As the COVID-19 pandemic impacts the rules of human interaction, business and organizational leaders must establish a new definition of workplace safety for their facilities.<\/p>\r\n
In this Think Tank, Esri\u2019s Brian Cross talks to indoor mapping experts Will Isley and Beau Ryck about the conversations they\u2019re having with business leaders, what it means to establish a common operating picture of an organization\u2019s facilities, and how to create a new level of safety in the workplace. Esri\u2019s Pat Wallis provides additional context throughout the interview.<\/p>\r\n
\u00a0<\/strong>Brian Cross:<\/strong>\u00a0We\u2019ve explored the\u00a0trend of indoor mapping\u00a0in the past, and that topic is quickly gaining attention as business leaders contemplate new patterns of work and challenges to safety and health in the workplace.<\/p>\r\n To put this in perspective, I thought we could start by discussing what workplace challenges executives were solving with indoor maps before COVID-19?<\/p>\r\n Beau Ryck:<\/strong>\u00a0The main challenge has been developing a system of record that organizes building and floorplan data. Employers use this to improve workplace experiences for employees and visitors\u2014through wayfinding and room-booking applications, for example. They also use the data to manage maintenance more efficiently. Indoor maps create a common operating picture that allows them to manage buildings and equipment as assets.<\/p>\r\n Cross:<\/strong>\u00a0Now you\u2019re both helping companies address new priorities as they respond to COVID-19. We\u2019ll explore those in a minute, but I\u2019m curious whether you see this pandemic having long-term effects on the workplace?<\/p>\r\n Will Isley:<\/strong>\u00a0I think COVID-19 will change the workplace in lasting ways\u2014similar to the way September 11 changed security practices in the airline industry. Safety has always been a basic premise of the workplace, but you might say it lived in the background. Now it\u2019s at the top of every executive\u2019s agenda, and will be for the foreseeable future. Companies have to protect their employees, because if workers aren\u2019t safe, operations can\u2019t continue.<\/p>\r\n Ryck:<\/strong>\u00a0I agree. Safety challenges in the workplace won\u2019t go away once the COVID-19 threat fades. Natural and human-made disasters will continue to occur, and executives will need situational awareness of their facilities to manage those events. I think the pandemic will drive businesses toward better systems for dealing with hazards and disaster planning. Longer term, as business leaders grow more comfortable with a remote workforce and flexible working schedules, some might even reevaluate their real estate holdings and shed leases. It\u2019s really interesting to see how mapping technology is helping guide these decisions.<\/p>\r\n Cross:<\/strong>\u00a0In the COVID-19 world, what are some emerging uses for indoor mapping?<\/p>\r\n Isley:<\/strong>\u00a0Indoor maps are being used in three aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first is direct response. This mostly involves frontline locations like hospitals, shelters, pop-up facilities, and campuses that are providing emergency services and health care. They need to understand how to adapt their indoor space to safe distancing, help people find the resources they need, understand and address facility issues, define new health procedures, and more. The second technique involves planning indoor space for use when employees return to work. Companies need to map out seat assignments and safety procedures and understand who\u2019s in the office, who\u2019s not. They also need to know where maintenance has been performed and how physical systems are operating. The third is advanced analysis of the indoor environment. For example, companies are preparing response plans in case an employee contracts the virus. They\u2019re looking to create a common operating picture\u2014a real-time map\u2014of the workplace. That\u2019s a new level of indoor awareness for most companies.<\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n Cross:<\/strong>\u00a0I imagine a lot of the executives you work with are focused on adjusting physical layouts and procedures as they begin to reopen offices. What does that involve, and what\u2019s different about it now?<\/p>\r\n Ryck:<\/strong>\u00a0Before the\u00a0COVID-19 outbreak, companies were focused on maximizing space usage, since property is the second-biggest expense on their books. In some cases, they did this through space-sharing practices like hoteling and hot desking. Some of those practices will survive this pandemic\u2014especially since many employees will now work partly from home and partly in the office. But much more governance will be involved. Employees won\u2019t be able to show up at the office and grab an available desk. Hoteling, for instance, is a managed process\u2014it can be run on interactive maps that account for social distancing. Employees can reserve space on the map, managers can approve the assignments, and the system will alert maintenance staff when shared spaces need to be sanitized. We see planners using space analysis to find chokepoints in their facilities and reduce the possibility of congestion. They\u2019re using indoor maps to make adjustments to the space and ensure social distancing.