As facilities and business leaders prepare to open their workplaces, it’s important to consider how they can leverage digital signage to disseminate important safety messaging to engage visitors in a post-COVID-19 world.
Throughout the pandemic, it’s been critical to communicate as clearly as possible with employees, customers, visitors and patients.
Now isn’t the time to ease up, but rather double down.
COVID-19 vaccine distribution has accelerated talks of bringing workers back into work, renewing hope for those who've eagerly awaited their return.
“I think the vaccine is a game-changer because it gives light at the end of the tunnel, and workers can talk about returning to the office as if it’s a real thing,” said Bridget Gainer, vice president of global affairs at Aon, to the Chicago Tribune.
“Plans can start moving from theoretical to practical.”
The pandemic shuttered restaurants and retail stores, caused workers to vacate corporate offices, and forced all others to restrict access, limit mobility, and drastically change the way people went about their daily lives.
Now is the beginning of the end, one could say.
This is the cue for facilities and business leaders to (finally) initiate their return-to-work plans — if not already in motion — and not at a moment too soon.
According to survey data from the Pew Research Center, 64% of American workers say they feel uncomfortable returning. Up to 31% say they feel “very” uncomfortable.
While the pandemic continues to wane and vaccine distribution rises, organization leaders must keep in mind that it’s not over. The risk of transmission continues, and it’s important to accommodate those factors by implementing solutions that will help quell not only fears but the very real risk of catching an illness at work.
That’s why it’s important for facilities and business leadership to partner with technical professionals to develop a communications strategy that includes digital signage, a dynamic tool for increasing audience engagement and worker productivity.
In this blog post, read about how different organizations should consider digital signage in their return-to-work plans.
How Organizations Should Leverage Digital Signage
As the world emerges from the pandemic, the requirements to reopen vary from business to business, organization to organization.
By and large, mask requirements remain in effect, while other precautions relax. Vendors can host more events as gathering restrictions ease; restaurants and bars can increase seating capacity; and remote work is no longer required in some locales.
Many — dare we say, all — have looked forward to these days, and now that they’re here, it’s prudent to keep one’s guard up.
Relaxed restrictions and pent-up anticipation will drive foot traffic and patronage to businesses, which is undoubtedly welcome after the hard economic blow brought on by the pandemic.
However, facilities and business managers must not compromise on communication and safety precautions. And that’s where digital signage can help.
Digital signage is an effective way to share content with a target audience. It’s proven to drive interest in topics, heighten brand awareness, and elevate engagement at work. It’s even cited for reducing workplace injuries by up to 20%, according to Signagelive, a leading provider of cloud-based digital signage solutions.
As a way to promote wellness at work, it’s important not to overlook how digital signage can help:
Restaurants
Occupancy restrictions remain in effect across the country, but that’s changing. While reduced seating remains, digital signage can help in these ways:
Notify customers of wait times and current occupancy rates
Show COVID-19 protocols and safety measures
Promote sales, specials or updated menus
Restaurant owners can use digital signage to communicate with both customers and staff. Some vendors have created a touchless check-in process for employees reporting to work.
Signage in the back of the house shows a QR code that employees scan to bring up their daily health checks before starting their shifts. With as fast as restrictions change, digital signage proves flexible enough to keep up.
Hospitals and Medical Facilities
Digital signage can lend a hand in addition to triage efforts at medical facilities.
Virtual kiosks have been installed at entrances to give visitors directions, communicate important messages, and even take their temperatures.
By putting digital signage front and center, it helps people navigate the facilities in a more targeted way while taking the necessary precautions — like temperature checks — to better handle incoming foot traffic.
What’s more, a touchless experience allows visitors to reduce their interactions with the environment. By leveraging a QR code, visitors can scan the digital signage to pull up facility floor maps, COVID-19 guidelines, and relevant information on their personal devices.
Corporate Offices
Making workers feel comfortable as they return to the office should remain a top priority for facilities managers — and digital signage can help.
In meeting rooms, digital signage can signal when occupancy rates are too high or when sanitation staff last cleaned the room. Throughout the office, prompts to wear a mask, use hand sanitizer, and clean up common areas after use serve as helpful and subtle reminders to adhere to safety guidelines.
What’s more, touchless solutions apply to control panels and room scheduling as well. By displaying a QR code on a meeting room touch panel, participants can control everything from the audio to the display settings on their personal device, cutting down on the number of touchpoints within a room.
Digital Signage Plays a Key Role in the Return to Work
Up to 62% of American workers cannot do their jobs from home. Many of them have likely worked throughout the pandemic in a way that more closely resembles the pre-COVID-19 era than what has been the case for the many thousands who worked at home.
But with reduced capacity, social distancing, and other safety protocols, work hasn’t been the same for anyone. And now, it’s about the change again.
While not every remote employee will return to work, many will. Some want to work in-person with their co-workers again because of the collaborative and creative benefits. Whatever the reason and whether it’s full-time or part-time, the transition back to work will require workplaces to change to better accommodate the next chapter of the pandemic: Reopening.
Digital signage, and other technologies, can play a helpful role in the next phase of the pandemic by helping facilities and business leaders communicate the critical messages their intended audience must receive.
To integrate new digital signage systems or develop strategies for existing ones, consider working with a technology provider like CommLink Integration, a leading systems integrator serving the Boston area. Digital signage has been a core service of CommLink Integration, with a focus on providing dynamic solutions that can scale to meet organizational needs and goals.