Category: Business Advice

How to adapt your marketing to turbulent times

Posted on | by Jade Donno

Every business is on a three-step journey: survive, adapt, and thrive. Before COVID-19 hit, many were adapting or had adapted and were thriving, only to be thrown backwards to tread water once it did. With the effects of the pandemic still causing havoc, business owners now need to adapt to move from ‘surviving’ to ‘thriving’ once more. So how do you do that? How does your marketing need to change in turbulent times?

Your clients want to feel supported

One thing is for sure: your clients (and potential clients) are struggling and they have no desire to be sold to.

So what does this mean for you?

While people may not be receptive to the usual marketing efforts and ways of winning business, if you can offer them value and support during this difficult time, you can win some very loyal clients.

Yes, they might not be interested in a pitch, but they’re struggling. Many may be realising that they have been receiving poor service and have been turning to Google and social media to research their needs.

Never before have they been so motivated to do something about these so this is a unique opportunity for you. If you market right, there has never been an easier time to win clients.

Key marketing activities to prioritise right now

  • Invest in ways to quickly update your client base on the changing realities
  • Give your website a COVID-19 refresh
  • Call all of your clients and find out how you can support them
  • Be “there” for them so that you become part of their ‘war cabinet’
  • Help your clients build their strategy to adapt and thrive
  • Reconnect with your old prospects and offer this help
  • Be active on social media and share useful content to boost your credibility
  • Collect the great testimonials that you are receiving throughout the pandemic
  • Plan your clients’ communication and content for the next 1-3 months

Adapt and thrive during the recession

We can all cut costs and budget and prioritise to increase our chances of survival during the recession, but if we want to do more than that, if we want to adapt to the changing times and thrive during the recession, we just need to tweak our marketing.

The recession is an opportunity. It’s a chance to stand out by being credible and being there to support existing clients; it’s a chance to win those clients who are finally realising that they are not getting the type of service that they want. So do that. Use this time to adapt your marketing and you’ll soon see that you start to move from ‘survive’ to ‘thrive’ very quickly.

Re-engaging with and reintroducing furloughed employees

Posted on | by Jade Donno

During this global pandemic approximately 7.5 million employees have been furloughed (more than 1 in 5 of the UK’s workforce) and, for many, this has been for a significant period of time. You may have even furloughed some of your own employees.

For employees that have been furloughed, the challenges of returning to work go beyond struggling to remember passwords, trawling through hundreds of emails to identify the three that are of importance and taking a couple of days to get back into ‘work mode’. It’s not the same as if they have been on holiday for 2 weeks!

For many employees, there will be apprehension around returning to the workplace, a potential loss of confidence in their capabilities, feeling ‘out of the loop’ and adapting back to ‘working life’ as well as possible concerns around working from home or returning to the workplace with child care commitments.    In addition to this, some employees may be feeling resentful at being furloughed whilst others may be experiencing guilt that colleagues worked whilst they did not.  Many will also be fearful of the risk of redundancy.

For businesses to successfully survive this current crisis, great care should be taken when reintroducing furloughed employees back into the workplace, whether remotely or physically coming back to their place of work.  Taking an approach similar to that taken when employees return from a long absence e.g. maternity/paternity leave, long term illness or sabbatical.  Key areas to consider are:

  • Giving sufficient time for the individual to settle in
  • Equip your managers with the tools to support their teams
  • Giving reassurance that their safety and wellbeing are a top priority
  • Creating a new sense of belonging
  • Considering changes to working hours and/or practices

Giving sufficient time for the individual to settle in

It takes on average 3 months for a new joiner to start to feel settled within their new role and whilst it is unlikely to take this long for returning furloughed employees, businesses (and managers) should be prepared for individuals to take a number of weeks to become fully productive and comfortable in their role.  To ease the transition ensure your managers:

