150. Super practical tips for re-opening your coworking space in the time of COVID-19

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150. Super practical tips for re-opening your coworking space in

the time of COVID-19

00:00:01 Welcome to the everything coworking podcast where you learn what you need to know about how the world wants to work. And now your host, coworking space owner and trend expert Jamie Rousseau. Welcome to the everything co-working podcast. This is episode code number 150 and of course I have a special guest for you today, Mara Hauser. She is here today to talk about getting back to business and we get practical. She answers many of the questions that are in your brain about how to practically reopen. And I know if you are in Europe or Texas or Georgia,

00:00:45 some of you are already going down that path and probably have some things to share. So please hop into the everything coworking Facebook group. Tell us how it's going and what you've learned. For those of you who are not yet reopened or reopened and still looking for best practices. Mara shares details literally area by area, room by room of your coworking space and some product suggestions. So she walks through a presentation today over audio. You can grab the full video slash that has the audio in it with the visuals in the show notes@wwwdoteverythingcoworking.com

00:01:24 forward slash one 50 I will also mention if you are thinking about starting a coworking space this year, if you've been listening to the podcast, you know I think this is the perfect time to jump in. So I'm opening my coworking startup school later in may and want to make sure if you are thinking about opening a space that you are on the notify me list, you can do that@wwwdotcoworkingstartupschool.com and the coworking startup school is designed to help you confidently go through the process of opening a coworking space. It is a fact that most of us that start coworking spaces have never gone through many of the steps that are involved in opening a coworking space,

00:02:10 construction, picking out furniture. Maybe you've hired a team before, maybe you've done a little bit of marketing, but a lot of new things coming your way on this journey. So we are here to help keep you confident and keep you happy. And avoid making costly mistakes. So if you'd like to learn more, you can go to www.coworkingstartupschool.com we are also going to reopen community manager university. Perfect time as your team gets back to work and is looking for resources looking to stay connected. It is the training and development platform for community managers.

00:02:46 We certify your community managers and provide monthly training and development resources and connection with their peers, which is super helpful. We have a really active Slack group that's helping each other out during these challenging figuring out how to navigate these unprecedented times. So we will open that up as well. Www dot sorry. Everything, coworking.com forward slash community managers and you can get some more information there and get on the notify me list. So without further ado, here is my conversation with Mara Hauser. Welcome to the everything coworking podcast.

00:03:24 I am so pleased to have with me today Mara Hauser. She is the CEO of 25 North coworking. They have three locations, two outside of Chicago. Sorry, I keep Mara. You keep correcting me on this. So they are evolving all the time. They have to open locations outside of Chicago, Illinois, one in Frisco, Texas and I'll let her share some of the plans and projects she has. Outside of that they are continue to develop new partnerships. She is also a principal of workplace studio so Mara has been on the podcast.

00:04:03 This is her fifth time and I use her as much as possible because she has a really unique perspective on coworking and design and the impact that design has on our business model and helping us attract our ideal member and today we're talking about how we can manage re-entry. She has a back to business plan around helping you think about adjusting your design and your kind of health and safety protocols and you know some of your operational systems as we reopen and support our members post COBIT or sort of transitioning through covert 19. She presented to my flight group members this week and everyone was really grateful for kind of both the big picture view of kind of you know,

00:04:55 how to look at making some adjustments and some are really great details that most of us have not even began to think about yet. So I can't wait to share this with you. Mara, thank you for joining me today. It's a pleasure to be here. So, um, we are going to, let me just share a little bit about the format and then I'll let Mara share anything about her intro that I missed. We are going to walk through Mara, it's going to walk through her presentation and she's going to do this looking at slides.

00:05:28 So we're going to post the audio to the podcast and then we're going to have the recording available for you to grab afterwards. So the link will be on the show notes to everything, coworking.com, forward slash one 50 and you can opt in and grab the recording so that you can match the audio to the visuals and the visuals are super helpful. You'll understand the audio as she walks through it, but you will want to see the video. She also has a checklist that she's providing to help you kind of organize what she's walked through.

00:06:01 Um, kind of by area of your coworking space. So amazing resources. Do you want to grab them? They will be available on the show notes and everything. Go working.com forward slash one 50. Okay. Mara, before we dive in, anything else you want to share about what you're up to that, that we should know about? Well, we are, um, working with studio has been, uh, designing lots of exciting new projects for other coworking companies across North America. We're excited about that,

00:06:29 but one of those is in Alexandria, Virginia and we're getting ready to, um, open that once we're allowed. Um, and that actually will be a powered by a 25 North. So, not only were we able to do the design of that, but we're also gonna provide some operations and support to, um, the owner of the building. So we're real excited about that. Yeah. Whole new geography. Very fun. Yeah. Um, yeah, we're, when we, there's so much information out there and when,

00:06:58 um, the pandemic, you know, hit and we realized that going to business or going to work everyday was going to be changing and shifting. You know, obviously as a business in the coworking industry, just like all the other corporations out there, we have to have our aha moment of, okay, you know, how do we make this an opportunity now? How are we making lemonade out of this and how are we going to look at this from the perspective of those who are going to come back to work here to make them feel safe and comfortable in your environment.

00:07:31 So, um, what we did is we put together this presentation for our clients and obviously we applied this to the 25 North spaces as well. But just to give us an understanding of what do we need to think about, uh, holistically and in the big picture, then how do we dial down to it? Cause there's so much information out there that gives you maybe a checklist or tells you what you should consider when you look at each room. Like we might not have all, everyone listening might not have every single room that we're going to talk about,

00:08:00 but you'll have a lot of the elements of it. And just to make you think, if you stand in this space or look at your own floor plans, you know, how do I apply it? So kind of more practical approach, but that's kind of who I am. So yeah. Well Mara, to that end, so I had my community manager, Christian sit in on the flight group called this week when you shared this for the first time. And I asked her afterwards because I've been having her sit through like every webinar that comes up that I can't sit through.

