Eating out, poor hand hygiene and erratic weather may be among causes, say medics
Happy faces were also spotted by Parvez Rupani, managing director of Skyline Group of Companies, that opened its offices this week. While the company continues to observe the social distancing norms in their offices, the call centre staff and the back-end operation team will continue to work from home. The 'new normal' also presents new challenges - chief among them being who works from office and who works from home, what must the 'new office' look like.
Work from office or home?
"Even if you have Zoom meetings, you are never sure whether you have some's full attention. People can always be muted or they may be on a call, but just not concentrating fully," he says.
"I think it will be a 70:30 ratio, where 70 per cent people may continue to work from home and 30 per cent will go to work. Either way, we have reached a point where we have to think outside the punch in-punch out culture."
Even with offices reopening, social distancing remains non-negotiable. At Falcon 9 offices, for instance, every desk is marked with clear instructions on where one is or isn't supposed to sit. Chairs and desks have been marked for seating to comply with social distancing norms. "While we did split the teams, within those teams, they do tend to feel separated."
Does it mean an open office will be a thing of the past? While reams have been written about its infeasibility, Claire Donnelly, business growth and HR strategist, thinks otherwise. "Sure, desk sharing cannot happen. But an open office also ensures there is movement. Also, if teams are divided and one group gets to work two days and the rest for another two, you may not need to alter the layouts majorly."
Even if the layouts are not drastically changed, the seating arrangement along with limited capacity means the office that was part of your routine in pre-Covid times might not seem all that familiar, after all.
anamika@khaleejtimes.com
Eating out, poor hand hygiene and erratic weather may be among causes, say medics
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