct a hazard assessment of the office and make plans to keep employees safe. Implement new cleaning procedures and guidelines for social distancing at work.

Communicate with all employees and contractors to keep them in the loop on your plans.

3. Follow the hierarchy of controls to protect your employees to the best of your ability

This can include providing PPE, social distancing in the workplace, hybrid office models and more.

Many companies big and small are planning to keep a hybrid workplace for the foreseeable future, and this will require updated technology and workplace plans to help everyone be as efficient as possible.

Meeting rooms in a hybrid office

Smaller meeting rooms, or breakout rooms, are set to become a cornerstone for new hybrid office environments.

However, in the wake of so much turbulence in the business world, meeting rooms are going to require some updates:

  • Increased sanitization
  • Social distancing at work
  • Robust meeting room booking etiquette
  • Videoconferencing technology

All meeting rooms set to become video conferencing rooms

Technology is going to play an even bigger role in offices going forward than it has before. The right office technology will ensure everyone can be at the next all-hands meeting, even if they're working remotely.

8x8 Meet, a program to assist and increase companies' videoconferencing capabilities, has an add-on called Spaces. Spaces is designed to turn any and every meeting room into one capable of videoconferencing. No office is too large or small.

Spaces works with almost any vendor hardware and uses intuitive pairing technology, calendar integration and more.

8x8 Meet and Spaces can also provide live streaming of conferences or meetings, dial-in and dial-out conferences and other technology and services to help make the hybrid office model work.

Check out all the 8x8 video conferencing services and capabilities available. Reach out for more information or to get 8x8 Meet and Spaces integrated into your office.