Whoever said moving home is the most stressful things you’ll ever do obviously never had to plan and execute an office relocation.
On the surface it may sound straightforward. Find a shiny new office, sign the lease and chuck the desks and computers into the back of a van, right? In reality, carrying out the perfect office move is anything but easy…unless you plan everything meticulously.
Depending on the size of your business and the type of work you do, it may be easier to bite the bullet and pay a professional to manage the move. Assuming this is not an affordable option for you, luckily we are here with some top tips to help you plan the perfect office move.
Start Planning Early!
It’s an old adage but very true in relation to an office move. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
Start planning the office move way in advance of the day you actually intend to carry out the move. Depending on the scale of the transition, that could mean weeks or even months ahead.
Draw up floor plans of where everyone will be sitting after the move. Decide who will do what – and when they will do it. Will you need any new equipment, data networking, utility suppliers? Can everything be done in one working day? Or is it best carried out over a weekend?
Ask yourself all of these questions at the early stages to make sure that everything falls into place further down the line.
Who’s in charge
Designate someone to project manage the move. As with all projects, office moves are best carried out with one person in overall charge of everything. Of course, they’ll need help to make everything run smoothly and may need a team to help them, but a clear hierarchy helps with the decision-making process.
Manage the move yourself or get the professionals in?
We touched on this earlier. whether you manage the move yourself or hire professionals will depend on your company’s particular circumstances.
Obviously, it will be cheaper to carry out the office move with your own people, but will it disrupt their normal jobs? Do you even have the necessary manpower to carry out all the myriad tasks that you’ll need to do?
If you are moving to other premises, do you have the vehicles to transport everything? If not, then you’ll need to compare the cost of hiring vans with the cost of hiring professional office relocators.
Whatever you decide, it’s a good idea to get the IT team involved at an early stage because they will no doubt have a lot to think about either way.
Update literature, business cards and websites
It might seem obvious, but it’s surprising how often this gets overlooked until you are actually in the new address. If you are relocating to new premises then you’ll need the new address on all of your stationery, business cards, website etc.
Order all of these items from your supplier early so that the transition to new offices is as seamless as can be.
Delegate the packing
Even if you are going to hire a professional team, it’s still best to ask employees to pack their own things up ready for the office move. they know what can be chucked and what needs to be kept and by packing their own boxes, it should also help to reduce downtime at the other end, allowing everyone to find what they need and get back to doing what they do best.
Facilities management & support services
Who will be looking after your new premises? Are you moving into serviced offices or do you need to organise cleaners, maintenance, security, waste management? With all the logistics of the move, don’t forget to set up all the necessary services at the other end. We of course can help you with many of the FM services you will need.
Good luck with your office relocation!
