It’s your responsibility to do everything in your power to keep people safe. Here are some tips on how to protect your clients and employees while social distancing.
Switch to a mobile notary service
During this time, it's wise to use online resources to get things done. Instead of summoning clients to the office, try sending a mobile notary to collect signatures from your client’s home or place of business. Reputable companies like Superior Notary Services make the process easy and reliable, and your clients will thank you for making their lives a little easier.
Complete initial consultations by phone or video conference
Meeting with a potential client can put both parties at risk, and if the client decides not to move forward, that risk was all for nothing. It might be best to only take in-person meetings with people who you know are ready to move forward. Instead of meeting with consultations in person, use a video call platform instead. This gives you the opportunity to safely screen somebody in advance. There are a number of different video chat options you can use, including Zoom, Facebook, and Skype.
It might be best to only take in-person meetings with people who you know are ready to move forward.
Try alternating work-from-home schedules
The more people in the office, the more likely someone is to get people sick. It's best to take every precaution possible. Even when offices open up again, you don't have to have everybody physically at the office.
Most law offices have learned how to operate with a majority, if not all, of their staff working from home. When things reopen, you don't have to force everybody to come back right away. Try an alternative schedule. This means half of the employees will come into the office while the other half works from home. Alternate the schedule every week.
By using this approach, fewer people will be in the office at one time. This decreases the odds of spreading anything. Use the alternative schedule for at least a couple of months after the pandemic is over. It can minimise damage in the case of another outbreak, and your employees will likely appreciate the flexibility to continue working partly from home.
Avoid meeting clients in public places
Before the pandemic, you may have enjoyed meeting clients at coffee shops or restaurants. But it's not as safe as it used to be to go to public places. Instead, make a point to only conduct in-person meetings at your office.
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There are still people at your office. But you have complete control over the sanitation practices. There are also fewer people in your office than there would be in public. You won't have to take public transportation to get to the meeting spot, either.
In a couple of months, you can reexamine the situation to determine if it’s safe to meet at your favourite places again.
Implement a health-screening firewall
To keep people safe, you need to implement new health-screening procedures at the office for essential employees or clients who need to come in. People who are experiencing signs of the virus, even if they haven’t tested positive, should work from home.
You should also instil mandatory rules at the office to encourage people to stay safe. Put up reminders for people to wash their hands often. Make hand sanitisers and masks readily available. These new procedures should remain in place even when this pandemic ends. Maintain safe practices in case of another outbreak in the future.
People still need law service both during and after the pandemic. To keep clients coming in so your business can remain profitable, you need to do everything in your power to keep those clients safe. Do your best to show your customers that you don’t just value their legal needs and the revenue they bring to your business. You also value their health and safety above all else.
