Every aspect of how people live and work has had to adjust due to COVID-19 — office configurations are not exempt. As employees trickle back into their office spaces after working from home for months, avoiding viral spread is still a top priority. Office spaces must be different than they were in years past. Claustrophobic clumps of desks no longer fit the bill. Separation and privacy are more necessary than ever before — you may need new office furniture to accommodate these changes in priorities.
How do you set up an office that meets the CDC’s guidelines? What are some creative ways you might reconfigure your space to promote employee health and safety? Learn how office furniture with thoughtful design and configuration can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in your office. With the right furniture, you can make your space safe and workable, creating an office that’s both efficient and compliant with CDC guidelines. Learn about cubicle installation during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Challenges of Installing Office Furniture Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic
Whether you’re moving to a new space or reconfiguring your current space, office furniture installation post-COVID will bring unique challenges. Your workplace should meet the CDC guidelines for preventing the spread of COVID-19, but your furniture also needs to match up with electrical outlets, walkways, windows and other elements. With limited floor space, you need innovative solutions for promoting social distancing with your office furniture. You’ll also have to follow CDC guidelines during installation, and you might need to reconfigure furniture as policies change.
Configuring a Space to Meet Guidelines
CDC recommendations for preventing the spread of COVID-19 mandate a six-foot social distance. Office spaces need to keep employees separated and accommodate enough distance between them. You might have to rethink your office layout — you’ll want to replace huddled, open-plan desk clumps with more closed-off cubicles that have protective guards between them. You could also install floor-to-ceiling glass walls to enclose work areas.
In addition to preventing the spread of germs, walls and barriers between workspaces promote better concentration and improve employee efficiency. Your employees are less likely to distract one another as they perform tasks. A little privacy can go a long way.
Reconfiguring Office Furniture Post-COVID
Another challenge is making retroactive changes to your office space to keep up with evolving guidelines. As the World Health Organization continues to study the virus, new information comes to light. Existing recommendations can change at the drop of a hat. You’ll want office furniture that’s easy to move around and reconfigure, in case you need to rethink your layout after initial installation.
How to Overcome These Challenges
Overwhelmed by the challenges? No worries! At Arnold’s Office Furniture, we can help you every step of the way as you ready your office for the COVID-19 world. We’ll plan your space and deliver easy-to-assemble furniture or install it for you. We also provide everything you need for a health-focused office, including disposable masks, wipes and gloves, as well as rapid-response COVID tests. We can help you get your office ready to safely welcome back your employees.
Professional Space Planning
You might find the most challenging part of reconfiguring your office to accommodate CDC guidelines is designing a new layout. When doing so, you must consider dozens of factors, including lighting, windows, electrical outlets, walkways and internet connection. And now, you have to account for CDC guidelines, too.
We provide a custom layout service for your office space at Arnold’s Office Furniture. All we need from you is a floorplan and list of requests, and we’ll create layout options for you. Choose a layout that works for you, and we’ll bring it to life with our professional installation service.
Easy-to-Assemble Furniture
If you’re a seasoned do-it-yourselfer, you know how challenging some assembly instructions can be. Straightforward directions and easy-assemble pieces are a must for any self-installation project. Arnold’s Office Furniture is always a breeze to assemble on your own. It’s also easy to reconfigure, should you need to accommodate changing guidelines in the future.
Professional Furniture Installation: Office Cubicles Installation Amid COVID
If you’re short on time or helping hands, there’s no need to assemble and install new office furniture by yourself. Our experts are comfortable following the layout plan we’ve designed for you and configuring cubicles as requested. You can save yourself time and frustration by taking advantage of our professional installation service. Additionally, you can rest assured knowing our installation technicians will follow all CDC guidelines while putting your furniture in place.
Masks, Wipes, Hand Sanitizer, Gloves and COVID-19 Tests
Creating a safe, new office space is about more than furniture configuration. You’ll also need a bottomless supply of disposal safety products — masks, wipes, hand sanitizer and gloves. You may also need tests to distribute to employees routinely or in case they show any symptoms. You can get all the safety products and COVID-19 tests you need through our Sunline Supply subsidiary.
Reassembling Office Furniture During COVID
Once you’ve configured and installed your furniture, you might not be in the clear yet. Guidelines for avoiding the spread of COVID-19 are ever-changing. You’ll need furniture that’s easy to reorganize or readjust so you can redo your office layout when necessary.
Tips for Reassembling Office Furniture
Choose adjustable office furniture so you can make retroactive design changes. You don’t need to purchase all-new furniture to stay in line with shifting regulations, as long as your current belongings accommodate readjustments. When assembling or reassembling cubicles and other workspace equipment, follow these straightforward tips for the best experience.
- Consider all solutions: You may not need to rearrange your entire office — you might be able to meet new guidelines with small additions to your existing space. You could save time and money while promoting employee health and well-being. For instance, maybe you can accomplish your goals with panels, dividers or custom-fitted glass walls. Germ shields and walls allow you to retain elements of your existing layout. If you have limited floor space to work with, this might be your most viable option.
- Plan a new layout first: Before you start moving things around, plan how to arrange your pieces. You might opt for professional assistance in creating a new layout for cubicle wiring during COVID-19. It’s best to reference a detailed floorplan, instead of trying to wing it. Planning will help save you time and resources.
- Ensure you have what you need: Once you have a plan, read over the instruction manual. Double-check that you have all the pieces and tools you need for assembly. If something requires a team lift, you and your partner must wear masks and wash your hands before and after.
