Prepositions for Planning Post-COVID-19 Processes
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The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everyday life on a global scale. After a period of limited interaction, many nations are beginning to ease social distancing requirements. The potential dangers of the pandemic, however, are not over, for an outbreak can easily occur again without warning. Addressing this situation involves planning for interactions post pandemic restrictions, and communication professionals can play a central role in these activities.
Causes of Social Chaos
Much of the social chaos caused by COVID-19 involved how it changed expectations for interactions in a location. Humans are accustomed to behaving certain ways in public spaces. We learn these behaviors over time – what do to, what to use, and how to interact with others in a setting. So ingrained are these processes that when we recognize where we are, our subconscious activates a script, a cognitive “auto pilot,” that guides us almost reflexively through complicated interactions in public places.
COVID-19 changed all of that. By altering many aspects of life – from school to work to shopping to healthcare – the disease has re-structured the dynamics of how interacted in public. Unable to rely on subconscious scripts, most of us were lost. We needed a new script – a new set of instructions – that told us what to do, what to use, and how to interact with others in public places. The lack of such guidelines in place of scripts caused confusion and fear that led to healthcare services becoming quickly overwhelmed and frenzied purchasing at local stores.
COVID-19 changed all of that. By altering many aspects of life – from school to work to shopping to healthcare – the disease has re-structured the dynamics of how interacted in public. Unable to rely on subconscious scripts, most of us were lost. We needed a new script – a new set of instructions – that told us what to do, what to use, and how to interact with others in public places. The lack of such guidelines in place of scripts caused confusion and fear that led to healthcare services becoming quickly overwhelmed and frenzied purchasing at local stores.
Meeting Social Needs
Solutions to these situations involve creating new scripts that provide instructions for how to use things, engage with others, and act in social spaces. These guidelines on how to behave (and how others will behave) fill the cognitive gap in our brains’ social operating system and allow us to move through the world with a sense of stability and comfort.
A central lesson of COVID-19 has been that addressing public health crises involves
This script-based approach involves preparing both for
A central lesson of COVID-19 has been that addressing public health crises involves
- Identifying where new scripts are needed
- Developing (and testing) them in advance of an outbreak
- Sharing them as soon as major healthcare threats arise
This script-based approach involves preparing both for
- Behaviors at the onset of such a crisis
- Actions of society after such threats seem to have passed
Planning for Post-Pandemic Interactions
Social distancing is key to mitigating the spread of disease, and it is central to preventing later outbreaks of an infection. For this reason, the scripts for shifting to post-pandemic life need to focus on maximizing social distance while allowing individuals to engage in group activities in shared spaces.
The solution is to develop instructional materials that provide new scripts for key points when human proximity becomes restricted. Doing so involves creating protocols and procedures for how to move through and interact in such locations to maintain social distancing. This approach can be approached as addressing certain prepositions for how individuals move in or through spaces as society begins to emerge from a pandemic mindset.
Preposition 1: To
Many individuals have become accustomed to using well-known routes to travel to common spaces of social interaction. These include the trips we take to work and school as well as the less-frequent yet familiar routes for weekly trips to the store or semi-annual trips to see our physician. Many of these scripts have built-in “stopping points” – places we often stop at just before arriving at or just after leaving a frequently visited location. Such places might include the coffee shop where we grab that last cup of coffee for the office or the gas station we often stop at just before picking the children up from school. They also include parking lots where employees, students, or patients can congregate in closer spaces just before entering a location. Such spaces can be sites where one is exposed to an infection just before entering another space where they can readily spread it with peers (e.g., the office) or family members (e.g., at home).
For this reason, organizations need to identify the stopping points employees, students, patients, etc. frequent en route to that location (e.g., company or business parking lots) and create protocols for how to act in order to mitigate chances of infection before arriving at their intended location. These protocols could include instructions on interacting in such spaces (e.g., “Only use drive-through services at X.” or “Only use pay at the pump services at Y.”) and parking when at a location (e.g., “Park in the designated space assigned to you and keep 6 feet between yourself and all other persons in the parking lot at all times.”).
Preposition 2: Into
All buildings have a limited entry points. As a result, individuals cluster in those spaces at key points during the day – such as the start and end of the work day or school day. In these confined spaces, social distancing can become difficult as individual need to get into the location on time while also maintaining an effective social distance from others. Assuming individuals will independently establish a system for such processes is a dangerous proposition, for it involves a group collectively deciding who enters, first, second, and last when time is short and anxieties about arriving on time are high.
To address this factor, organizations need to develop instructions that tell individuals how to enter into such spaces in a way that maintains social distancing while preserving orderly behavior. Such plans might include as staggered times for entering a building (e.g., “Individuals identified as being in Group 1 enter at 8:00-8:05am.”), order of entry (e.g., “Individuals in Group 1 will enter in the following order . . .”), and direction for spacing when entering (e.g., “Wait for two seconds before entering after another person.”).
