Moving your office to a new location can seem to be a daunting task and you need to properly plan and prepare for it. There are a number of steps that you can take when planning and preparing for your office move. Understanding what these steps are as well as what they entail will make your office move efficient and smooth.
Plan Your Move
You should never underestimate how important it is to plan your office move. Taking the time to map out everything in your move will give you the big picture of what you need to do. You will also be able to plan all of the stages of the move and set out a timeline that needs to be adhered to.
When you are planning the move, you will need to take to the managers and supervisors in the business. This will help you determine what is feasible and what is not. If you have a small office, you should look at a timeline of 3 months to prepare for the move. However, if you have a medium to large office, 6 to 8 months should be used for the planning.
Get Information About The New Location
In order to properly plan and prepare for your move, you need to know more about where you are moving to. You should try and get a floor layout or the blueprints of the new location so you can identify the key components such as storage space and electrical outlets. Having this information will also allow you to determine what the new office layout will be at the new location.
This is important because you will be able to determine what needs to be taken from the old office and what you will need to buy for the new office. You should also make a listing of all the potential problems that could come with the new space. This will give you time to remedy the issues and ensure that your move is as smooth as possible.
Create Your Moving Team
When moving an office, you should get everyone involved in some manner. For a medium to large office, you should appoint someone in each department who will be in charge of coordinating the move in that area. This could be the department manager who will ensure that all of the employees take responsibility for packing everything up. If you have a smaller office, you may be able to keep track of everything on your own.
Having a moving team is recommended because they will be able to help keep everyone accountable for the move. They will also be able to determine what needs to be done in each department and ensure that you meet your timeline.
Determine Your Moving Budget
Once you have your team ready, you will need to assign a specific budget to your move. It is recommended that you create this budget before you look at movers or pack the first box. This will help you keep your move financially viable and will help you narrow down movers later on.
Once you have created the budget, you need to look at movers within the budget. There are a lot of companies that specialize in office moves and you need to look at them first. Of course, you will have to ensure that the movers you choose are within your moving budget.
When you choose a mover, you will need to get an estimate from a few different companies. The companies will generally have to complete a visual inspection of your office to get an idea of the scale of the move. You should never hire an office mover that does not complete a visual inspection because they could end up leaving some of the business items behind. If you do not tell them exactly what you have, you could have a problem later on.
Assign Tasks
To ensure that your office move is smooth, you will need to assign tasks to the different members of your moving team. You will also need to provide them with a timescale for these tasks. Ideally, you will want to assign tasks to people in the company who have the knowledge that is required. Some examples of this will be assigning the installation of telephones in your new location to someone from IT or making sure that everyone is notified of the change of address.
This is due to the fact that these people will have a better understanding of the business needs in this area. Additionally, you will need to ask each department manager and supervisor about what is required for their area to move properly. You should also ensure that all of the common areas are also covered and that someone has been assigned the tasks related to them.
Make A Contact List
A part of an office move that you have to remember is the contact list which will be a listing of everyone that you do business with. You have to inform your clients and suppliers that you are moving and provide them with the information about your new location. The information that you send to your list will need to include details regarding when you are going to move, where you are moving to and the operating hours during the move.
This is essential to ensure that your customers will not go elsewhere during your move. If you plan your move correctly, your business hours should not be impacted too greatly. There are some moving companies that will complete the move over the weekend which ensures that you are able to partially operate in the new week.
There are a number of steps that you need to take when you are planning and preparing for an office move. You will need to take your time to prepare and it is recommended that you leave at least 3 months for the move. You will also need to assign a budget for your move and create a moving team to help you stay on top of everything. Creating a contact list is also important as it alerts your customers and suppliers to the move.