  • Regularly check in with the individual, giving the individual the opportunity to discuss their wellbeing and ask questions
  • Set realistic, short term objectives/tasks and singular where possible to give both focus and a sense of accomplishment
  • Ask employees what you can do as an employer and/or manager to make the transition easier
  • Make available training (refresher or new) and where possible, it is in a format that can be easily accessed e.g. eLearning, guides, webinars
  • Consider using annual leave to enable a phased return

Equip your managers with the tools to support their teams

Managers will be key to successfully reintroducing furloughed employees at all levels of your business.  Ensuring managers have access to the right information (from Employee Assistance Programmes to business/department objectives), the right technology to manage teams remotely as well as ensuring they understand flexible working options and have access to HR advice when needed is vital in both supporting their needs and helping them support the needs of their teams.

Giving reassurance that their safety and wellbeing are a top priority

A high number of employees will be apprehensive about returning to the workplace and will need reassurance that their safety and wellbeing is your top priority.  The same applies to individuals working from home.  Ensure you have in place:

  • Suitable levels of PPE supplies (from sanitising gel to high vis vests)
  • Risk Assessments from managing interaction in communal areas to returning to use specialist equipment
  • Health & Safety refresher training (where possible, in formats easily accessible remotely)
  • Information Security refresher training (where possible, in formats easily accessible remotely)
  • Guidance on setting up a suitable working environment at home.  This could be a DSE checklist to more detailed guidance or training
  • Easy access to support services such mental health first aiders, employee assistance programmes and HR teams
  • Social distancing and safety measures are clearly communicated to both employees and customers

Creating a new sense of belonging

Re-engaging employees with the business vision, strategy and values as well as helping them re-establish working relationships help create a feeling of belonging that in turn positively impacts commitment and performance.

Careful consideration of internal communication channels to ensure accessibility as well as content that encourages a sense of belonging is just as important as managers enabling employees to re-establish working relationships with colleagues not only within their immediate team but also across the business.

Providing opportunities to feedback to business leaders on how employees are feeling as well as ensuring those identified as high potentials/future leaders in decision making all create a sense of belonging.

Considering changes to working hours and/or practices

Many employees who have been furloughed have established new routines that may not reflect traditional working hours and businesses may need to adapt to stay successful.  From changing working hours, work locations as well as moving from a time based/presentism mindset to an outcome based approach are all becoming a reality that businesses face.  Things businesses could consider include:

  • Introducing core working hours (e.g. 10:00 – 14:00) and enabling individuals to flex their hours around this
  • Consider rotating furloughed workers in similar roles where returning all employees is not an option
  • Consideration of working from home options, even for roles that are operational (perhaps a day a month to catch up on admin or project work?)
  • Short term working to reintroduce employees to the workplace whilst reducing salary costs
  • Subject to government guidance (still to be issued), part furloughing staff so they return in a limited capacity

The effort placed in ensuring furloughed staff return to an environment that gives them time to re-adjust, provides adequate support, keeps them safe and creates a sense of belonging will impact a business’s bottom line and both business leaders and managers are essential in ensuring success.

Getting Started With Outsourcing: the Insider’s Guide

Posted on | by Jade Donno

Outsourcing is becoming more popular as technology propels the business world forward. And why wouldn’t it? Outsourcing manual, low-value tasks allows business owners to focus on better client service as well as those areas that will actually grow their business and keep them competitive.

While these points are completely valid, some professionals still have their doubts about outsourcing; will this affect the quality of work? Will this go down horribly with my clients?

To help ease these concerns, we’ve put together a quick outsourcing guide.

Top 8 Outsourcing FAQ’s Answered

1, What actually is outsourcing?

Outsourcing is when you decide to ask someone, who is not directly employed by you, to complete some work for your business that is usually done by someone who is employed directly by you.

2. What is the typical turnaround time for an outsourced job?

This depends on the task that you outsource and the agreement that you make with your outsourced provider. However, expect to compromise on turnaround time if you’re paying less.

