When your current office space can’t accommodate your growing business, it’s time to look for somewhere new, somewhere better for you and your employees. But once you’ve settled on the right spot, you’ve got to start thinking about the move itself.
With an office move, the planning stage begins many months in advance. There are a lot of moving parts to contend with and it can be very easy to feel overwhelmed if you’re not prepared. But fear not, we’ve got lots of experience carrying out office removals of all sizes, so in this article we’re letting you in on some of our top tips to help you through.
Build an internal moving management team
In an office environment, you’re surrounded by capable and organised people that you can depend on. In the midst of an office move, you shouldn’t leave everything to yourself. Instead, draft in some of your most trusted employees from different departments and form an internal moving management team. You can divide up tasks with these employees, and each one can report back to their departments to help keep everyone in the loop.
Sort out the floor plan
Compare your current floorplan and the layout of your new office. Measure your furniture, figure out how many power sockets you need, and try to draft up a layout that makes sense for your new space. Visiting the new office will give you a better idea of how things should look, and you can then relay back to your IT department with advice on specifics, like cable routing.
You won’t be able to get it right first time, months in advance, but a broad, adaptable floor plan will make the transition much easier to handle.
Choose a reputable removals company
Want to make your move easier? Hire an experienced office removals company and you’ll find the entire process much more digestible. Reputable companies – like TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® – will appoint a project manager to help plan every step of the move. Liaising regularly with you and your own team, a project manager will use their experience to advise on a range of factors, including: floorplans, coordinating packing and packing materials, planning the timetable of the move, and much more.
Choosing a reliable moving company will also prevent the following:
- Damage to furniture and equipment – you’ll have specialist packing materials to protect everything from electronics and important files to bulky desks and office chairs
- Downtime – you can arrange evening or weekend office moves to minimise downtime and keep your business running smoothly
Tell your clients
It’s easy to focus on the internal logistics during the moving process, but keeping your clients and customers informed is important as well. If you have regular client meetings in your office, consider rearranging them until the move is finished, or just meet off site instead. Send regular updates via email or post to keep clients up to date, and make sure they have your new contact details as soon as they become available.
Ghosting a client by moving and not telling them could damage your relationship with them – even if it’s a mistake – so keep track of who you have and haven’t informed on a regular basis.
Focus on your servers
With so much happening online these days, making sure your IT infrastructure is prepared should be a priority. Consult your IT department and settle on the best time to set up your servers and internet connection in the new office. Test these once they’re installed so your team can fix any issues that might occur before the move date.
Notify providers, maintenance contractors, and utilities
For regular contractors such as cleaners, notify them a month or so in advance. If your current one can’t transfer their services to your new building, shop around for a new provider.
Do the same with IT providers and your utility companies, too. Also, make sure to discuss your telecoms setup with the relevant departments and providers, and arrange new numbers if current ones cannot be transferred across.
Communicate with your staff
While you handle the planning and discussion around the move, your staff will be getting on with work as usual. But don’t just expect them to be able to work as normal right until they move date; talk to them regularly, and encourage an open forum for staff to ask questions, offer suggestions or become involved with the move if they want to be.
Productivity might fluctuate the closer you get to the move date, but maintain friendly, open communication with your staff and support them as much as you can.
A good idea could be to ask for ideas when designing your new office. As a blank canvas, your employees can put their mark on the new space by suggesting colour schemes, decoration and themes throughout, and can help to build excitement for the period immediately following the move.
At TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® we provide a comprehensive office removal service for commercial clients of any size or scale. With a dedicated project manager and skilled, experienced movers to take care of the heavy lifting, you can be sure that your office move is in safe hands with us. We provide a full packing service – with specialist packing materials for all your fragile equipment – and we unload everything in a logical order to minimise downtime so you can hit the ground running. To find out more, simply contact us today.