How You Can Stay Safe in a Private Office

Some employers may be keeping their teams remote for the foreseeable future, but that doesn’t mean distributed-workforce members with major cabin fever have to stay stuck at home. Private offices at coworking spaces can strike the right balance between staying healthy and satisfying the desire to get back to ‘normal.’

Below, we tell you how a solopreneurship or small business owner can both adhere to COVID-19-prevention protocols and experience coworking’s many benefits. 

Go private 

You don’t have to sign a pricey, multi-year office-space lease to get a comfortable, professional, and private space to work that’s not inside your house. Here at Metro Offices, we offer lockable offices of multiple sizes and capacities, all for rent by the hour or day, at any of our nine locations. 

When you book one, you get access to shared spaces, such as kitchens and fitness centers, as well as unlimited gourmet coffee and tea. No need to concern yourself with cleanliness, either; we undertake frequent suite-wide cleaning and sanitizing at all of our sites. 

Stay masked

Mask wearing is one of our sites’ rules, and for good reason: The proper wearing of cloth face masks has been shown to significantly reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. So wear a cloth mask any time you are outside your private office or any time your door is open. And make sure that mask covers both your nose and mouth. (Every onsite member of our staff wears a mask at all times.)

Choose wisely

In addition to our frequent sanitization procedures, we at Metro Offices have increased the number of hand-sanitizer stations at each of our locations. We’ve also reduced the number of seats in our common areas and spaced the remaining seating 6 feet apart. 

Considering office space outside of the DC area? Ask management at your coworking space of choice about the sanitization and COVID-19-prevention efforts they’re undertaking to ensure everyone stays healthy. 

Network at a distance

One of the benefits of coworking has always been the opportunity it gives professionals to network. COVID-19 is no reason to shy away from striking up conversations with people you meet. Just be smart about the way you chat. 

Stay at least 6 feet from the person with whom you’re talking, and resist the urge to move your mask when you talk. You may need to up your speech volume and/or enunciation during the conversation but keep that mask firmly in place. Then otherwise, speak as you normally would.

And rather than carrying or accepting business cards when you’re coworking, try keeping your phone in your pocket when you venture into shared areas. That way, if you’re looking to exchange information or connect with someone on social media, you can take out your handheld device and link up then and there before you forget the person’s name and/or the name of their company.  

Mix it up

You may be so happy with your coworking space that you’ll want to come in Monday through Friday. Instead, for now, think about sprinkling in a few work-from-home days each week. Doing so could go a long way toward decreasing the likelihood of COVID-19 spread. 

According to a piece in Medical News Today: “Even if [workers] come in [to an office] a few days a week, their days at home will reduce their overall risk of getting or spreading the virus.” 

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Ready to get out of your house (and pajamas) and work from a professional office?  Contact Metro Offices today.

These articles may interest you:

How to Tell it’s Time to Go Back to Your Coworking Space in DC

Office Etiquette 101: Things to Avoid at the Office

Supporting Employee Well-being: Pandemic Edition

Kathlene Buchanan

As the founder of Metro Offices, she has championed workspace innovation since 1989, inspired by the creativity and drive of their 30,000+ clients. Woman-owned and locally focused, the company tailors its spaces to meet the unique needs of every business.

tags: COVID-19 | coworking | Office Space | private office