
Preparing for Reopening: A Conversation for Managers and Administrators
Preparing for Reopening: A Conversation for Managers and Administrators
Successful reopening requires the leadership of Managers, Human Resources Administrators, and Executive Directors. On May 21 and 22 2020, EYET hosted and facilitated a conversation that brought over 75 leaders and decision-makers from across the housing sector together to discuss preparing organizations and teams to reopen doors to clients and community in the wake of the Covid-19 quarantine restrictions.
The conversations were guided through three themes:
- Physical Spaces
- How must we shift our physical spaces to adhere to social distancing rules? What are the safety measures needed, and how will they be supported and communicated?
- Client Services
- What do client services look like? How must we prepare for this new interface? How are we prioritizing client safety as policy? How are we communicating that to staff and clients?
- Managing Remote Teams
- How do we continue to support workers working remotely?
- Tools that can support remote work:
- Trello – a tool for tracking work
- Asana – a tool for tracking project-based work
- Microsoft Teams – tool for collaborative working that is integrated with Outlook
- Slack – digital communication platform for remote teams
- Zoom – video conferencing program
- GoToMeeting – alternate video conferencing platform
- Cisco Webex – alternate video conferencing platform
As leadership strategizes ways shift their organizations to prioritize safety in reopening, staff need to know that there are structures in place to ensure their safety. Policies and procedures need to be created and communicated clearly, and staff need to be trained on any changes.
Physical Spaces
How must we shift our physical spaces to adhere to social distancing rules? What are the safety measures needed, and how will they be supported and communicated?
During our community conversations with Housing Professionals across the sector, we heard a lot of feedback and concerns about returning to the office. Some of those concerns include:
- Small office and/or client meeting spaces making it difficult to practice social distancing
- High volume of traffic in office spaces lead to increased risks
- Office computers are not always set up with needed technology for digital connection (cameras, headsets)
- Office spaces/desks are close making privacy a challenge for digital meetings with clients
Leadership-identified challenges and strategies:
CHALLENGE / PROBLEM | STRATEGY / SOLUTION |
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Shared Workspace: Many front-line staff share spaces or use the same computer/equipment |
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Safety for direct service provision: Frontline essential services (i.e.: drop-ins) must continue, high risk activities that includes prolonged close contact |
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Acquiring PPE: Can be expensive; unexpected expense, not budgeted for |
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Lobby / intake crowding: Intake spaces are modelled in ways where congregation happens |
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Noncompliance with Social Distancing: Staff or clients may not comply fully with the social distancing guidelines in place. |
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Maintaining staffing levels: Some staff may be physically compromised and unable to work; pay not competitive enough, staff retention challenging. |
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Contamination: High traffic offices may have increased risks of contamination. |
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Staff may contract COVID: There is high risk to frontline service delivery, and staff may contract Covid-19 and be unable to work, or spread it to other. |
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Policy and Guidelines: New or revised policies are needed related to COVID-19 |
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Rearranging and Reducing Furniture: Furniture currently in the office needs to be removed to make space for social distancing. |
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Signage: Clear communication of all guidelines, policies, and safety measures in the office spaces is extremely important. |
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Funding and Costs: Implementing measures needed to address safety concerns is costly. |
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Client Services
What do client services look like? How must we prepare for this new interface? How are we prioritizing client safety as policy? How are we communicating that to staff and clients?
During our community conversations with Housing Professionals across the sector, we heard a lot of feedback and concerns about returning to the office. Some of those concerns include:
Examples (Staff have identified):
- Unable to hold in-person workshops and programs for clients
- Clients feeling social isolation and unable to connect
- Accessing food services
- New move ins require furniture but moving is a challenge
- Shared living spaces may be unsafe for clients and workers
- Outreach and client intake
- Supporting clients to viewings
- Home visits
- Regular office hours have not consistently met shifting needs of clients
Leadership-identified challenges and strategies:
Challenge/Problem | Strategy/Solution |
Program Risk Differentiation: Not all programs pose the same risk or need. |
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Groups and Programming: Clients need to return to programming and groups as soon as possible. |
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Risks to client one-on-one meetings: How to ensure social distancing while sitting in the same room as a client. |
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Supporting non-essential services: Clients still need information but non-essential programming is limited. |
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Application Support: Clients need help with applications, challenging to do socially distanced. |
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Prolonged contact unavoidable: Orgs that offer spaces to sleep or food services cannot mitigate risks of prolonged contact. |
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Client noncompliance with PPE guidelines and policies: Especially for clients with mental health issues, or clients who struggle adapting to new/changing environments. |
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Other Organizations Changing Services: Staff struggle to keep up with service changes for referrals. |
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Clients not self-screening: Clients unaware of self-screening strategies and not screening prior to accessing services. |
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Tech Limitations: Clients don’t have access to the tech needed for remote support. |
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Management of teams: Organizational changes and working remotely
How do we continue to support workers working remotely? What considerations must leadership and management have to adapt to managing teams in new structures.
Examples (Staff have identified):
- Disconnect between staff and teams working remotely
- Workload changes and feeling unsure of new shifts
- Recent technologies and software are overwhelming
- Staff don’t have access to hardware at home (printing, scanning, copying, stamps)
- Staff need reliable high-speed internet for working from home
- Staff who parent find it challenging to balance childcare with consistent work hours
- Work/home life lines are blurred while working from home, challenging to set up boundaries
Leadership-identified challenges and strategies:
Challenge/Problem | Strategy/Solution |
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Strategy: COVID-19 requires adaptations and workplan strategies that are temporary and unpredictable. |
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Remote work impossible for some positions: Some front-line service delivery needs to be in person. |
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Team building: Teams feel disconnected and isolated in their work |
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Productivity and Outputs: Working from home may limit productivity; there is only so much work that can be done from home. |
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Adhering to collective agreements; undertaking union bargaining: Adhering to collective bargaining agreements is challenging with this shift in staffing structures; consistency is unattainable across many staff departments |
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Grants and Funder Expectations: Funding allocation has been provided for outputs that are no longer realistic; those funds could be used to implement new and shifting services, program, and projects. |
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Remote work has tech challenges: Staff do not have access to the tech required to provide services remotely, or to do remote work |
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Immediate solutions don’t work long-term: The quick adaptations to working from home don’t feel sustainable |
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Compassion Fatigue and Mental Health: Burnout seems to be increasing as boundaries are thinning. |
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