Preposition 3: Through
Upon entering a public place, most individuals need to move through that space to get to a desired location within it, such as an office, classroom, or reception area. This movement thorough spaces often involves relatively confined areas such as hallways, stairwells, or elevators that can become crowded at points during the day (e.g., start of the work or school day). These throughways become key points at which social distancing can be threatened and disease can readily spread.
To address this factor, organizations need to create procedures for how individuals should move through such constricted through spaces to get to a location once inside a building. Such approaches might build upon those for “into” and create an order for when and how individuals can move through a restricted area (e.g., “Move in single file on each side of a hallway with both parties moving down their respective rights sides of the hallway.”). These instructions should also include guidelines for relative distances to maintain in these spaces (e.g., “Keep a one second gap between you and the person moving in front of you and stop when they stop to let them enter a room vs. moving around them if they stop.”).
Preposition 4: Within
Once we are within a location (e.g., office, classroom, reception area, etc.) a new challenge emerges: How to interact with others in that space. Telling individuals to maintain effective social distancing in a location leaves it to each person’s interpretation to determine what that objective involves. Moreover, just because individuals position themselves at a given distance does not mean they will maintain it during a meeting (e.g., reflexive movement to another in order to show them something). Similarly, it does not mean individuals might not exchange materials—potentially spreading an infection – during an interaction.
For these reasons, organizations need to provide protocols for interacting when assembled in a location. Such materials should include guidelines on distances to maintain in a meeting location (e.g., “Keep 3 seats/2 arm’s lengths/6 feet between you and all others at all times.”). They should also include instructions for sharing materials in a space (e.g., “Do not exchange printed items; instead, share items electronically prior to a meeting and have individuals bring their own digital or print copy to the meeting.”).
Preposition(s) 5: From
Just because individuals have information on how to get into a place and to a location within it does not mean they will use the same instructions (or to use an inverse approach to them) to leave a space. Rather, organizations need to provide individuals with processes for such actions. These materials would be explicit instruction on how to exit from a location and depart from a space.
Such materials could be a complete set of instructions for departure (e.g., “To leave this space and move through, go out of, and depart from this location, do the following . . .”). Alternatively, they might be procedures that explicitly note to perform entry processes in reverse order when departing from the location (e.g., “Follow the same instructions for moving through hallways/exiting out of buildings/moving through parking lots when departing from work.”). In either case, the objective is to make individuals aware that they need to engage in certain behaviors both when coming to and going from a location. In so doing, organizations can maintain social distancing and minimize the spread of infection when person congregate in a location.
The solution is to develop instructional materials that provide new scripts for key points when human proximity becomes restricted. Doing so involves creating protocols and procedures for how to move through and interact in such locations to maintain social distancing. This approach can be approached as addressing certain prepositions for how individuals move in or through spaces as society begins to emerge from a pandemic mindset.
Preposition 1: To
Many individuals have become accustomed to using well-known routes to travel to common spaces of social interaction. These include the trips we take to work and school as well as the less-frequent yet familiar routes for weekly trips to the store or semi-annual trips to see our physician. Many of these scripts have built-in “stopping points” – places we often stop at just before arriving at or just after leaving a frequently visited location. Such places might include the coffee shop where we grab that last cup of coffee for the office or the gas station we often stop at just before picking the children up from school. They also include parking lots where employees, students, or patients can congregate in closer spaces just before entering a location. Such spaces can be sites where one is exposed to an infection just before entering another space where they can readily spread it with peers (e.g., the office) or family members (e.g., at home).
For this reason, organizations need to identify the stopping points employees, students, patients, etc. frequent en route to that location (e.g., company or business parking lots) and create protocols for how to act in order to mitigate chances of infection before arriving at their intended location. These protocols could include instructions on interacting in such spaces (e.g., “Only use drive-through services at X.” or “Only use pay at the pump services at Y.”) and parking when at a location (e.g., “Park in the designated space assigned to you and keep 6 feet between yourself and all other persons in the parking lot at all times.”).
Preposition 2: Into
All buildings have a limited entry points. As a result, individuals cluster in those spaces at key points during the day – such as the start and end of the work day or school day. In these confined spaces, social distancing can become difficult as individual need to get into the location on time while also maintaining an effective social distance from others. Assuming individuals will independently establish a system for such processes is a dangerous proposition, for it involves a group collectively deciding who enters, first, second, and last when time is short and anxieties about arriving on time are high.
To address this factor, organizations need to develop instructions that tell individuals how to enter into such spaces in a way that maintains social distancing while preserving orderly behavior. Such plans might include as staggered times for entering a building (e.g., “Individuals identified as being in Group 1 enter at 8:00-8:05am.”), order of entry (e.g., “Individuals in Group 1 will enter in the following order . . .”), and direction for spacing when entering (e.g., “Wait for two seconds before entering after another person.”).
