Articles

Questions About Returning to Work

April 21, 2020

When will a start up’s management team feel comfortable telling employees they're safe to return to work? Is it when the government declares it safe? Or schools re-open? Or customer prospects agree to meet in person? Or when we each record a positive antibody test?

How will we conduct meetings? With masks and gloves? What will be the social norms to say hello? Handshakes, hugs, high-fives, waves, hand over your heart, a bow? Will it be impolite to shake hands and immediately use alcohol to disinfect your hands? Will it be impolite to ask if someone has been tested for coronavirus? Will we carry immunity passports?

How will it feel to return to work in an office? Will we sit as close to our colleagues as we did in January? Will we come into the office less when we feel a cold coming on? Will we all look at the person coughing in the corner and suspect them of harboring something? Will we start bringing our own lunches to work?

When we all travel the way we used to, boarding planes to attend a last minute meeting across the country? What fraction of meetings that used to be in person will be conducted by video?As the tone of the conversation shifts from a focus on quarantine to re-emerging in the world, these are some of the questions I’ve been wondering about.

This article originally appeared on Tomasz Tunguz.