3. What will outsourcing cost?

The cost of outsourcing depends on what model you choose (for example, you could be charged on a per hour basis or on a per job basis). Don’t forget to also factor in any potential hidden costs, such as the time it takes for your staff to review the work.

4. Will an outsourcer do as good a job as us?

Quality is a big worry for many business owners who are considering outsourcing. Like any job, there are no guarantees that your chosen outsourced provider will do as good a job as your staff, but then on the flip side, there’s also no guarantee that they won’t do a better job. Outsourcing is all about trial and error and doing the due diligence to find the right person. You can then put the necessary processes in place to ensure quality work (with minimal re-work) every time.

5. What due diligence should I do on my potential outsourcer?

Outsourcing your client work is a big decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly so make sure that you do your due diligence. The best outsourcers come recommended, but if you don’t have this, ask them; how they will guarantee the quality of work, where they are located, what office hours they work, the best way to contact them and when, and check things like their quality of English and their workflows.

6. How do I get started with outsourcing?

Take the time to talk to your outsourcer to make sure you are 100% happy with everything before moving forward. If you’re not confident or you’re having doubts, outsource just a few low-value tasks first. This will give you the chance to iron out any kinks at low risk.

7. Which clients’ work should I start to outsource first?

To test your outsourcer, start with ‘easy work’ with low-risk clients. Which clients do you struggle to make a profit on? Which tasks don’t take long to complete? Which tasks do you dread doing? If you choose the clients that, if things go wrong, you won’t jeopardise a strong client relationship, this is a great place to start.

8. Do we need to tell our clients that we are outsourcing their work?

It’s good practice, and in some cases, you are contractually obliged, to tell your clients that their work may be done by your outsourced team. This is especially true if you’re using staff outside of the EU as their data could be processed outside of the EU. You can do this easily by updating your contracts with ‘we may use a carefully selected contractor to complete your work’ and ‘your data could be processed outside of the EU,’ and also mentioning this when you engage with them.

Try outsourcing and see what you think

Interestingly when you talk about outsourcing, it produces a strong reaction – often one of fear. But before you get caught up in emotion, it’s worth taking a step back and thinking about outsourcing more generally.

You need to at least try it (with some low-value tasks) before making a solid decision. It may take some time and trial and error first, but when you find someone who can produce quality work for you consistently, you can free up the time to concentrate on the higher-value tasks; the tasks that will grow your business and ensure that you remain competitive.

How to prevent upwards delegation working remotely

Posted on | by Jade Donno

Do your staff members often come to you with questions or problems that they could potentially work out themselves just by using their initiative? More often than not, do you end up saying “just give it to me and I’ll get it done, it’ll be quicker?”

While it might be quicker to do this one task right now, what you’re actually doing is training your staff to be helpless. You’re training them to come to you when they are stuck instead of taking some time to work it out for themselves. Ultimately, this ends up taking up a lot more of your time.

To stop upwards delegation, especially now that many teams are working remotely, here are some quick tips for remote managers.

number 1

remote working requires more frequent and clear communication, especially when it comes to delegating tasks. Give clear briefs and explain the impact this task has on the work of others to inspire action.

Discussing important tasks or projects directly with your employee will ensure that they can ask any questions and you can address any concerns in real-time. It also allows you to set clear expectations and to have them confirm that they understand.


number 3

Monday.com, Zoom, Slack, What’s App…use virtual tools to communicate quickly and effectively with your whole team. Make sure that everyone has access so that they can see what is assigned to who and how they all relate together.

If an employee has an issue or needs help with a task, take the time to coach them through it. Instead of giving them the answer, ask them questions to help them get to a solution by themselves.

number 4
number 5

It’s a difficult time where everyone is craving some social interaction. Plus, who doesn’t love to be praised for good work? If a team member has done a good job or they’ve picked up a task really quickly or they’ve made a difference to your day, tell them. There’s nothing more powerful than positive reinforcement, especially when it comes to motivation.

