Five key questions for your COVID-19 returning to work survey

1. Do you look forward to returning to work?

This will help you to understand the attitude of your employees when it comes to returning to work. It will also help you to know what to expect when asking staff to renew their public transport vouchers, pack their lunch and dress for a different environment. While some may be eager to greet their colleagues and leave the house each day, others may be nervous to re-enter social situations and need reassurance.

2. How would you rate the communication with your colleagues while working from home on a scale of 1–10?

Understanding if communication has been strong for your colleagues while working from home will enable the company to make decisions about continuing this as an option long term. Alternatively, if the employee feels that communication was substantially worse while working from home, it may be more beneficial for them to return to their usual place of work.

3. How has working from home impacted your productivity?

While some may find they are more productive when working from home, others may struggle with various distractions depending on their unique situation. Unlike working from an office, every employee will be managing a different amount of noise around them, a different home office set-up and in some cases family members or flatmates. This will make everyone’s work-from-home experience different and can positively or negatively impact productivity. Understanding your staff’s productivity levels will help to inform decisions about their return to work.

4. To what extend has your work-life balance changed while working from home, if at all?

Finding out whether your team’s work-life balance has increased or decreased will help to determine how team members feel about returning to their place of work. If they found that they had more time for their hobbies or their family during remote working, they may not express as much interest in returning, as in most cases this will likely involve some sort of commute. If respondents have not seen much of a difference in their work-life balance, they are more likely to look forward to returning.

5. Do you have any concerns about commuting to work?

Asking staff about their commutes will not only acknowledge one of the biggest differences between office working and working from home, it will help to further understand employees’ attitudes towards returning to the workplace. For example, if your colleagues find their commute time-consuming and expensive, they will be less excited to re-enter the workplace. This could be an opportunity to offer a hybrid work scheme, varied hours to avoid heavy traffic or another incentive, such as subsidised parking or a ‘cycle to work’ scheme.

Many people and companies have had different experiences during the pandemic and may feel differently about resuming their normal activities. For more tips on returning to work after the COVID-19 pandemic, see our Top 7 tips to reduce your back-to-office anxiety.

Related links:

Top 7 tips to reduce your back-to-office anxiety

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