As the country reopens we are all trying to deal with the new normal brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Biotech companies are asking themselves:
- Which personnel are absolutely necessary to be on-site?
- How much interactivity is required to maintain our productivity levels?
- How much in-person collaboration is necessary to inspire innovation?
- How can we collaborate safely and maintain or increase our productivity?
The answers to those questions vary by complexity, time frame, personnel requirements, and are further constrained by the CDC Guidance for Business and Employers .
A few months ago, we were discussing how we might be able to help our customers get back to work safely. We started by asking about the measures they were taking to pave the way for returning employees to interact with each other.
One of the first things we noticed was that the majority of our customers were having to throw the normal, conventional ways of doing business out of the window, when it came to “where”, “when” and “how” business is performed, or needs to be performed. Most of the companies we spoke with were trying to be very flexible while coming up with creative ways to collaborate with each other inside and outside of the office. Many were adopting a hybrid working model, combining remote and on-site work. And all are seeking solutions from various external technology, resources and/or tools to communicate, complete projects and keep up with productivity.
In addition to all of the issues stated above, every company, regardless of industry, is now also facing additional challenges with returning individuals to work due to certain types of disabilities or underlying health issues that would make these individuals more vulnerable or more likely to experience complicating issues should they contract COVID-19. For the most part, employers are searching for solutions to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19 for all employees to either safely return to work, continue working from home if possible, or providing those most vulnerable with leaves of absence where necessary.
Common Recommendations
We saw a number of common recommendations emerge across all of our discussions:
- Mandatory use of masks when working on-site
- Access to and promotion of frequent handwashing or providing hand sanitizers with over 60% alcohol,
- Strongly suggesting sick employees to remain at home,
- Reiterating proper respiratory etiquette such as covering a cough or sneeze,
- Providing tissues and trash bins
- Flexible work hours and staggered shifts to increase the social distancing requirements
- On-site COVID-19 testing
- Reducing the number of chairs in meeting rooms
- Increasing the use of video technologies like Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, WebEx and GotoMeeting.
- Increasing dependency on chat technologies like Microsoft Teams, Google Chat and Slack in place of face-to-face meetings.
- Increasing housekeeping practices and protocols (cleaning and disinfection products used as well as frequency in which the work areas are cleaned).
Effects on Lab Operations
Companies with extensive lab operations moved to shift work to be able to get the most done with the fewest number of employees in the lab at any given time. Shift work in this case means alternate work days, assigned lab time, staggered lab time, or actual shortened time allotments per person or team. The other thing that these particular companies have in common is the use of improved personal protective equipment, such as face shields, and N-95 masks.
Previously where protocols for assays involved multiple people, we’re now seeing those protocols simplified, or researchers taking on double-duty in order to avoid additional hand-offs, and to limit the number of people in the lab.
There’s also a greater demand for, and reliance upon web-based project tracking applications like Asana, SmartSheets and Aspen Biosciences’ own Pipeline application to reduce the number of status meetings and the need for “management by walking around”.
Beyond simply tracking events though, tools like Pipeline make it possible to track assay requests, and when integrated with inventory systems, allow users to determine whether or not the materials needed for an assay are readily available or must be ordered. They also allow users to track everything from meeting minutes and decisions, to lessons learned. Built-in notification management means that teammates can be alerted whenever hand-offs are made between different research groups, or whenever assay data is ready for analysis.
Effects on Office Operations
Most of the companies we spoke with that have limited lab operations also reported implementing measures like:
- the COVID-19 questionnaire checklist,
- temperature checking
- company paid testing and retesting as needed if symptoms were to indicate it.
All of the companies we spoke with required masks to be worn in the work environment and provided disposable masks if needed. Most employees were either given personal hand sanitizers, or the company provided larger bottles throughout the facility for everyone’s convenience.
Almost all of the larger companies have adopted virtual meetings using external tools such as Teams, Zoom, WebEx, Google Meet or other digital meeting tools and almost all are conducted from individual offices. With greater dependence on video conferencing, we’ve also seen an increase in “Zoom Fatigue”, and companies are recommending shorter meetings (half-hour or 45 minute) to help reduce the effects.
We’re also seeing greater use of whiteboarding tools like Google Jamboard (either with or without specialized hardware). Jamboards can be accessed via a web browser, and users can share a jamboard screen over a video call. Multiple users can write simultaneously on a jamboard much in the same way that multiple writers can work on a Google Doc at the same time, making real-time collaboration easier.
These whiteboarding tools can be used with or without a tablet, and allow meeting participants to share a whiteboard during a video conference. In cases where employees do not have tablets, a simple stylus, like the inexpensive one shown below, can be used with the touchpad of a laptop, to allow the user to draw on the screen.
Larger companies that had previously used open plan offices, or cubicles were either splitting shifts (hours in the day, or alternate days) to allow for the use of alternate cubicles, or if that solution wasn’t possible they installed transparent separators between cubicles.
Companies with smaller numbers of required on-site employees removed seats from conference rooms to accommodate ⅓ rd of the previous capacity while maintaining social distancing requirements. Some of these companies lowered the number of hours spent at the office and had gone to day/night shifts in an effort to accommodate fewer numbers on-site at any one time. These changes allowed employees to hand-off projects from one shift to another while communication between the shifts is done electronically or by phone.
As expected, however, every company we approached is still continuously evaluating and adjusting their strategies to meet their ongoing needs. They all continue to evaluate which roles are most effective working from home, what strategies work best in each department and what strategies work best for their employees to the best of their abilities. The roles most frequently identified as suitable for remote work included clinical development, IT/Informatics, project management and business development.
Most companies to date have reported that although numerous changes have been put in place to accommodate returning to work, research operations for the most part, have not been impacted. This is however, an ongoing and dynamic issue for all companies and we’re looking forward to being able to continue learning from our customers and sharing those insights.
If you or your company have implemented new or different approaches to solving these problems, or have tried these strategies, please send us a note to Traci Murrie at tmurrie@aspenbiosciences.com or reach out on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook and share your experiences.