‘What would you do if I wasn’t here?’

Stop saying “I’ll do it, it’ll be quicker” and start asking “what would you do if I wasn’t here?” Delegating isn’t an easy thing for most managers to do and it’s even harder when your whole team is working remotely, so don’t put even more pressure on yourself by taking on the tasks of your employees too. It may take some time investment in the immediate, but if you coach them through any issues as they arise, you’ll be training your employees to be innovative workers who will take the initiative.

How to say “no” nicely (and not damage business relationships)

Posted on | by Jade Donno

How to say “no” nicely (and not damage business relationships in the process)

One of the most important things you can learn as a business owner is how to say “no” nicely and not damage any business relationships in the process. Yes, it is possible. Not only is it possible but it is also essential; essential for the health of your business and essential for your sanity!

So how do you say no politely? How do you stop saying yes to things that waste your time, and drain the energy and resources that could be better spent elsewhere?

3 steps to say “no” (nicely)

1, Start by expressing a desire to help

A “no” can be softened if you start with a statement of regret so let them know that you wish you could help. Something like “Thanks for thinking of me. I really wish I was in a position to help/work with you but I’m afraid that…” This shows your good intentions which makes a “no” easier to accept.

Holding hands

2. Blame yourself and explain to them why

woman crossing arms to say no.

In simple terms, you essentially need to tell the person why “it’s not you, it’s me.” You don’t want them to feel bad for asking or for you to come across in a negative light for saying “no” to their request, so make it clear that you can’t say “yes” because of your own limitations. Maybe your focusing on a specific area of work or you don’t have the time to give them the service that you’d want to. Maybe your business just isn’t the right fit for them.

It helps to provide the person with a simple explanation about why you’re saying no, so keep it short and clear. The most important thing here is that they understand why you can’t help them.

3. Point them towards help

Although you’re saying no to someone, you don’t want to damage your reputation or your relationship with them, so try to help them if you can. After all, you expressed your desire to help at the start of your refusal, so put your money where your mouth is.

Can you offer them an alternative person or business who could help? Can you direct them to a specific resource? If you can give them advice or a next step to move forward, they’ll be left feeling very grateful to you rather than disappointed in you.

hand pointing

Start saying “no” the right way

Saying “no” the wrong way or saying “yes” to projects or people you’d rather not…both of these are doing more damage in the long run. To start saying “no” the right way, follow these 3 simple steps: start with a statement of regret, explain why you’re saying no, and end by offering them the help that you can. If you do this then you’re not damaging any business relationships and you’re preserving the essential energy and resources that you need to propel your business forward.

Do you have a scalable business model?

Posted on | by Jade Donno

Nobody starts a business to see it crashing after a couple of years. No one wants their business to stay small forever or to have to throw in the towel when a recession hits. Every business owner wants their business to generate sustainable revenue, one that funds the lifestyle that they want and creates a comfortable future for them. So how do you do this? And how do you know if your business is scalable?

What is a scalable business?

Firstly, to know whether your business is scalable, you need to understand exactly what that means.

To quote Investopedia, scalability is defined by “a company’s ability to grow without being hampered by its structure or available resources when faced with increased production.”

To put it simply, a scalable business is one that can handle and perform well under mounting workload or scope; it is one that can grow through new geographies and markets without falling apart.

Man thinking
measuring tape

How to check you have a scalable business model

With the current Covid-19 recession, if they haven’t already, businesses need to be checking that they have a scalable business model. If they haven’t, then they need to be implementing one.

Here are a few questions that you need to be asking yourself:

1. Is your bottom line growing faster than your top line?

2. If you went on holiday for a month, would your business still grow?

3. Can your current systems/processes/ways of working support your business being twice or 3 times as big?

4. Can your current ways of working produce predictable new client wins?

5. Can your business win work without you being involved?

6. Is there enough of a market place for your firm’s services to scale to the level you want?

If you answered yes to all of these questions, you have a scalable model in place. If you answered no to some or all of these questions then you have a bottleneck that is limiting the growth of your business and you need to address those areas.

