With the new year around the corner, a lot of folks are wondering how COVID-19 will affect the workplace in 2021? And it’s a valid question. With talks of vaccines on the horizon, and different places handling company procedure in various ways it’s natural for this question to be on everyone’s mind.

With that said, here are a few ways we’re predicting how COVID-19 will affect the workplace in 2021.

Social functions will continue to happen over Zoom and Microsoft Teams

Keeping team moral high is always important, but has become even more crucial when so many people are affected by the pandemic in many different ways. Some of your employees likely live alone, and when you’re living and working from home and you’re all alone that can get isolating. However, since employee safety is paramount work social functions will continue to happen over your conferencing software so that everyone is kept physically safe, but mentally and emotionally connected.

Unless regions are in lockdown, organizations will develop transient workforces

The days of every single employee always being in the office are long over. If there is anything this pandemic has taught us, it’s that having employees work from home part-time isn’t the end of the world. Not only that, but employees want that! There are viral posts on LinkedIn talking about how folks don’t want to return to the old normal. The new normal provides for a flexibility that employees are craving, and if you’re an organization looking to retain Millennials and Gen Zers then it’s in your best interest to listen, and act accordingly.

Desk booking software is a new workplace standard

Following the previous point, using a desk booking software will be the new workplace standard in 2021. Consider, how many people will be in and out of the office, especially when there’s a lower workplace capacity. Having a reliable and user-friendly desk booking software on hand that is COVID friendly will be a game changer. Platforms like TableAir or Add-On for Exchange or Office 356  will become common place, and if you haven’t looked into them you definitely should. It will make sanitization and contact tracing super easy during this pandemic, and you’ll be saving time and money in the long run. After the pandemic is over and life is relatively back to normal you won’t be scrambling to find a program that works for your company and paying a premium to do so. You’ll be ready to go, and your employees will thank you for it.

Regardless of how you look at it, 2020 will never be the same and despite everyone asking how COVID-19 will affect the workplace in 2021, as long as you have a solid plan in place and have been able to pivot successfully, you’ll be fine.