An office move for startup entrepreneurs may be as simple as packing a laptop and a few personal items into a backpack. However, for a large business planning a transition to another space, there are many moving parts. The entire process can quickly crumble into chaos. Luckily, you can smooth over most difficulties with a touch of planning and forethought. Managing the details early and making arrangements beforehand is crucial. It will simplify the process enough that moving your team from its current location to a new coworking space will feel like yet another day at the office. To help you plan out your office move, we at Verified Movers have created a step-by-step guide for the smoothest move possible.
How to plan out your office move in 8 steps
If your relocation involves more than a couple of people with their equipment, there will be a lengthy list of logistics to coordinate. So, it’s best to start planning ahead so you have plenty of time to make sure your office stays as productive as possible. The earlier you start planning, the more prepared you can be when the big day arrives.
Proper planning simplifies even the most difficult projects.
In addition to planning how you’ll prepare everything for moving day, you’ll also want to plan where things will go when you arrive at your new headquarters. Use a blueprint of the space for this. Doing so will prevent having large, heavy printers delivered to the wrong floor or room, for example. Even the most experienced movers from the best moving companies in South Florida can deliver items to the wrong floor. But only if you told them to do so.
Moving an office means moving personnel, furniture, equipment, and supplies. It’s fair to say that it is a complicated process. Because there are so many variables involved, you need to make sure the spending is kept under control. Make a budget and adhere to it as closely as you can.
Your budget will depend on multiple factors:
- the size of your office,
- which outside services you choose to use (such as full-service movers),
- whether you plan to update your furniture and equipment for the new office,
- moving insurance.
Designate a place for all information
Regardless of size and complexity, your office move will generate a great deal of paperwork. There’ll be a number of to-do lists, notes, inventories, schedules, contracts, insurance records, and spreadsheets, to name a few. All of it has to be easily accessible at a moment’s notice. We recommend digitalizing this data and storing it all in the cloud. Taking pictures of physical documents and scanning them doesn’t require too much time, but allows you to stay organized.
It will also be helpful to appoint an in-office move coordinator. They can facilitate and follow up on each step of the move to confirm that things are progressing, as well as deal with all of the paperwork involved. In addition, it’s easiest to have only one person who will communicate with the movers and even be in charge of hiring one of the best moving companies North Carolina has to offer.
Bright, new office space can be a welcome change.
Plan your new office space
Take into account the number of employees and how much equipment you have when designing a layout of your new space. Your customized relocation plan should include a floor plan for the new office and an inventory of existing furniture and equipment, as well as a list of items to be replaced. Consider hiring a professional office space planner to work with you on this. New office space can be a welcome change that will improve your business results. Just make sure people won’t hate your new office space.
Research the best moving companies
Commercial moving is often more intricate than residential moving. Also, it can get very expensive, very fast. Therefore, it would be best to get quotes from at least 4 or 5 companies. Plan to hire a full-service moving company, if your budget allows it. They’ll take care of all the packing, loading, unloading, and unpacking for you. You’ll want to make sure you hire a company with a proven track record of success in this area. Ask several people for recommendations of moving companies that have experience with office moves. Also, check out California moving companies’ reviews online. If possible, have a representative from each company come to your office and see the extent of it. This will allow you to get the most accurate quote possible.
Communicate the move to your employees
Plan a detailed announcement for your employees once you’re committed to the office relocation. Make sure the information is comprehensive and informs your team on everything they need to know. You can do it in person, via hard-copy letter, email blast, or video.
A few examples of information to your announcement should contain:
- reason for the move,
- location of the new office,
- features and layout of the new office,
- the move date,
- Employee responsibilities prior to the move and any instructions regarding the move.
An advantage of announcing the move early on is that it will reveal any gaps in your plan. Of course, you don’t have to share everything all at once. If things change, you can easily send out emails with updates on the relocation process.
Planning out your office move requires coming up with a method to maintain workflow efficiency
Planning out your office move requires creating strategies to maintain workflow
There is no doubt that moving your office will take a great deal of time and effort. Some office moves can take up to a year or more to complete. The business cannot stop during that time. Hence, it’s crucial that you create strategies to maintain workflow efficiency during the move that will prevent your employees to lose focus. For example, a more hands-on managerial involvement may keep employees engaged on deadlines that transpire during the relocation.
Inform all relevant parties
A project to plan out your office move must include notifying all interested parties. There is a long list of people and businesses that have to be notified of your office move, including but not limited to the following.
- Your current landlord, once your future landlord has confirmed when you’ll have possession of your new space.
- Your current service providers (USPS, any subscriptions services you receive, relevant government departments, telephone and data providers, utilities).
- Customers and clients.