Preposition 3: Through
Upon entering a public place, most individuals need to move through that space to get to a desired location within it, such as an office, classroom, or reception area. This movement thorough spaces often involves relatively confined areas such as hallways, stairwells, or elevators that can become crowded at points during the day (e.g., start of the work or school day). These throughways become key points at which social distancing can be threatened and disease can readily spread.
To address this factor, organizations need to create procedures for how individuals should move through such constricted through spaces to get to a location once inside a building. Such approaches might build upon those for “into” and create an order for when and how individuals can move through a restricted area (e.g., “Move in single file on each side of a hallway with both parties moving down their respective rights sides of the hallway.”). These instructions should also include guidelines for relative distances to maintain in these spaces (e.g., “Keep a one second gap between you and the person moving in front of you and stop when they stop to let them enter a room vs. moving around them if they stop.”).
Preposition 4: Within
Once we are within a location (e.g., office, classroom, reception area, etc.) a new challenge emerges: How to interact with others in that space. Telling individuals to maintain effective social distancing in a location leaves it to each person’s interpretation to determine what that objective involves. Moreover, just because individuals position themselves at a given distance does not mean they will maintain it during a meeting (e.g., reflexive movement to another in order to show them something). Similarly, it does not mean individuals might not exchange materials—potentially spreading an infection – during an interaction.
For these reasons, organizations need to provide protocols for interacting when assembled in a location. Such materials should include guidelines on distances to maintain in a meeting location (e.g., “Keep 3 seats/2 arm’s lengths/6 feet between you and all others at all times.”). They should also include instructions for sharing materials in a space (e.g., “Do not exchange printed items; instead, share items electronically prior to a meeting and have individuals bring their own digital or print copy to the meeting.”).
Preposition(s) 5: From
Just because individuals have information on how to get into a place and to a location within it does not mean they will use the same instructions (or to use an inverse approach to them) to leave a space. Rather, organizations need to provide individuals with processes for such actions. These materials would be explicit instruction on how to exit from a location and depart from a space.
Such materials could be a complete set of instructions for departure (e.g., “To leave this space and move through, go out of, and depart from this location, do the following . . .”). Alternatively, they might be procedures that explicitly note to perform entry processes in reverse order when departing from the location (e.g., “Follow the same instructions for moving through hallways/exiting out of buildings/moving through parking lots when departing from work.”). In either case, the objective is to make individuals aware that they need to engage in certain behaviors both when coming to and going from a location. In so doing, organizations can maintain social distancing and minimize the spread of infection when person congregate in a location.
Planning Scripts for Prepositions
How long such scripts for social distancing must remain in effect is an unknown. It could be a matter of weeks or months. In some cases, they could become the scripts for the new social norms for public interaction. Regardless of the situation, such scripts are needed at the perceived end of a pandemic to maintain public health via social distancing.
By leveraging their understanding of audience; skill at conveying information and providing instruction; and knowledge of user expectations, communication professionals can play a central role in such processes. They can also contribute immense value to individual organizations and to greater society during post-pandemic times. Focusing on the dynamics noted here can help communication professionals anticipate and prepare for future challenges to public health where similar needs for such guidance will arise again.
By leveraging their understanding of audience; skill at conveying information and providing instruction; and knowledge of user expectations, communication professionals can play a central role in such processes. They can also contribute immense value to individual organizations and to greater society during post-pandemic times. Focusing on the dynamics noted here can help communication professionals anticipate and prepare for future challenges to public health where similar needs for such guidance will arise again.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to behavior, “normal” generally means those things we do reflexively based on the scripts we’ve developed for interactions. “Safe,” by contrast, means having scripts that guide how to interact at all times – both the familiar and the new. By providing scripts to address public health challenges, communication professionals can maintain safety and order in societies both during pandemics and as societies emerge from them.
Creating such scripts requires understanding how individuals move to, through, and within social spaces. Thinking of such processes in terms of prepositions for such movements can help communication professionals develop materials that meet the social distancing needs of a society and the operational needs of organizations. The suggestions noted here are an approach for addressing such issues as nations move to a post-COVID-19 mindset. Communication professionals can build upon such concepts and help societies engage in the safe and effective social interactions essential to re-engaging post crisis.
Creating such scripts requires understanding how individuals move to, through, and within social spaces. Thinking of such processes in terms of prepositions for such movements can help communication professionals develop materials that meet the social distancing needs of a society and the operational needs of organizations. The suggestions noted here are an approach for addressing such issues as nations move to a post-COVID-19 mindset. Communication professionals can build upon such concepts and help societies engage in the safe and effective social interactions essential to re-engaging post crisis.
Acknowledgement
The author wishes to thank Tom Johnson for his help in drafting this text.