Readying the workplace for the ‘new normal’

As various elements of the global workforce begin gradually returning to workplaces, we will collectively be adapting to a ‘new normal’. What this looks like is still taking shape and the finer details will take time to establish, but the overriding requirement is to avoid or mitigate person-to-person contact wherever possible. Where it comes to business and personal deliveries, and the distribution of those and other items internally, automated lockers can help keep contact to a minimum.

Although most of us will already realise that activities like commuting, meal breaks and even talking to colleagues will have to change in some way, one of the most common occasions for ad-hoc human interaction during the working day is accepting and then internally distributing deliveries. With research suggesting that deliveries should be left for a period of time before being handled, as well as the obvious need to avoid direct contact with delivery personnel wherever possible, we will no doubt see workplace processes and policies that relate to deliveries begin to adjust.

Setting aside adaptation to new social distancing measures, the volume of parcels and packages being delivered to workplaces has been growing steadily for a number of years. Ofcom put total parcel volumes at growth of ten per cent year-on-year in the UK 2018-19, this will be largely driven by ecommerce – which itself has seen further recent growth as many of us have needed to switch to online shopping for more of what we want and need.

They most effective way in which we’re seeing workplaces, and indeed residential and educational environments, effectively manage these issues is with intelligent parcel locker systems. More common in retail applications as way for fulfilling orders and returns, commercial office lockers have been growing in popularity in the workplace for a variety of reasons – with the reduced contact aspect now being an obviously key characteristic. Indeed, we’ll likely start to see lockers being used in new and interesting ways to help around the internal exchange of a whole host of items, enabling staff to further observe reduced contact processes throughout the working day.

For more information about intelligent parcel lockers in the workplace, you can download our free white paper here.