Build a scalable business

The difference to surviving the recession and thriving in it is whether you have a scalable business model. There are plenty of fast-growing, cash-burning companies that are going to be vulnerable during this time, but if you have a flexible model in place, then you can not only adapt to the turning tide, but you can also grow comfortably when the economy is on the upturn again.

Here are a few tips on creating a business that can sustain the level of profitability as sales volume grows:

  • Refine the company’s growth trajectory
  • Communicate and enforce a growth culture
  • Define specialist jobs clearly & set and monitor goals
  • Set and monitor goals
  • Hire strategically and invest in technology
  • Streamline processes to boost efficiency
  • Build trusted partnerships
  • Give significant importance to marketing
  • Tactically outsource

5 easy ways to cut overheads during a recession

Posted on | by Jade Donno

So many businesses are in the position where they need to cut overheads but how do you do this without having to make anyone redundant or reducing their hours? How can you do this without having to trawl your financial reports? If you’re looking for easy ways to cut your overheads during a recession, here are 5 steps that you can take.

Number 1

What processes can you automate or eliminate? What tasks can be passed down the hierarchy or outsourced to reduce wage costs and free up staff for work of a higher value? How can you streamline your workflow? What do you do for clients that doesn’t really add value?

While the answers to some of these questions may take an initial investment, such as automating your processes, the increase in efficiency and productivity will save you in the long run.

number 2
team walking down street

Your employees are the ones on the ground, they are doing the tasks and are experiencing the potential problems and inefficiencies first hand so involve them. Ask them all the questions above that you’ve been thinking about yourself. They may come up with some great ideas that you haven’t even thought of.

number 3
Lady on phone

Make the first two steps a continuous process. For example, in every weekly team meeting, ask your team members to identify one thing which can be improved or made more efficient. If something hasn’t worked or hasn’t been delivered on time, analyse the process and see what changes can be made. If you give your team members new objectives that aim to improve the efficiency of the business, you’ll soon see that you will all start improving the way you do things naturally.


You can’t afford underperformance normally, never mind during a recession, so now is the time to address this. While setting individual targets and having regular check ins will work for some employees, others will need a bit more support. Maybe they need more training in the areas where they are struggling or for a particular software. Maybe they need to be put onto a formal performance management procedure.

number 5
Two men high five.

It’s all well and good talking about positive changes and implementing them, but you need to know if they are indeed making you more efficient and productive as a business. To do this, you’ll need to decide on your KPIs and you need to measure and monitor them. Once you have these figures, review them regularly, and you’ll be able to see if the changes you are making have been worth it.

You can reduce your overheads AND increase efficiency

The best changes, especially during a recession, are those that increase productivity as well as reducing your costs. That way, you don’t have to let anybody go and you don’t have to reduce hours. It’s all about working smarter.

speech bubble "how to network remotely"

How to network when you can’t network in person

Posted on | by Jade Donno

Small to medium-sized businesses have to go the extra mile to stand out from competitors, particularly when those competitors can afford the best advertising campaigns. In the past we could compensate with networking, by attending conferences, trade fairs, or local groups. Now those options have gone, how can you compete with bigger businesses?

In many ways, the principles of virtual networking and prospecting are the same, but unlike a crowded coffee break, you have to work harder to strike up a conversation. Online you need to build up small talk, such as likes and shares, over a longer period of time.

