Moving to a new office can be the start of an exciting new chapter in your company’s history. But it has the potential to give you new momentum or cause days, weeks or even months of problems. We’ve compiled the cheat sheet all company owners need to have a successful office move without too many hiccups.
Prepare for a Win—Get the Right Gear
Apart from the office move, you need to still think about day-to-day business dealings. This often causes moving plans to be left forgotten until moving day is around the corner. That’s a mistake. From vetting moving companies to look for furniture trailer hire that can provide the items that will best serve your purpose, you need to do this well in advance.
Leaving this to the last minute means you’re running the risk of not having a moving vehicle at all, which can be embarrassing, to say the least. To then postpone means you may have to pay more rent at your old premises. And if you try and use your own vehicles you risk damaging furniture, boxes, or your own fleet that’s not really designed for the task of moving.
The process of moving can be complicated enough. Rather avoid as many problems as possible, simply by planning properly.
Teamwork—Organise the Move Like You Organise Your Business
Perhaps designing a moving plan isn’t your strong point? Think about it—there’s a lot in your company that you may not be an expert at, which is why you have a team around you. So, assign the task of managing ‘Moving Day’ to a team member with all the necessary organising skills for the task.
It’s important that a certain person—you or someone else—is in charge for the day, to ensure all runs smoothly. Also, make sure the team understands that moving the office is simply another task on their to do lists. Everyone must assist and make it work, similar to how they perform their other work.
Whoever is in charge can break down the tasks into separate responsibilities, as you do with many other jobs you tackle as a team. Assign these tasks—from packing to organising keys for the new place—to individuals, so each aspect gets the proper attention it deserves.
Planning—Even Have a Floorplan
To make sure your team can easily assist in making it a successful move, help them visualise what lies ahead. Visit the new space before the move, measure the rooms and decide which department will get allocated which area. You can even assign a desk to a specific spot on a floorplan.
If you don’t plan well it could be weeks before all staff members are set up in their new spaces, simply because some may not be able to decide where exactly they want to place their desks. Rather give some direction.
When moving day comes around, each team member will know where to set up, limiting time wasted with people walking around debating which view or corner is ideal for them.
Also, having a floorplan helps your IT and technical department prepare for the new setup. They can have sufficient cabling and power outlets in place so workers can just arrive, plug in and continue with their work. No excuses!
Labelling and Numbering—for Everything
The best way to keep order of all your boxes and items is to label each item. Depending on how you allocate the day’s tasks, pick one of these strategies:
- Label items with individuals’ names that must take responsibility for them at the new premises.
- Label boxes with numbers so it’s easy to see whether all boxes have been delivered.
- Use coloured stickers to indicate which items must be carried into which rooms. This can help speed up the unpacking process, saving time.
Who Needs to Know?—Inform All Necessary Parties
One of the tasks you need to delegate is informing all relevant parties in your network about the move:
- Existing customers and suppliers must know where to find you. Make sure they know from which date the change is relevant, whether for a visit or delivering of parcels and paperwork.
- Any vendors who need to bill you must know about the new address, so you don’t accidentally fall behind on payments of which you never received a notice.
- Service providers should be informed well in advance. They may need to provide you with a new quote based on your new location or building layout.
The Cost—Budget for Everything
The plan for moving day must have a budget and make sure it’s detailed. It could be an all-day task and you may want to reward the team by buying them lunch. But multiple small expenses could end up becoming a substantial amount, which becomes a problem if you didn’t plan beforehand.
So, have you considered:
- Boxes and packing tape
- Fuel for all vehicles assisting in the move
- Any new furniture and décor
- Marketing to advertise your new address
Conclusion
Hopefully your new space will help you reach your business goals even faster. Make sure the move to the new premises is part of your success story!