00:08:30 And she said, you know what? A lot of the webinars are sort of bigger picture. Like, I'm a little bit hypothetical in terms of an approach. And she said Mara just got like really practical. It was so helpful. So I think, yeah. So good. Shall we dive in time in some ares going to present. I'm going to interject occasionally with some questions. So, um, so just big picture, you know, we're calling this the back to business because not that we weren't in business before,

00:09:02 cause hopefully we all have some revenues coming in. But really when we go back, what is it that we're looking at? So just kind of as a big picture, let's look at this and really understand when we come into a workspace there, you know, this is an airborne illness. So we have to think about surfaces. So when someone's talking to someone or sneezing or you know, whatever the normal things you're doing are, where do the particles go that come out of your mouth. Um, so where do they land and how do you take care of that?

00:09:34 So that's really what this is all about. Um, because other viruses are just touch or you know, just some other things. So of course wash your hands, wash your hands, like everyone's gonna say that. But how do they affect different materials? So this is just a really simple, like the best material to fight holding the virus is copper actually, which is very interesting. So I would not be surprised if many new materials start coming out in copper handles, hardware, those types of things.

00:10:04 So that, um, lifespan of the virus on the materials, only four hours. And of course the longest is like stainless steel and plastic, which is three to seven days. So what our fabric is only two days, which is great. Cardboard's 24 hours. So, you know, you're getting packages delivered, you're doing other things, but some people say you can wipe them down, you know, not kind of understanding what that means, but I just felt like understanding what materials hold for, then you would understand how to clean them or how to take care of them.

00:10:35 So just kind of, again, a big picture look. So when we approach, um, what we are doing in our spaces, I want to look at this in a three pronged approach because although how you have things laid out or your design is going to be important, they really all work together. So we want to take care of the health and safety of everyone who comes there. So we want everyone to feel like I said, comfortable. When you come in here you will feel safe. We also want to,

00:11:02 there are many behaviors we're going to have to modify from the community management's perspective and also the members are people coming into the space. How does that work in your coworking space? And then of course, how do we physically refresh what elements we have from circulation patterns, doors, I'm thinking like touchless is huge, not touching things. Um, when you enter the building where your workspace is, what you do in those areas, all kinds of things. So the number one thing is going to be, you know,

00:11:39 compliant with your government regulations. So everything that I'm going to talk about might not apply to your local jurisdictions or your regulations or your state. And some States, or even like in Illinois where I'm at, we have regions, so my region might be longer to come back, you know, to normal than some other region may be in the central state. So just kind of understanding that then I want you to think about like access control, like how do people get into this space and if they're allowed into this space,

00:12:14 how are you managing who's allowed into this space or what condition they are when they walk in. So you might have to redefine your entry policies. You will have to confirm communication-wise to members or people say walk in the door, what can health condition they have to be in or whether they've been, you know, there's guidelines of if you have these conditions, you know, you may not enter if you've traveled into these places or if you've been around anyone who's been sick, you know. So obviously this is not a marketing or communications discussion,

00:12:48 but it's really important that in your space you communicate the same way you're doing, whether it's by email or by website. So when anyone walks into your door, what sign is on your door that tells them when they come to the community desk, what sign do they need to know? So it's not like one person saying, Oh, you need to do this, you need to do that. You know, and then they're distracted. So everyone is completely comfortable on your employee side as well as the guests coming into the space.

00:13:16 Um, whether you're going to take people's temperatures and how you're going to do that is something you need to think about because where does that happen? Does it happen after they've already walked in like 100 feet into your space or you're doing it at the door? Um, and then how are you managing the PPE use of your employees and the people come into this space? Understandably, you know, there are limitations on occupancy or how many people can be a gathering in a particular room. Um, understanding how social distancing works and the biggest thing we're going to talk about or what the visual cues are to that.

00:13:53 Because it's one thing to tell everyone, Oh Stan six feet apart. But are we leaving it up to the community manager to police that, you know, are we going to help everyone understand what the rules or suggestions are by having, for example, stickers on the ground, you know, to say this is six feet. Um, also another thing for visual reminders would be like circulation paths and water coolers. So when you're going down, when you're passing people in corridors, can you just walk by people?

00:14:25 Are you going to have one way Isles? So that's something that, you know, putting arrows around on either on the carpet, on a wall, just saying, you know, go counterclockwise or clockwise and then you're not really going past people. I don't know, maybe you guys are riding your bikes or walking like I am. And when you get to like a little bridge or a sidewalk, you know, if you can't move over, you're like, Oh, you know, how do I pass that person?

00:14:45 So just that happens in the office environment too. Yeah. And I think Mara, to your point, if, if you are some of these policies people, all of this is going to be so new, it's going to feel a little overwhelming at the beginning. I mean, I think most of us have been managing like the grocery store, although some of us have not. My husband has yet to go to the grocery store in the last eight weeks. So he's only done pickup. And so some folks like this will be the first time they're back in a public area and that sort of has to be managed.

