Covid 19 coronavirus: Shared workspace firms prepare for level 2

By Harry Lock of RNZ

The end of alert level 3 also means the end to seven weeks of working from home for many people.

But workplaces still have to maintain physical distancing for staff, and some workers are not comfortable with the idea of a return to the office.

Shared office space companies are working out how to get the workspaces functioning safely and hotels are allowing day rentals for people who fancy a change of scene, but aren't keen with embracing social interaction just yet.

Working from home has presented unique challenges for everyone - from teachers trying to teach a class full of kids over video, while their own children are running around in the background to mayors trying to mediate a livestream meeting with 10 or so other councillors.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website

So the news that offices will be reopening has brought relief to many - a change of scene, and new people to interact with.

For the co-director of graphic design company Scratch Design, Kendal Morgan-Marshal, working from home was tricky for their team of five.

"The creative collaboration between us, it's normally quite a natural and organic process," she said.

"When we do come together for our creative brainstorms, they're really positive, uplifting moments.

"Having to do that remotely, it's definitely been a lot more structured and organised, so you just lose that natural, organic kind of process."

Their office is a shared working space, The Settlement, in Petone, Lower Hutt.

It is a space that suits them down to the ground, Morgan-Marshal said - from the aesthetics, to the company - that they have not experienced while at home.

"We've created a home that looks nice and feels nice to be in," she said.

"That's who we are, and The Settlement is very much like that too - it's a beautiful space to work in.

"We know people have had their challenges. One of our team has been working in his bedroom while he's got three little children running around downstairs that his wife is looking after."

The company to return on Monday, and she said the whole team was excited to go back.

"I think we'll look forward to being back together again. We've missed that natural energy that comes from that."

Crucial for all these people being able to return is ensuring the space is level 2-ready.

Meredith Walshe is the co-founder of The Settlement where roughly 130 people used the spaces in either Petone or Porirua before the lockdown.

Although level 2 means a return to work, she said it did not mean a return to normal.

"We're implementing new digital signing in, on iPad with contact tracing, screening," she said, "[and] we're not taking any external meeting bookings for now.

"[We're] taking it seriously, and we've reorganised the whole space, gone round with my tape measure and measured, and also just how you walk through the space."

But others will remain uncomfortable about returning at all, which is the gap the hotel chains Rydges and QT are hoping to fill.

They are offering a "Working from Hotel" deal, where you pay for a day in a hotel room, complete with en suite and complimentary hot beverages.

Sales director Tracy Martin said it offered clients a change in scenery, but kept the distance.

"It's aimed at individuals who need a quiet space, or perhaps their office doesn't have suitable social distancing," she said.

"So the whole concept is based around the individual who still needs to work and be productive, but for whatever reason, their home environment isn't suitable."

Many will deem level 2 the right time to return to the office, but as pandemic-stemming measures continue, it won't be the office as we know it.