Office relocations are likely to be an incredibly exciting time for a company. Either it means that business is booming and that the company needs more space as it grows, or that your company is downsizing and fighting to stay in the game. Either way, if you’re a business manager and you’ve decided that it is time to relocate, you probably have a lot of things on your mind besides the intricate details of the move. If you’re in that situation, consider hiring office movers for a quick and hassle-free moving. Here are 5 things that you shouldn’t forget about and leave to the last minute!
1. Intelligent Preparation
Intelligent preparation is essential, but to many people it isn’t a natural instinct. You should have detailed spreadsheets detailing the timing of the office move, with every goal you need to achieve during the move carefully noted in a calendar. Set reminders for each of those events and spend a while prepping so when the big week of the move arrives you will be able to spend less time thinking and remembering and more time getting into action.
2. Logistics Services
It’s unlikely you would have forgotten removal services, but many people don’t consider office storage until the last minute. Computer, large technologies and furniture storage shouldn’t be an afterthought, as for many companies those items can actually hold lots of value as assets. As with all assets, you want to treat them right and try to reduce degradation (as that means you lose money), so you should go for a storage location that’s got good climate-control and is ventilated.
3. Change Management
Any corporate change can be quite difficult for employees, and that includes moving offices. You should know some basics of change management already and carefully monitor employee emotions and keep track of the water cooler chit-chat. Clearly explain to your employees why you’re moving, and try to fight misinformation, confusion and upset as much as you can with a good, accessible and friendly employee support system.
4. The Little Important Things
Depending on the type of deal you have in your new space, you might need to sort out all utilities and amenities, or none of them if you’re using a WeWork style office. Think about the following:
- Phones and phone lines
- Information technologies
- Business rates
- Cables
- Electronics
- Comfort amenities (e.g. kettle and toaster)
5. Tell People You’ve Moved
This one should be thought of carefully and integrated into your intelligent preparation spreadsheet properly – it will likely take a few days to do this effectively. You should send out notifications to all your business contacts, suppliers and clients, as well as setting up mail or telephone forwarding. You should also do an audit of your online presence, as every website that features your name and address should be changed. This might need additional verification like phoning up, but if there is inconsistency online about your address, it can have dire effects on local search engine optimization. This means that if you’re a local business and somebody searches for your services, your competitors might appear higher up on the search page.