00:15:15 So I think all of the visual reminders like over communicating is so critical. I think we should, we should feel like we're being almost ridiculous, you know, with the signage and to your point of view, very clear about the policies posted in the doorway. We shouldn't feel sort of, you know, embarrassed or you know, concerned about we need to, whatever the policies are that we're following, we just need to make them super clear and have really clear visual reminders. I mean, usually people take three times to remember something,

00:15:46 right? Like, there's like this three time rule, but let's not make our community managers have to tell people three times, you know, so like I'd love to have a positive like comfortable feeling when they walk in and they can see not only what their behavioral lead but what they can expect of other people in this space. So if you provide those visual cues and you're giving them clear direction, there'll be a certain comfort level with that as well. Okay. So anyway, um, and then like how you work your work,

00:16:14 where do people get to work, you know, where are they going to sit down, where are they going to do that work and making sure you know, you're all compliant. So those are really important things. One really important thing that everyone has been even more aware of is not only like wearing the masks, but like what you've touched. Like everyone says, don't touch your face, you know, and, or like how do you do that? So I don't know. We just got our new credit card in the mail or debit card and it's like a touchless scan,

00:16:39 you know, credit card. So like you can just wave it like an Apple pay or an Apple cart in front of the reader so you're not punching in, you know, a number for your debit card or whatever that is. So like the world is going to be touchless. I kind of compare what's happening right now to nine 11 after nine 11 everything went to how safe are we,

00:17:00 you know, how secure is the building? What kind of security guards do we have at the door?

00:17:04 Who can get in the elevator, who can just walk into our space that the change that's going to happen now posts or like let's say once we have even a vaccine is going to be how am I going to be healthy and safe in this environment that I'm walking into.

00:17:20 I know how I take care of my own home. How do we make sure that can happen at this level?

00:17:24 And a lot of businesses frankly aren't going to be able to open right away because they are so many things they have to do in a whole building.

00:17:32 So one of the things that you need to think about also in that holistic sense is how do people go from their car into your space?

00:17:40 You know, do they have direct access into your coworking facility or do they have to go park their car,

00:17:47 go into garage, open a door, get into the building, you know, get up into your space.

00:17:53 Like how many elevators pathways, other public spaces do they have to get to get there. So it's not up to the business alone to set with their guidelines that are in their space,

00:18:02 but it's really working with your landlord and the building itself to what other things are happening on that end.

00:18:08 So that's why some places will be opening up like after others. So if you think of, um,

00:18:13 I just have a list of things of like what can be touchless or single user light switches, door entries and exits,

00:18:22 sink, faucets, toilets, urinals, water coolers, coffee, preventing stations like trash cans. This is a really big one because when you think of open air,

00:18:33 like open trash cans, someone blows her nose and clean, they throw it into the trashcan. All that is out in the opener.

00:18:41 They use like a, you know, a paper cup or something and they throw it in there. Then the,

00:18:46 it's just in the air. So, um, what kind of sign in stations do you have? Like do you have tablets or digital sign in stations that's like not going to work.

00:18:54 So even at your desk, for your community team, we always had two people that sat at the desk.

00:19:02 We're only going to have one person, but we are actually ordering a second phone. So we have voice over IP phone,

00:19:07 but we don't want two people sharing the phone. So each person will be designated to have their own phone and um,

00:19:15 just kind of, that's their name and they can plug it in wherever they go, that kind of thing.

00:19:18 But no sharing of computers, tablets, or keyboards either. So, you know, having everyone have their own equipment to work from.

00:19:26 And then, um, like little things like whiteboard markers. Like, so if you have whiteboards and you have markers,

00:19:32 like having people share the markers isn't it? That's not going to happen anymore. So what kind of policies are going to have to like sanitize things when people are done using them?

00:19:41 So one suggestion we'll have later is you know that all the markers are sanitized and put in Ziploc bags and when you pass it to someone to use,

00:19:49 you have to make sure as a community management team that you're wiping that down, putting it in a new clean environment before you give it to the next person.

00:19:56 So simple things like that. Mara would jump in really quickly for a second and say, I think that as operators we have to make some decisions about,

00:20:09 you know, do we go a hundred percent on this, you know, list, do we do some of the things?

00:20:15 And I think, you know, the sort of sensitivity varies, you know, around the country. It's really interesting.

00:20:22 I, you know, had all of my flight group calls this week and there's just such a variety of response and how sensitive folks are.

00:20:31 So I think as operators we need to think really carefully, not just about how we perceive the risk and the situation,

00:20:38 but making sure we're thinking about our responsibility to our employees. And then our members who may also be on a continuum of sensitivity and some of these decisions you may make,

00:20:51 you know, not because you feel it's super critical, but because you'll have members that will. And so you'll just kind of want to make some decisions around the investments you make based on what members might need and expect.

00:21:05 Because I think you probably don't want members who come and don't see the right sort of protocols and behaviors in place and see them really clearly because they won't feel comfortable being there.

00:21:15 Even if you have other members who are comfortable. I think also if your user is going to shift a little bit and you may,

00:21:24 you know, if you have lost members and you're looking to refill a lot of space, then you may take on,

00:21:31 you know, extra folks, you know, businesses in the area that need extra space because they have to densify their area.

00:21:40 Or um, you know, we keep hearing about the demand from corporate users who are looking, you know,

00:21:45 to place teams and they will have checklists and be looking for these protocols to be in place because it's their responsibility to keep their employees safe.

00:21:54 And so, you know, one option is just to sort of go, you know, serve the most sort of conservative,

00:22:01 you know, common denominator and do all the things. But you'll have to make the decisions about what you manage in your own space.

00:22:07 Yeah, for sure. So when you walk into the space, we're gonna just kind of, we've talked a lot about just kind of the big picture.

00:22:16 Now we're going to get into the details. So just imagine you're walking through your space. So at the front door,

00:22:21 your main access, do you have a touchless century? Are you taking temperature checks and making sure that you have the appropriate signage.

00:22:29 So the expectations when someone's coming in should be what um, how do you want them to behave in this space?

00:22:35 If you have any special hours or special community, you know, staffing time and you know, consider a waiver of liability.

00:22:42 So no matter how or what you do in your space, if someone got sick, they're, they're really entering at their own risk.

00:22:48 So how do you just kind of work that through with your attorney and then the first thing that they're going to walk into would be the community desk or the reception area.