<\/p>\r\n Cross:<\/strong>\u00a0I imagine executives with facilities in multiple states might find it difficult to gauge the readiness of each property. How will they decide when and how to open facilities?<\/p>\r\n Isley:<\/strong>\u00a0The business leaders we\u2019ve talked to are doing location analysis. They know that the COVID-19 reality in New Jersey, for instance, is very different from that in Idaho. Even within a state, infection rates and risk levels vary substantially by location.<\/p>\r\n Executives know how important\u00a0good data is to good decisions, so they\u2019re using technology like a geographic information system [GIS] for analysis. For example, they might use GIS to analyze\u00a0data on COVID-19 trends, including statistics such as the number of days since a county\u2019s last reported COVID-19 case and the status of its infection rate\u2014from emergent to end stage. That gives decision-makers the location intelligence they need to make plans specific to each facility.<\/p>\r\n Ryck:<\/strong>\u00a0This is where traditional GIS and indoor GIS intersect. Once executives gauge the readiness of each facility based on state and local data, they\u2019ll map out new procedures within each facility.<\/p>\r\n Cross:<\/strong>\u00a0How will they deal with the variations across locations\u2014how will that process play out?<\/p>\r\n Isley:<\/strong>\u00a0We expect many companies to create a tiered reopening system. A facility at tier two, for example, might enforce certain rules: open space seating is prohibited, no more than 40 percent of the workforce can be in the workplace, and social distancing is managed very strictly. For a facility at level four, that might mean 75 percent of the workforce is back in the office, visitors are allowed with special permission, and common spaces are open but with limited seating in lunch areas.<\/p>\r\n Some companies are using location technology on mobile devices to allow staff to self-report. If I\u2019m working from home for the day, I check in on the app, report where I\u2019m working, and note if I have any COVID-19 symptoms. Managers see a map of who\u2019s in the office and who\u2019s off-site, and what everyone\u2019s status is.\u00a0This\u00a0mapping capability\u00a0supports basic contact tracing, because employee check-ins are saved for a certain period\u2014say, three weeks. If an employee reports symptoms, a manager can essentially rewind the map over the past two weeks and see which colleagues that employee may have come into contact with.<\/p>\r\n Cross:<\/strong>\u00a0What I\u2019m hearing across this conversation is that leaders are interested in creating a common operating picture of the workplace. They need to see the workplace in ways they never have before. They need to know how many offices are occupied, where staff are congregating, and which areas need cleaning. Indoor maps are creating that operating picture for managers and executives.<\/p>\r\n Isley:<\/strong>\u00a0And for employees, too. Because as space plans change, employees will need to adapt. Some will end up in different office locations, and all will have new procedures to follow. Having an indoor map on their phones will give them the information they need\u2014everything from which areas are off-limits and where hand sanitizer stations are, to the best way to navigate to a conference room or caf\u00e9.<\/p>\r\n That map will be their common operating picture, and it will update as facilities graduate to fewer restrictions, based on local conditions. This level of awareness will be key to keeping employees safe in a new environment\u2014and helping them and the businesses they represent remain as productive as possible.<\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n Read more >>\u00a0\u00a0Business Continuity Solutions\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/u><\/em>ready to use solution for your organization<\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As the COVID-19 pandemic impacts the rules of human interaction, business and organizational leaders must establish a new definition of workplace safety for their facilities. In this Think Tank, Esri\u2019s Brian Cross talks to indoor mapping experts Will Isley and Beau Ryck about the conversations…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[127,236],"class_list":["post-7621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-en","tag-business-continuity-en","tag-covid-19-en"],"yoast_head":"\nNavigating a New World of Work<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\r\n
How Executives Are Rethinking Indoor Space<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\r\n
Data Points toward Phased Openings<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\r\n
The Common Operating Picture Moves Indoors<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\r\n
\r\nUnleashing GIS Technology\u2019s potential in every industry<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\r\n
Read more<\/a><\/h3>\r\n