Moving office can be a very stressful time for any business, regardless of their size, budget and resources. Whether you’ve outgrown your current space, need to move to a new location or are simply opening a second office the chances are that every business will go through this process at least once if not two or three times. A successful office move involves a lot of forward planning to ensure that things run smoothly and do not disrupt operations, clients or staff more than is absolutely necessary. So what can you do to make it easier?
Firstly, think far, far ahead. The more time you have to spend organizing for your move, the smoother it will be. Thinking a few months into the future will enable you to prepare your team, inform any customers who may be impacted and prepare your new space so you can hit the ground running.
Whilst in this pre-planning stage start a deep declutter and clean, this is a great time to re-organise and slim down the amount of things you need to move. You’ll be surprised at how much junk you have accumulated over the years, consider getting a skip bin for non-confidential items and ensure to shred and dispose of all business papers correctly.
With your office de-cluttered the next thing to do is to organise transport. This will vary depending on the amount of things you need to move and the distance you need to travel but by researching this early you will have time to shop around and find the best deals.
As the move date approaches begin to move any non-essential items over as and when you can. Make a few visits to your new office space to be sure that it is set up to receive the main delivery when it arrives. Check all plug sockets are working and that everyone has access cards if they’re required as this will speed things up on the day. Make sure that the wifi is set up and the password has been circulated with your team to help them get back online asap.
Label, label, label. Label the seating plan in the new office prior to your arrival, then be sure to label everyone’s equipment with their names prior to packing up, this will save you time and effort the other side as you will already know which items belong to who and can unpack them at their new desk space. If you have kitchen items, stationary or drawers to pack up then clearly label these too, a simple permanent marker on the box will do.
Finally, utilize your team. Moving day is an exciting time, create some hype in the run up and enlist the help of your team with the move, this will save you a lot of money on hiring removals people. Once the move is complete throw a little welcome party as a thank you for their hard work and help to settle everyone into their new home.
With a little forward planning and careful organization, there’s no need for an office move to stress you out, so enjoy the journey and good luck in your new home.