00:22:57 So some just general guidelines we have is like make sure that members understand that how you're going to handle mail,

00:23:05 what from the carrier coming in as well as a member picking it up. Like I said earlier, you know,

00:23:12 we have one person now we'll be sitting at the desk full time so they can really manage what happens in the space and our other staff will be situated throughout.

00:23:19 But what does that look like? Um, also make sure we talked about this shared staff limits, seating in the waiting area.

00:23:26 So you'll in the next slide, but like really thinking about how do you social distance in waiting areas and provide zones where people feel comfortable where they can sit and wait.

00:23:38 Um, also throughout the space, I want you to think about providing sanitation station so people feel comfortable and in the pattern,

00:23:46 I kind of tie this to like me going to the gym. When I go to the gym and I'm on a treadmill,

00:23:51 like I grab a wipe, I wipe down the treadmill. Um, you know, I do my workouts,

00:23:57 what touch things. I go back to get my life, I go back, I wipe up my evidence and good to go.

00:24:04 The same behavior should be a no problem. Everyone gets it. Like you need to wipe out before you sit down or wipe up,

00:24:11 you know when you're done. So providing those stations, which is clear and really limiting where they can throw the wipes,

00:24:17 you know, when they're done in a closed enclosure. But then another thing would be like understanding, you know,

00:24:23 as temporary protection, you know, depending on how your desk is or how close people out to come with circulation,

00:24:29 do you need to provide a visual kind of screen between where someone is talking so you know whether your staff is wearing masks or you know,

00:24:38 however that is. And then of course I'm trying to take the equipment and really, um, is it Bluetooth and you know,

00:24:45 how does that work so people can check in. So we'll really, the key clean, clear thing is to make sure your staff understands and to make sure it's as clear as possible to anyone walking in.

00:24:56 So we're using stickers on the ground to really identify this is six feet and placing those in appropriate places and having your staffs stand at the place and the desk you want them to.

00:25:08 Um, we are showing that on a floor plan with like a gold dot. Just so everyone can kind of see that.

00:25:14 And then there are a variety of places where people could sit and sometimes, maybe they all don't sit there,

00:25:18 but we're going to have the community manager can say, why don't you have grab a seat over there on our alone share,

00:25:24 we'll be right with you. Instead of just saying, Oh, grab a seat. You know, be very specific on how you do that in your open flex and lounge area.

00:25:34 You know, again, I'm going to be kind of repetitive on things, but like we don't need garbage pails everywhere.

00:25:39 So a central place to do things that you can open with your foot or has kind of a wave mechanism where it opens and it's closed,

00:25:48 but then assess the need for privacy panels. Um, what a privacy panel would be either front to front or side to side when people are at a shared desk,

00:26:00 what is this spacing that goes on when people sit down and how are you protecting them when they're talking on the phone or breathing?

00:26:09 I mean basically breathing, right? So in Illinois, um, right now, just as an example,

00:26:17 masks are required unless you are a social distancing. So, um, if you're six feet apart, if you're 10 feet apart and you're comfortable up to whoever's there and what your own rules are about wearing a mask,

00:26:30 but the screens will be really helpful, you know, and they will be something that everyone will understand that you're helping them be safer there.

00:26:39 On the minimum height for these it should be 15 inches off the surface. So seated privacy. So take a tape measure,

00:26:46 hold it up, it's going to come to about like your forehead. So you just want to make sure that your,

00:26:51 your nose and your mouth are horizontally, wherever you are. Project um, blocked. But then like 18 inches is ideal.

00:27:02 You just want to be like cognizant that as you're walking through the space, what do these spaces look like?

00:27:07 Obviously aesthetics is important to me, but you can manage very easily with you know, 18 inches and then just to seeing your seats so that you have,

00:27:19 you know, what is six foot distancing means. So the really clear thing to do would be to like have reserved seats.

00:27:26 A lot of people are gonna put signs up that say this is seat is reserved. They might put Xs on seats that you can't sit on.

00:27:34 They might move chairs away. So they're<inaudible> like Jamie suggested. The problem with that is a lot of us don't have a lot of storage room to put our chairs,

00:27:43 most of us, right? That's why I love the signage solution. And this part of the discussion is where the visuals will be helpful.

00:27:52 So again, you can grab the recording that has the visuals, um, you know, on the screen while Mara's talking.

00:27:59 Um, yeah, yeah. And then like circulation again, make sure on the wall or on the carpet,

00:28:06 there are arrows that show like go this way, right? So, um, a floor plan is helpful for not only your staff again,

00:28:14 but the members and like set that up, you know, set it up before anyone walks in the door and know these chairs are what's acceptable.

00:28:22 These chairs are not. Um, and again, use tools, use markers, visual clues, clearly understand people feel comfortable.

00:28:31 I mean, I don't know about your spaces too, but sometimes people do that anyway. They like to sit,

00:28:35 they don't like to sit on top of each other. So they'll put their briefcase or their purse, you know,

00:28:38 on a chair next to them. They kind of like, okay, this is my zone, this is my area kind of thing.

00:28:42 So, um, but you're going to help them understand that that's where it is. And on the behavior side,

00:28:48 like we've directed our community managers, like we have different places where people can do open flexor beyond a bench.

00:28:55 So just say, you know, like maybe tag this has bench one, bench two, bench three,

00:28:59 bench four. Why don't you grab a seat and bench for today, you know, kind of talk a little bit about that.

00:29:04 Or you know, there's an upstairs and downstairs are upstairs area. Um, it's open today for you to set out.

00:29:11 We're a little full on the downstairs ones, so very simple, very clean, easy to do. So we in,

00:29:18 um, in the 25 North spaces and a lot of our clients, we have a variety of ways to office.