The best place to network depends on who you need to talk to. People tend to use LinkedIn to sell professional services, but if your target market is people and businesses in your area, you should be able to find Facebook groups covering the parts of the country that you would like to sell to. Instagram and Twitter can be more difficult to network on, so we’ve focussed on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Get your profile right

Use a photo that shows your face clearly, or if you’re very shy, something innocuous. In person we all build rapport by talking to faces, whether we’re good at reading body language or not. When people interact with posts and comments, they’re building a rapport with your photo, so pick an image that you’re comfortable with as your work persona and you’ll attract the kind of people you want to work with.

You should also have a look at your profile as other people will see it and think about what it says to potential clients.

Follow any group administrator rules

When you know who you’d like to interact with and where, you can find and join as many groups as possible on LinkedIn and Facebook. The first rule for any social media platform is to make sure you follow the rules of any group you join. If a group states that you aren’t allowed to advertise your business, be careful about how your posts might appear. You could leave a bad impression if you get told off or banned by group administrators!

It’s still worth joining groups so you can see your competitors, find out what your potential clients are interested in and contact those that you’d like to work with.

Be visible

Whichever platforms you use, it’s best to post regularly. Not posting on a social media platform is worse than being a wallflower at an in-person event, because no one can see you at all virtually.

On LinkedIn and Facebook, the usual advice is that it’s better for your visibility if you write a new post on your own newsfeed, but to build relationships with potential clients, you need to be more generous. Sharing, liking and commenting on the posts of people you’d like to network with helps their visibility at the same time as introducing you to their circle.

Comment sections are a great way to network with people that you aren’t already connected with. They’re a little like small talk in the queue for refreshments, except that you don’t need to find your business cards while holding a coffee. Having had a discussion, it’s much easier to send a message to talk further.

Show them that you’re worth talking to

Since you can’t usually post traditional adverts in virtual groups, being helpful is a more subtle way of advertising your expertise. People won’t read a long explanation and you don’t want to give your expertise away for free, so a brief answer followed by “if you need more help, please contact me” is enough.

Remember to specify how they should contact you, so it’s as easy as possible for them to follow up. If they have to stop and think “did they mean email or private messaging?”, they’re less likely to follow through.

Look for mutual contacts

All of the main social media channels allow you to see friends of friends, or second connections, if those people have opted in. 15 years ago someone might have hesitated to ask a contact to introduce them to a new contact virtually, but it’s normal now that so many businesses use social media platforms for marketing and networking.

Return favours and share goodwill

Offline it can be difficult to make introductions unless the two people you think could work together are in the same room. The beauty of online networking is that it takes seconds to tag someone in a comment and say “this person could help you”. It may seem a small gesture at the time, but every little introduction is a step on the way to success for you and anyone that joins your network.

How to deal with nit-picking clients

How to deal with nit-picking clients who are asking for a discount

Posted on | by Jade Donno

Are you finding that some of your clients, some who have previously been good clients, have suddenly become quite fussy? Maybe they have been getting obsessed with the tiniest of mistakes when previously they would have just breezed over it, or maybe they are finding new issues that have never come up before. Whatever problems that are arising, here is how to deal with nit-picking clients, especially if they are asking for a discount.
Why postet note

The global pandemic has caused a considerable amount of stress. Some obvious, such as financial and health problems, and some not so obvious, emotions that can bubble and brew under the surface affecting our daily lives without us even realising.

As you can imagine, the net result of 3-4 months of anxiety and stress is starting to take its toll and people are trying to take control of what they can to ease some of that pressure.

Finances is a big one. Many people are worrying whether their businesses will bounce back, whether they’ll have a job to go back to, and their financial future, and to try and take control of this, many are now looking for that discount where they can. They are looking to shed overheads and for any opportunity to lighten the pressure of such a tight cashflow.

