Now and then business owners and office managers relocate the office in search of new ways of working, to improve staff wellbeing or to increase productivity. As a business or office manager, moving can be overwhelming and stressful, however, having a detailed project plan indicating every stage of your move way ahead of your relocation can ease the whole process and save you time and money. Here are some of the tips for smooth office relocation.
1. Develop a Plan
The plan will depend on your office size and business. The plan will help you in outline necessary tasks and deadlines to ensure a successful move.
2. Assign Tasks
Choose a coordinator with excellent organization and decision-making skills, to help you oversee every aspect of the relocation process. You can also pick a team knowledgeable about security, shared equipment, work-flow and different staff and departments responsibilities, to work with your coordinator. This team of employees can help by listing tasks, determining their sequence, assigning responsibility, and target dates. These extra steps help ensure nothing gets forgotten during the move.
For a more organized moving process, you need to label your items. Give a timeframe and how this will be carried out to speed up unpacking at the new office.
3. Set your Moving Dates
You need to alert your employees about the scheduled move ahead of time and determine the provision of allowances, especially for long-distance moves. Consider moving when not on a tight schedule. The time-frame should go in-line with your current office lease periods to avoid additional costs, i.e., relocate at the end of your current office lease period. Remember to consider technical components that need to be set up in your new office like computers.
4. Notify your Customers
Let your customers know about your move either by sending them an email or notifying them through a press release, distributing flyers, adding a notification in your website, or hosting a party in your new premises. Informing your customers will help them know how to reach you for support or any assistance during or after the move.
5. Notify Service Providers
It is also important to notify your current service providers of your scheduled move to enable minimum disruption of services to your new office location, e.g., post office, magazines, and newspapers. Talk to your internet service providers to help with set-up of internet and cabling.
6. Come Up with a Budget
Consider the cost of both full and smaller moving services and determine which to choose by considering moving process of packing, loading, and unloading. Most service providers ensure all your items get insured in case of damage.
7. Plan your New Office
Consider the equipment and furniture you have and develop a tentative floorplan. Your plan should be customizable and should capture the location of the different type of furniture and workspace to enable you to note or identify any challenges. A list of existing furniture and equipment should be provided to your professional office planner to help in design and streamlining of the whole process.