00:29:24 So obviously private offices, we have dedicated desks and we also have open flex benching. Um, this screen when you get to the slide,

00:29:33 you'll see our dedicated desks are, um, were designed anyway to be adequately social distance and we already have 18 inch privacy screens and our storage and,

00:29:45 um, have arranged them, um, very well so that they're positioned in a floor plan. So we really don't have to change a thing in our dedicated desks.

00:29:54 But just to understand what that means, if you're designing new spaces, you know how you can from the beginning design a creative,

00:30:01 aesthetically pleasing functional space that provides what's needed for social distancing. Because some of, some of the idea of having your own space,

00:30:10 it's like your own office but at a desk. This is a great side and I'll just mention really quickly,

00:30:17 I've always loved the way Mara designed her dedicated desk because they have so much sort of that feel of privacy without being in a private office.

00:30:27 And I think many of us when we're laying out the space, we're thinking about like optimizing square footage and not,

00:30:36 um, increasing the, you know, sort of per station cost for startup. But Mara does really well with her dedicated desk program.

00:30:45 I think it's because they're so, um, sort of welcoming and there are plenty of places to store belongings and there's that visual privacy.

00:30:53 It almost feels like you could comfortably make a phone call and, you know, not at a high volume,

00:30:58 but it's not like a benched solution where, um, you know, you're just kind of lined up with everybody else.

00:31:03 It's a nice, um, you know, the visual is great to look at and to her point,

00:31:08 it already satisfies the social distancing requirements. Well, and we get a hundred percent occupancy as you can see.

00:31:15 That's what I mean. They're so compelling. Totally. Yep. So I think the increased cost of,

00:31:20 of the station pays for itself because she does really well with those. Awesome. So when you get to private offices a little bit different,

00:31:28 you know, um, for a long time, a lot of coworking spaces where like, how many people can we get into this one space?

00:31:33 You know, and the trend was to go to 48 inch desks, 24 by two 48 inch desks and you know,

00:31:41 like how do we maximize how do maximize and people might not need storage and things like that. But,

00:31:47 um, the, the, the real clue is that people do need to spread out. So you know,

00:31:51 ergonomically people have like a tier one, two, three zone. I think I've talked about this on another podcast like 18 inches from someone is tier one 36 inches is tier two.

00:32:02 So like if you think of where 48 is, like, you're just outside your own reach zone. But like these,

00:32:08 um, in this image I have a 60 inch by 30 inch desk, which is pretty much our standard in our private offices.

00:32:14 And if you look at, um, if you think of what a 16 years old, five feet,

00:32:19 if you literally put the storage pedestals in the middle of the two desks, the people are six feet plus away from each other,

00:32:27 you know, so they're like six to eight feet away from each other depending on how you position where the actual chair goes on the desk.

00:32:34 So if you do have 40 and it's just not a problem, you'll just need to space them out,

00:32:39 you know? And then you'll have open space between, and then you're kind of like relying on the people when they're in their own office on their own to rearrange their furniture and kind of a sense.

00:32:49 But just having a desk that face the walls so that you're not front to front. And if you have that six foot with when you're talking side to side,

00:32:58 that will take care of whatever social distancing is required. So just being mindful of having desk and circulation paths,

00:33:06 you know, people walk by, you've still got that six foot distance and when someone walks into an office,

00:33:10 you don't want to sit in someone sitting right at the desperate, everyone's going to just walk in too.

00:33:15 So just thinking of the whole picture once again and again, in a 60 by 30 scenario, you can have a hundred percent occupancy in a private office.

00:33:26 If you have a front to front situation with a screen, that totally works, but it will be very helpful for you as sales tools and to give some comfort to your own team and others kind of where the six foot circles really are without having to walk around with a tape measure,

00:33:41 you know, and then even having kind of a common area, the limits for, um, right now,

00:33:48 like I settled, just reference Illinois, which where I'm at is 10 gathering of 10. So in a private office,

00:33:55 you know, knowing that you can have no more than 10 people. Um, in this case scenario,

00:33:59 I have nine people. Um, but there's still plenty room. Okay. Um, so I'm going to introduce a new concept that I,

00:34:08 I am so grateful for my design team at workplace studio who came up with Nana septic surfaces who knew at the time.

00:34:15 But of course if you're in the medical community or work in a lab, you always have known about this.

00:34:20 Um, but Nana septic, the definition is surfaces that are essentially continuously self cleaning these, a mineral nano crystal and create powerful oxidation reactions.

00:34:32 So they work 24, seven and they last 90 days and they're safe to touch and they're basically stickers that you can put on things.

00:34:42 Um, there are other materials that you will see that have always been part of healthcare work surfaces, fabrics that now and designs I am confident will be specified in new materials for new construction.

00:34:56 But you can actually without, if you can't go touchless you can use these on hardware knobs, all kinds of things.

00:35:05 And then, um, you know, we're talking phone bows. So, um, right now I'm talking about managing use of rooms,

00:35:13 meeting rooms, phone booths, anything that would be open for people to use. I'm going to suggest that you keep them locked.

00:35:21 And then on the community management team knows when she, when they lock the door, he or she,

00:35:27 that it's been cleaned so it's ready for the next user and then they open the door for the next user.

00:35:32 But then, you know, you'll have to decide in the behavior, in your own protocol whether you ask the person using the room to do a wipe down or if your community team goes back in and does wipe down when they're done using it.

00:35:45 But, um, sanitation stations need to be there. Making sure that if you're going to be using a phone booth,

00:35:51 that you actually have HAC systems that provide fresh air and a return. So it goes out. Um,

00:35:59 if you do not have fresh air coming into this space, I would suggest lock it and don't open it again.

00:36:04 Right. Um, but they're very just very simple services. And again, some of the materials that you could use in phone booths,

00:36:11 like have a plastic chair or wood chair, easy to wipe down, you know, when you have multiple users.

