Return to Office Toolkit
Your go-to checklist for 3 months’ worth of planning
Your 3-Month Go-To Guide for Return to Office
Welcome to your one-stop return-to-office toolkit, where you can find all the timelines and resources you need to get your employees informed, comfortable, and excited to get back in their seats. Before you start, download a complimentary checklist to keep on hand.
3 Months (or More) Out
Select your in-house return to office planning team.
- Designate a lead to focus on necessary changes to employee benefits and subsidies (like bike subsidies), a lead to focus on logistical employee commute needs and questions, and a lead to inventory and recommend changes to existing infrastructure like parking capacity and bike facilities (do you need to add showers).
- You’ll also want someone in charge of actively monitoring local guidelines around COVID-19 protocols.
Reach out, evaluate and select transportation vendors. If you have a huge task ahead of you, you may want to reach out to a TMA or a TDM consultant for extra assistance in identifying vendors in your area.
- If you’re looking into adding a shuttle or incorporating vanpool or carpool solutions into your program, contact them as soon as possible to make sure there’s time to evaluate, select one, and get started.
- Most vendors are happy to start contracts on a date that makes sense (at least, we are!), so you should be able to get everything firmly squared away for the date you plan to return.
- Or contact us for a comprehensive solution.
Schedule time with our Transportation Solutions Partner to learn more.
2 Months Out
Communicate and Update Employees
- The sooner the better. Employees need time to adjust to the return to office schedule especially if they have dependents.
- Streamline communications with Actionfigure Mobile App. If you already have a tenant experience app like HqO and Modo Labs, ask them about Actionfigure integrations to obtain access to our live transportation information.
- If you’re going with a phased approach based on a rotating schedule, start coordinating with team leads and managers about specific team needs. Let employees know which days of the week they’ll be in the office way ahead of time.
Infrastructure Changes
- If changes were needed to existing infrastructure like bike racks or parking, they should be underway or near completion.
Distribute New Benefits and Subsidies
- New bikeshare benefits and subsidies should be distributed to allow for plenty of time for employees to identify nearby bike shares or purchase a bike.
1 Month Out
Carpooling
Encourage employees to carpool with coworkers who will be going into the office on the same days of the week.
Parking Programs
Implement new parking programs. Actionfigure Mobile can help!
Webinars
Host a few commute option webinars or lunch-and-learns for your employees so they feel comfortable with the setup and aware of any new options.
The Final 3 Weeks
Practice Run
- Now’s the time to have your employees do a test-run of their commute, even if it’s the same one they used to have! You’ll get them back in the habit of waking up a little earlier and getting out of the house, avoiding any issues on the first day back. This is especially important for anybody who’s started a new carpool or vanpool and might want to make sure all members are on the same page!
- Encourage any new bikers to do a test run of their commute on their bike. This may overlap with National Bike Month (May), which would be fun! You can even make it an employee engagement activity.
Send out countdown email blast reminders to your employees, with a detailed outline that includes all new guidelines in place. This will make sure it’s easily accessible and top of mind for employees as they go into the last week of full WFH.
Internal Check-In
- Make sure you have proper channels of communication in place in case anyone has questions.
- Make sure your employees are ready for their commutes by equipping them with the commute app like Actionfigure Mobile.
- Set up your in-office and app messages about safety protocols and commute program updates!
