Making decisions about renting office space is more challenging because of the impact of coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic. Many people are asking how the current health situation affects office leasing and businesses at large. Is work-from-home the latest trend? Or will the new normal open more opportunities for commercial property owners? 

In this article, you’ll learn the essential things about renting office space following the pandemic.  

Health And Safety Protocols Compliance 

In the ‘new normal,’ property owners are mandated by governments to comply with all health and safety protocols set in place to protect the public. Future tenants are also advised to do the same.  

In order to find tenants, office operators are taking this seriously. As an example, our friends who have Offices in Manbre Wharf, have fully implemented health and safety protocols to ensure that tenants are safeguarded from the threats of COVID-19. Everywhere else in the world is having to do the same. 

So, what are the general health and safety protocols when it comes to renting offices? 

Here are the details of the scope of health and safety protocols involving renting office space and other commercial establishments that you should know before renting office space: 

• Risk Assessment: Assessment of environmental, health, and safety risks, which tackles the responsibility of landlords and property owners when creating rental policies and agreements. 
• Management And Reporting Of Cases: It tackles the responsibility of landlords and property owners to report any case of COVID-19 during the period of lease to concerning health and government authorities. 
• Implementation Of Guidelines: Once health and safety guidelines are fully explained to tenants, landlords and property owners should do all means to monitor full compliance. On the other hand, tenants, particularly office or business owners, must make their employees aware of the policy.  

Social Distancing In Offices 

Before the strike of COVID-19, many office layouts and designs have open plans, which aimed to promote good collaboration, better communication, teamwork, and cost-savings. However, the current pandemic forces everyone to maintain physical distancing or what is called “social distancing” to keep people safe from one another. 

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that people practice social distancing by maintaining at least a six feet distance between individuals. Because coronavirus is highly contagious, employee desks must be spaced wide apart, and possibly each employee should have an individual cubicle to avoid getting infected.  

Renting Additional Office Spaces 

It is now impossible to fit employees in offices as pre-COVID-19 having the same number of people in the same square footage. Business owners either need to set alternating work schedules for their employees by creating an Agile Workplace or lease additional office space, which means additional overhead cost. 

Here are some benefits of renting additional office spaces following the pandemic: 

• Be able to resume peak business operations to attain higher productivity and revenue as compared to last year. 
• Help businesses recover from low production and sales because of temporary closure or sluggish business operations during the peak of COVID-19.  
• During the new normal, renting extra office spaces is a better option than compromising the health of your employees and facing legal consequences due to negligence. 

Corporate Culture Adjustments 

Workplace culture greatly transcends in your office. Corporate culture is highly reflected by the office layout and structure because collaboration, open communication, and promoting productivity are readily seen through open plans. However, there must be some adjustments following the pandemic, which means less worker density, fewer meetings, and less social get-togethers.  

When renting a new office space, you may need to also make some adjustments to your previously planned corporate culture. Here are the challenges you might face when adjusting to corporate culture when renting office space following the pandemic crisis: 

• Recruitment: It will be a challenge to attract new talents, but the virtual world can decrease the burden of hiring new employees. Final face-to-face interviews are still possible in office buildings following the health protocols, such as installing hard, transparent plastic dividers between the interviewers and the job applicants. 
• Office Design: Designing and modifying existing workspaces can be difficult. Supporting the established culture and following the new health and safety protocols poses a challenge to everyone. For this reason, your architect and interior designer should work together to come up with the best solution designed for your business needs. 
• Co-Working: While co-working has been a trend and major contributory factor to the office market recovery, the new health protocols that accompany COVID-19 may have an adverse effect on co-working businesses. Co-working companies may diminish following the pandemic, so venturing into this work setting is not advised. 

Conclusion 

Renting office spaces nowadays can be more challenging than ever. All future tenants must comply with existing health protocols, like ensuring social distancing and wearing of personal protective equipment, like face masks. Business owners would likely need to rent additional office spaces and make the necessary corporate culture adjustments to be productive and realize business goals. Let us know if we can help you find new office space. Contact us today!