00:36:17 Another thing that I, you know, I'm sure you guys have thought about this, but something to think about,

00:36:22 even though it's flex desk and you're like providing kind of like a hotel station, like they talk about in corporate environments,

00:36:28 there's nothing wrong with assigning someone who comes in for the day two, that would be their spot. So,

00:36:35 um, a tool that we're going to start using are like placemats that we put down. And so like that'll also be a cue,

00:36:41 a visual cue for people. This is a seat you can grab, but then once they set up for the day,

00:36:45 that's their spot. They can't like move to five different spots if they want to go to lounger or something that's a little different,

00:36:51 but where they're working and set up, you know, put their phone down and that kind of stuff,

00:36:55 it's in one, one spot for the day. So, um, boosts are going to have to be limited to one person for now.

00:37:04 Again, the whole idea of gathering and being across from each other. But there are great boosts that are single person or one sided booths as well.

00:37:12 So just make sure you put signage in those spaces. So everyone understands one person, you know, per cafes and kitchens are a little bit different.

00:37:22 Um, I'm going to suggest that you shut off access to anything that you would question use. For example,

00:37:29 an ice maker, you know, someone going in with their cup or grabbing the handlers scooping ice, like none of that should happen.

00:37:37 Um, water fountains or watercolors, as long as it's touchless, you know, a lot of those,

00:37:41 you know, water bottle fillers are totally fine because you can go in there without touching and we're going to suggest bring your own BYO.

00:37:50 That's so easy to do. Um, there will be some service that will provide. So for example,

00:37:55 if you choose to have coffee service or not, you know, maybe one of your community management and teams could be serving coffee,

00:38:03 you know, versus have it anyone just grab at it. But these net aseptic wraps or stickers will be great because we could actually put the Nan aseptic sticker on the handle of the craft.

00:38:13 Um, so that would be easy for them. But just understanding if you're not going to display mugs because people have to bring their own coffee cups to just put something decorative up there and you know,

00:38:23 kind of go with that. I would limit anyone using unloading the dishwasher to just your own staff and just make some decisions overall on that.

00:38:34 But we will be applying these net aseptic graphs on all hardware. So in case anyone touches it really quickly,

00:38:42 the nano septic reps are um, not that easy to get. So I think there's a website, is that on your checklist or not on the checklist?

00:38:52 It's on the checklist. So you have to be on their website when they open. So folks have successfully gotten the material,

00:39:01 but you have to be there when they open. So know that we also had a creative solution. If you cannot immediately get the nano septic reps,

00:39:08 we have a dentist in my flight group who said he was going to temporarily use dental tape. Oh,

00:39:15 go. I think it's kind of, it doesn't have the same properties that nano septic reps have, but it's really easy to move,

00:39:22 remove. So he could basically, you know, sort of wrap the surfaces for the day and then pull it all off and replace it.

00:39:29 So yeah, just think medical, you know, I mean, what did they do in all these labs and or in centers.

00:39:38 So, um, you know, the cafe, again, you need to have the six foot spacing.

00:39:45 So probably one person per table, you know, that kind of a thing. But depending on how you lay it out or how you space your tables,

00:39:51 um, but definitely put stickers on the ground to like where people can stand, like you're waiting at the microwave or if you're waiting at the,

00:39:58 um, there's no reason that people can't, let's say warm up their own food, but it's on a clean plate or what does that mean and how do they ripe it,

00:40:05 wipe it down? Or do you just shut off the microwave? Like obviously something you know to think about,

00:40:10 but just provide a spacing and just, you will all confidently come up with the right solutions for your spaces.

00:40:17 But there's a lot to think about, I guess is the bottom line. So in a meeting room,

00:40:23 um, there's several options that you could do, but in understanding occupancy, government required occupancy limits, that's the number one thing to do.

00:40:32 But whether you remove seats, whether you have tape on shares or put placements out, um, provide us in a visual signage so people understand what they can and can't do,

00:40:44 provide a single, you know, wastebasket in there. But really what people do in the meeting rooms,

00:40:50 like I said, the marker walls and our led monitors, remote controls, anything that anyone touches is a hazard basically.

00:40:59 So how do you keep them clean and nicely clean, like sterile in between uses? Um, so whether you use,

00:41:07 um, you know, different, uh, Bluetooth mechanisms to connect to your led monitors, whether it's the community manager only turns on with remote control and then you Bluetooth from your own laptops or help people do that,

00:41:22 you know, just thinking of the supplies that you're providing if you're going to provide them and how you can recycle them throughout the day.

00:41:30 This is a graph just kind of shows, again, a really helpful tool for your community management team.

00:41:36 And when you're selling the spaces to assure people how you'll be doing spacing, you know, within the meeting rooms and how your occupancy will work.

00:41:43 So you could probably fit four to five people in an eight person round table meeting room. But if you kept all the chairs there,

00:41:50 it's just so easy to say just every other chair like to sit every other chair. Um, and again,

00:41:56 in a meeting room, depending on your tables, probably one person per table, but you could split up the tables,

00:42:03 you could pull the tables apart three feet, you know, what does that look like? You can keep them together.

00:42:08 Like in this particular case on a 72 inch wide table, you can have people across the table from each other without having to have this separation.

00:42:19 So really looking at the meeting rooms in the big picture, bathrooms, bathrooms are a very big area where people touch everything.

00:42:29 So how do you open the door? How do you close the door? So, um, changing door knobs is something that,

00:42:36 um, I highly suggest to what kind they are because of course, locking mechanisms. So if you have a door knob and you have to turn it with your hand,

00:42:44 like that's not gonna work. So I'm providing latch door knobs, which you just kind of open or close or push once and then you can get a lever that locks it,

00:42:54 but you can move it with your arm versus move it with your hands or your elbow. Um, lots of different things you can do to do that.

00:43:01 Um, I'll show you in my checklist, there's foot poles, there's arm pulls that you can use that you don't need to use your hands with.