If you have clients who are asking for discounts, who are highlighting mistakes that you’ve made or who are trying to get more out of you, here are 3 things that you should do:

  1. Apologise – if you’ve made a mistake, acknowledge it. Put your hand up and own it and reassure them that you are investigating how it happened as well as putting in the necessary measures to prevent it from happening again.
  2. Offer additional value – don’t offer a physical discount, unless you’ve made a mistake that is of great magnitude. Always look to offer extra value instead. Is there any other way that you can help your client? Is there an add-on or service that doesn’t require too much from you that you can offer to the client for the same price?
  3. Listen and empathise – with how stressful it’s been, everyone is having a difficult time in their own way and they just want someone who can empathise and acknowledge this. If you can show them that you care and maybe even help them to see that this small mistake or issue they see is causing no material loss to them overall, that might be all they need.

Discount

It’s a difficult situation to be in, to have clients asking for discounts, but be strong. You are providing a service and you deserve to be paid for that service. It might only take an apology or for you to show your client that you want to help them in other ways.

If you start offering discounts, you will start training your clients to ask for discounts every time they see a mistake or if they’re not completely satisfied. Appeasing them now will only cause further issues for you down the line, so offer additional value and listen to their worries. They’ll soon start to value what you’re doing for them and you’ll be remembered for it when you need it most.

laptop and phone

Returning to work post-covid19: how do you assess your office needs?

Posted on | by Jade Donno

In the short-term, it seems likely that many of us will remain working from home even after government orders to do so are lifted. Why? Because businesses have either found that remote working seems to be working favourably for them or they don’t know how to return to work safely. To answer the three most frequently asked questions from business owners today, here’s a quick guide to help.

Man on laptop - what are my options?

As businesses are slowly given the green light to return to work, business owners have a few options in front of them for how to move forward. Research shows that organisations have favoured one of these three below:

  1. Continue to work remotely and sublet their office space – don’t forget to check vital clauses in your rental agreement to see if this is an option for you.
  2. Using a blend of working from, team days, and hot-desking – this strategy has the benefits of both remote working and being in the office. Many businesses have been able to reduce their office space with this method.
  3. Phased approach to transition back to office work – this involves staggering the workforce where smaller groups or departments come in on alternate days until it’s safe for everyone to return.

To work out which is the best option for you, you need to consider who needs to be at the office the most. Many organisations have found that capping staff numbers off at about 30% is the social distancing sweet spot.

How much office space do I actually need

Business owners are reconsidering whether they need as much office space now that so many people are working from home. This is a smart question because miscalculations when it comes to space, even minor ones, can have a huge impact, especially when it comes to finances. Here’s some guidance to help you:

How do you calculate desk space?

As a rough estimate, you should allow 250 sq.ft. per employee. This means, for 50 employees, you will need 12,500 sq.ft. of office space. This guidance is for normal circumstances, so with the current Covid safety guidelines, you need to factor in 2 metres between each desk too.

How do you assess your office needs?

The formula above is just that, a rough estimate. This changes depending on factors such as office layout, employee density, and cost. For example, the most commonly accepted rule in London is that 100 sq.ft. per employee is the ideal amount of space per person.

To accurately assess the amount of space your business needs to thrive, you need to consider these variables:

  • How many employees you have/want to return to work in the office
  • What kind of staff you have (executive, administration, sales etc)
  • How many desks you will need (will employees need an individual desk or will you consider agile working?)
  • How much equipment you have to accommodate
  • What style of office works best for your organisation
  • Office layout and ceiling height
  • If you plan on taking on more staff in the next few years

What are the Health and Safety requirements now due to Covid?

All businesses will now need to carry out an extensive risk assessment to plan for a safe return to work post-lockdown. The purpose of this assessment is to identify the control measures that you’ll need to have in place to protect your employees and others from the risk of infection.

The main areas you need to consider are:

  • Offices and workspaces – these need to be set up to support social distancing (e.g. layout changes where desks are arranged with the minimum separation between them, appropriate signage and floor markings to denote safe distances etc).
  • Employee safety – as well as establishing maximum occupancy limits, work patterns and procedures will need to be changed to facilitate effective infection prevention. Employees will also need to be supplied with the appropriate PPE such as face masks and screen separators.