The last few days have been a bit surreal and I expect that things will likely continue to change daily (if not hourly). The hardest thing for all of us is the uncertainty at this point. It’s important that you know that the most important thing for Society of Work at this time (as always) is you — our members. That said, we want to be as proactive as possible to help in slowing the spread of the disease. This recent article is a great explanation of how things can change quickly and what we can do to help flatten the curve.
Knowing that our most valuable resource at SOW has always been our people, I want us to keep in mind that many people will experience some level of anxiety, isolation, or fear. As SOW exists to address isolation in the workplace for so many, I’m hopeful we can find ways to connect with others outside of the typical face to face meetings at the coffee pot- i.e. a simple email, text, slack message. This sort of support is crucial to our well beings as humans in times like these.
In an effort to take care of our community and our space, we’ll be taking the following steps to do our part in flattening the curve:
- Suspending all in-person tours for potential new members
- Removing the ability for all non-member booked conference rooms
- Amping up our sanitation efforts- including a new hot water heater in the Floor 6 kitchen (more details below) in addition to those measures being taken by the building cleaning crew
- Implementing Roll Over Days (more details below)
- Creating a more vibrant “virtual community” via our Slack channel.
CLEANING/SANITIZATION EFFORTS
As we stated last week, we’re working closely with the building cleaning crew to increase cleaning and sanitization efforts. The cleaning crew is now including chemicals to kill bacteria that hasn’t been required until now (namely Clorox). They are paying special attention to commonly shared items (i.e. door handles, elevator buttons, handrails) and flat surfaces. They are leaving pre-diluted spray bottles containing bleach for each bathroom, kitchen, common areas, and desks. Please use these as you see fit and Matt will also be using these to wipe surfaces multiple times daily. Lastly, it was brought to our attention that the hot water in the Floor 6 kitchen was not sufficient. As of Monday, there is a new heater that will make sure that everyone has hot water for handwashing and dishwashing.
SOCIAL DISTANCING
We are encouraging members to follow social distancing recommendations. It probably goes without saying, but please refrain from shaking hands or sitting too close to members in the open coworking space. If for any reason, you don’t feel well or feel that you are part of the population that has increased risk of infection, please do not come to the office.
If you or someone you know becomes aware of ANY person in our community or building who may have been exposed to (or tests positive for) the virus, please notify us immediately. We’ll work quickly to take action however is deemed necessary and will keep the communication lines open with you as well.
ROLL OVER DAYS
Starting today, and for the near future, any unused coworking days included in your membership will roll forward to the following month. We have always operated on the honor system for days used and will continue to do that with Roll Over Days as well.
For full-time members where rollover days don’t apply, we’d like to come up with something that of value and fair to offer and we’re open to suggestions.
We’re putting in place the Roll Over Policy because it’s the right thing to do but also because we are a small business like so many of our members and we also have financial obligations. Long term, we don’t want this to hurt what SOW has built and what it offers to our community as a whole. We know it may be best to work from home for a few weeks, but we hope to honor your membership and reduce any needs to downgrade or cancel current membership.
VIRTUAL CONNECTIONS
We’re working through ways to better connect our community on Slack in this time where you might want to distance yourself from others. Matt will be exploring options of virtual lunches and/or morning check-ins for the sake of connecting and accountability that is usually created in our physical space. It can simply be a way to share what you’re working on and keep everyone connected, supported and encouraged in the midst of new routines. If your invitation to Slack has expired or you’re using a different email address, you can join using this link.
At the end of the day, we want to support your business, you as an individual and stay connected to each other during this season. Do not hesitate to reach out at any time and let us know how we support you better.
-Kelly