00:43:08 Um, and of course changing and converting. Now the photo that I have as an ADA sync, uh,

00:43:16 handles. So you can actually move that with your arm. You don't have to move it think ADA is actually touchless too.

00:43:24 But do you want to have like you move your hand, a waterflows kind of thing, toilets there,

00:43:30 you know, understanding all the different things people are going to touch. Like just walk into every room and understand what do I have to do in this space?

00:43:38 Um, HVC is a very, very, very important element. The problem is many of us don't,

00:43:46 don't manage or control our HPAC systems. They're part of the building. So things you can do however are talk to your landlords and,

00:43:55 or talk to a maintenance contractor who can do different things for you. So you'll want to purge fresh air in this space for at least 48 hours.

00:44:04 He wants to change your filters in the space. There are different levels of filters and then adjust the controls.

00:44:10 You maximize fresh air. And one of the things you're going to need to do is like educate your members on if we're going to add more fresh air,

00:44:19 our temperature might not be as controlled. Like it might get a little bit warmer in here. It might be a little bit more humid,

00:44:25 but we need fresh air. And I think, you know, if you educate them and they understand it,

00:44:29 I mean HVC is one of the, the nightmares of every community manager, like getting a space, the right comfort level that everyone likes,

00:44:36 you know? So that's one thing. Um, and then of course understanding like what other options there are to provide humidification.

00:44:44 So the virus does not like humidity at 40 to 60%. So how can you provide whether it's standalone,

00:44:51 humidification, if you have humidifiers in your systems right now, maybe by providing more fresh air, the humidity,

00:44:58 humidity will go up. There are um, units you can buy that you can Mount on the wall that measures humidity.

00:45:05 So it's just a good thing to be monitoring for your space and then understand, you know, what is or isn't possible.

00:45:13 Like I said, work with your landlords. I've sent CDC guidelines, OSHA guidelines and um, some really specific reports to my landlords,

00:45:23 providing them with what has to be done. And then I, I did go get quotes from all of our HVC contractors that were with the building and you know,

00:45:32 so now we're working together to come up with, you know, what the solutions are to make sure it's a safe environment.

00:45:37 So it's, it's, it's very necessary for them and other parts of the building as well. So just understanding what the total costs are and how to do that.

00:45:46 I think it's a great point to, um, you know, assume you may have to do some education with your landlord.

00:45:53 I mean, they just may not, they have a lot on their mind just as we do and you sort of managing through the situation with their various tenants and they may not be,

00:46:03 you know, sitting and watching every zoom webinar that we are. It just may not be as up to speed on the details.

00:46:08 So sort of, you know, take charge, play quarterback in this situation and tell them what you need.

00:46:15 So, um, this is what I did with my landlord. I think it's really clear. So we took our floor plan and we put every single thing that we're doing to the space.

00:46:24 So taking everything that we just talked about in this and how we applied it from where we're putting Nan aseptic,

00:46:30 where we're changing out, um, bathroom faucets and toilets to be touchless, how we're changing hardware on the doors.

00:46:39 Um, how we're changing poles. Uh, we are putting these dividers up on the furniture. So I kind of put together literally a floor plan for all of the spaces.

00:46:50 And I gave them what we're paying to do that. Like, by the way, this is our investment in your building and these are the product solutions.

00:46:57 So we actually showed them the products as well. And then we put together a list. You'll actually are obviously after conversations with them.

00:47:05 These are things that we need to do in the common space where our members have to go in your front yard,

00:47:09 going up the stairs and the elevator. Okay. And this is what we have to do, the HVC,

00:47:14 because in my lease there, they manage the HAC systems. I don't. So I'm like, and here's your,

00:47:21 this is what we have to do. And here are the proposals that go for your part of it.

00:47:24 So I have the plumber giving me proposals for the toilets in my space. But you have this common area,

00:47:30 toilet and another building that we have space. This is what you have to do. So this is your budget,

00:47:35 here's my budget, this is what I'm doing. Here's your plan, here's mine. And then I gave them the OSHA and the CDC guidelines exactly what needs to be done.

00:47:44 And why, and I'm like, on page 12 of this document are the HPAC rules then you know,

00:47:50 if you know me, I'm very detailed. So, um, I mean it might feel like a lot of work,

00:47:54 but I think it's the way to make sure it gets, gets taken care of. Well they have to take it to ownership.

00:47:59 You know, obviously the property manager has taken to ownership. They have to realize, you know, this is their investment.

00:48:04 You know, plus, you know, they're hurting right now with, you know, people wanting rent relief and some other things too.

00:48:10 So they're like, Oh, you think I have to spend money to, to get me out. I'm not getting all the money but I have to spend money.

00:48:15 So just kind of understanding, you know, what that really means. But it's a partnership definitely. So we have to treat it that way.

00:48:22 So then the next part is just kinda like, and you'll get this, you know, when you go on Jamie's notes,

00:48:28 but we kind of just put together a simple checklist back to business checklist on what to do in each of the areas.

00:48:34 And there's just some really simple graphic showing you what they would look like. Like a sticker that says protect yourself,

00:48:40 maintain the distance or you know, or you know, six feet maybe you can decide, you can customize and you can do whatever you want to.

00:48:47 Sensation stations, like covered foot, foot operated, opening ways, cans and then like what privacy screens can look like.

00:48:55 And then we actually show you on these nano septic wraps what they look like. And I loved, okay.

00:49:01 You know, I'm a designer so I like when everything is just clean and simple. But frankly the messaging that it says it's an antiseptic surface makes me comfortable knowing that people know when they touch that.

00:49:12 Like it's safe to touch that too. We're going to have to teach everyone what nano subject means, but you know what I'm saying.

