The ability to work from home has been a gift during this last year. Thankfully, the infrastructure that we have at our fingertips has made for a mostly smooth transition from office life to home working. But there will come a time in this new year where businesses will look to transition once more—this time, back into the office in order to set the ship back on course for continued company-wide growth and success.
The coronavirus pandemic has routed work schedules in the Continental U.S. and beyond for nearly a full twelve months, and looks to continue in that pattern a little longer. As the vaccine doses continue to circulate, and the incoming administration prepares to ramp up that effort, seeking to vaccinate one million people per day in the United States, the tide is certainly turning.
This means that workers should expect to return to those routines that have long been placed on the back-burner by the middle or end of the year, with a little luck. But preparing to make this jump back into office life will take a bit of planning and coordination.
Start with office improvements.
Your office has likely held a skeleton crew for much of the last twelve months. This means that office improvement work has taken a backseat while you focus on protecting the health and safety of your staff. Utilizing a contractor with years of experience in window repair in Grand Rapids is a great way to improve the energy efficiency of your firm, provide a more comfortable work space, and give your team a fresh, new look to come back to. An installer can typically come out and assess the needs of your particular space in an afternoon and then make one more return visit to fit the new windows.
A window replacement is a great way to create a new billboard of sorts for your business as well. By opting for window installation or new glazing for your office windows, you can add customized prints to the exterior that offer a welcoming and brand boosting presence on the street with little need for additional upkeep. In a community like Grand Rapids, or West Michigan more generally, branding awareness in your local community is essential to building a firm foundation that can create the future successes that your business is craving.
Don’t forget to update your wardrobe.
After a year of working in sweatpants and hoodies, purchasing a few new blouses or wrinkle-free shirts is a great way to reintroduce yourself to your office staff, and shopping online can help you net some great discounts on non-iron shirts, long sleeve blouses, or new professional jeans. Women wrinkle free shirt styles range in color and pattern, and they offer a great way to skip the iron in the morning while still looking great.
Your business days over the past year have probably required little in the way of dressing up or presenting yourself as a professional in the industry. Working behind a computer from the kitchen counter or temporary office space in a spare room is focused primarily on the productivity. But studies have shown that dressing up, even when no one is there to see you, can help you boost your output and sense of purpose over the course of each day. The same is true for the office setting that we will all soon be returning to. Bolstering your wardrobe with a few new statement pieces is a great way to reintroduce yourself to your colleagues and feel great while doing it.
Making the transition back into office life will likely be a bit of a shock at first. However, making a splash on your first day back will set you up for success for the long term.