Which Furniture to Purchase for Easy Alteration
You’ll want to be able to change your office layout with as little burden as possible. You might be wondering what pieces to purchase. It’s a good idea to invest in office furniture you can alter after initial assembly. That way, you won’t need to spend money on brand-new furniture as guidelines change and adjustments are necessary. Instead, you’ll be able to use your existing office furniture. Here are some pieces you might choose for this purpose.
- A Sunline sliding cubicle: With its high, easy-to-adjust walls, this cubicle is perfect for promoting social distancing and limiting germs’ spread. It’s also simple to alter — you can increase the height or change out panels as needed.
- A Sunline sliding private office: Fully enclosed and easy to rearrange as needed, a private office cubicle is a perfect choice for a COVID-19 safe office.
- A Sunline small, high-wall workstation: If you don’t have much extra floor space to work with, you might be wondering how you can readjust your office layout. Small cubicles with high walls allow you to use limited floor space while promoting employee safety. The high walls separate employees from one another and prevent the spread of germs.
Which Office Furniture Accessories to Purchase
Once you’ve chosen cubicles, offices or workstations that fit your office’s needs, you’ll need the right accessories to create a functional space. With easy alteration in mind, you might choose to incorporate some simple accessories into your office furniture.
- A wardrobe cabinet: By including a moveable wardrobe cabinet into each cubicle space, you avoid clustering employee coats, hats and scarves into one shared closet area. This setup is much safer, considering COVID-19 germs may be able to live on inanimate surfaces. A shared closet may lead to spreading infections.
- A sit-stand base: Sitting all day is not always healthy, but standing around an office may lead to employees gathering closer than six feet apart. A sit-stand base empowers employees to adjust their desk height so they can stand at their desks instead of breaking social distance guidelines.
Safe Office Furniture Installation With Arnold’s Office Furniture
Safety should be everyone’s top priority amid this public health crisis, even with office furniture installation during COVID-19. At Arnold’s Office Furniture, we’ve done everything we can to ensure everyone’s peace of mind with our installation products — your employees and ours. Everyone must do their part to limit the spread of this potentially deadly virus. While we continue to operate, we have gone above and beyond to support our employees’ and clients’ health and well-being. We have proactively taken the following steps.
1. Trained Our Staff on COVID-19 Protocols
When you purchase products or hire services, you may worry employees won’t follow CDC guidelines, leaving you at risk for contracting COVID-19. Not all companies have taken extensive measures to ensure employees strictly observe COVID-19 safety protocols. As a result, you may be wary about hiring any outside vendors.
At Arnold’s Office Furniture, all our employees understand how to limit the spread of the virus. You can be confident they’ll maintain a safe distance, wear masks and use hand sanitizer while moving and installing your new office furniture. We’ve also instructed employees to stay home and seek medical attention if they feel any symptoms of illness.
2. Provided Protective Attire
Anytime our employees handle your office furniture or accessories, including during installation, they’ll wear all necessary protective attire. Masks and other PPE help prevent viral spread — COVID-19 germs travel from person to person through respiratory droplets. Wearing a mask contains respiratory droplets by creating a barrier, thus promoting everyone’s safety.
3. Committed to Following Your Desired Precautions
If you prefer any specific, additional precautions, we’ll be happy to accommodate your requests to the best of our ability. Before our scheduled installation date, feel free to reach out to us. We want to make you and your team feel as safe as possible.
4. Canceled Nonessential Meetings and Events
Within our operations, we’ve restricted any irrelevant gatherings. We’ve canceled or postponed all nonessential meetings, events and travel. We’ve also limited any unnecessary visitation to our facilities. That way, our employees are less likely to come in contact with the virus and risk spreading it to your office.
5. Enhanced Our Sanitization Procedures
In addition to employee hygiene procedures and social distancing, we’re also keeping our vehicles and facilities clean. Following the CDC’s cleaning and disinfecting guidelines, we’ve enhanced all sanitization procedures for our facilities and vehicles. When your new office furniture is in storage or transport, you can rest assured it’s in a disinfected environment.
6. Offered Detailed Do-It-Yourself Assembly Instructions
Our products are easy to assemble and install on your own. If you prefer to restrict access to your office space, you can elect not to get professional installation. If requested, our drivers can stay in the vehicle upon delivery to limit person-to-person contact as much as possible. You’ll have no trouble putting together your new furniture using our instructional manuals and videos.
Install Furniture Safely With Arnold’s Office Furniture
Now, more than ever, safety takes precedence over other interests. If you hope to bring employees back into a traditional office, you might have to rethink your space’s layout and furniture. With the right furniture and accessories, you can transform any office’s safety and workflow. With high barriers, enclosed cubicles, personal closets and adjustable desks, you’ll limit the spread of COVID-19. You’ll also improve employee comfort and efficiency.
If you’re interested in office furniture that’s a snap to put together and rearrange, check out our selection of sliding cubicles and office walls. We also offer all the accessories you’ll need to create a workable office space, including adjustable desks, ergonomic chairs, filing cabinets, storage closets, conference tables and reception desks.
Once you’ve decided on the right furniture for your office space, we’ll help you design the best possible layout and offer our professional installation services. If you choose to configure pieces on your own, follow our detailed instructional guides. To learn more about office furniture installation during COVID-19, contact Arnold’s Office Furniture today.
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