00:49:19 So even touchless soap dispensers, faucets, and like I said, we're going to be using some placemats,

00:49:25 paper, disposable place mats, and then just really looking at like, what does it mean for hardware?

00:49:31 Like there is an investment you're going to have to make. And I put this picture of, I love Adelina,

00:49:36 she's one of our designers. She came up with this a door knob that is a bumper door knob.

00:49:42 So if you hit it with your butt, you know, put your tush on it or your hip on it or even your elbow versus having to twist it.

00:49:50 So that's really handy. And then, or like these push pulls with your foot or arms, they,

00:49:55 they're just really good to see that. And I did provide a link in there also on cleaning and disinfecting,

00:50:02 uh, things. So you can see, um, what's really required for that because you know, that's just part of it.

00:50:08 And assuring your guests that and your staff, I mean the staff is just as important that they are knowing if they're cleaning something,

00:50:16 that they're doing the right thing. So that's where that checklist is gold. My flight group members were so grateful to have that checklist,

00:50:26 so make sure you grab that. She kind of voiced over it, but it's really helpful to have,

00:50:30 um, have it to walk through. And she included some product images there. I mean the product images or the product suggestions,

00:50:39 you know, kind of in the same vein that we talked about earlier, you have to make decisions about what to invest in,

00:50:45 you know, and you know what you think is sort of an a now thing that might not be there forever or things that just kind of make sense.

00:50:52 Like all the door handles and the sanitation sanitizing stations. Like I'd love to have those for every flu season.

00:50:59 Right, right, right. I think there is a level of, you know, people will get back to normal in some sense at some point.

00:51:08 Right. We won't, we won't be so aware of, of all of the things and touching and being close and we will sort of forget that and go back to our just sort of comfortable way of being.

00:51:20 And yet I think there's going to be a longterm appreciation for, you know, some of these things,

00:51:25 like I've said, like I've always wanted to wear a mask on a plane and I know mass don't do is not going to go away.

00:51:32 Right. And so now it's just normalized. You know, a lot of this and you know, and some of these things are really approachable touchless soap dispensers.

00:51:39 Like we should just do that in any way. It's just like makes sense. Um, I mean I've not been on every single webinar,

00:51:48 you know, and listened and read, done tons of research. Of course we have to, our whole design team did that.

00:51:53 But like what's practical, you know, what can we really do? You know, we're not gonna throw away everything that we have.

00:51:58 We're not going to throw away all of our desks. We're not going to, because I feel like once the vaccine is out,

00:52:03 people will be okay to sit there. But knowing also that, um, for our 25 North spaces or you know,

00:52:10 we were 30, we have more generous space too. So if you are all open and everyone is all in one area,

00:52:16 you are going to have to reconsider that, you know, what does that mean even for the future?

00:52:21 Well, I think, yeah, and that's not really a big topic for today, but I would love to address just for a minute.

00:52:28 You are, I assume not going to start designing new spaces that have no open space. Oh we will.

00:52:36 We will have open space. People like to gather, people need to collaborate, people want to be around other people.

00:52:41 I mean, I think part of this whole thing that everyone working from home and although the kids might be emailing or the dog wants to go out all the time,

00:52:49 I think people are lonely for their workmates or even if they don't like seeing other people, people can't wait to hug even though I don't know if it will be hugging for awhile,

00:52:57 you know? So I just seeing other people there, but just knowing that they're there, but how close are they there?

00:53:05 You know, kind of thing. I don't think it's going to be a little dense, you know,

00:53:09 and everyone on top of each other again. But that's just my vision. Yeah. But we'll continue to serve folks who want that open space feeling and the collaboration and the community.

00:53:19 I think people get really nervous that sort of, the whole vibe of coworkings is going to change significantly.

00:53:26 And I think even in some, you know, some markets and urban markets, you find that density and people accept it,

00:53:33 but really in a lot of places, to your point, like people sit down and put their bag in the chair next to them and sort of spread out and,

00:53:39 and so, you know, we're already sort of taking up the space that we feel is comfortable and not every seat is taken in,

00:53:46 in an open space, open zones, but they'll be dispersed throughout the floor plan. Maybe not all in one area over here at this entry.

00:53:56 Maybe there'll be an open seating area over here because I think a lot of people come out of offices and want to go out and do an open area,

00:54:04 you know, so I don't think the open office is definitely done. Not at all. And I don't think we're going to go back to like 1980s you know,

00:54:13 cubicle farms. So there's three, I think they're talking about that. I know I've seen the posts on LinkedIn and all the funny like,

00:54:23 Oh gosh, right. Yeah, for sure. And I think that, you know, there's some really good simple product.

00:54:28 We don't need the storage we have before. We don't need panels to manage wiring. Everything is wireless.

00:54:34 I mean what we really need are some screens and some, you know, way to see other people around us and um,

00:54:42 just to know when we want to collaborate, where we can, we can go or we can hide away if we want to.

00:54:46 So just kind of basic human nature type things. Perfect. Mara, thank you so much for sharing today.

00:54:54 Thank you for all the details and the thought and effort that you've put into this work. I know some of it's for your clients thinking.

00:55:00 Thank you for sharing it with my flight group members last week and for sharing it on the podcast today.

00:55:05 Um, Mara is also on episode 50 talking about suburban coworking, episode 80 talking about the design process for coworking spaces.

00:55:15 Episode 100 talking about what you need to know about furniture for coworking spaces. And then episode one pen,

00:55:22 she did a neo-con highlight from the big, uh, annual neo-con event, which is not happening this year.

00:55:29 Amazing. Like never happened before. Things are, are getting canceled, so we won't have that episode again,

00:55:36 but thank you for this one. And again, you can grab the download so that you can kind of match the audio to the visuals and everything.

00:55:43 coworking.com forward slash one 50 thank you, Mara. Until next time

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Jamie Russo1 Comment