How to Prep Your Office for Relocation
Moving your office is no simple task, but it’s often necessary for any number of reasons. The good news is that you have many options to keep the process easy for everyone involved. Today, let’s take a look at some of the best ways to prepare your place of business — and the people working there — for your office relocation.
Step 1: Prepare
You have a lot of work to do to get ready for this move, but you’ll get it done more efficiently with a proper plan in place. Around six months from your move date, create a plan that includes every person you have to notify, every dollar you plan to spend, and any other details. A few hours or days of planning can save you a gigantic headache down the road.
If your company is on the larger side, you can delegate some of the preparation work to a designated planner or planning team. Allow individual departments and team members to handle their own arrangements. Not only will this take some of the load from your shoulders, but it’ll include your people in the process, which is crucial to your business’s survival.
Step 2: Communicate
In your master plan, you should include communications with several groups of people. These include:
- Landlords, current and future
- Employees in your office
- Other employees, if applicable
- Customers/clients
- Service providers such as janitors and groundskeepers
- The moving company you plan to use
- Inspectors or other professionals you plan to involve in the process.
Anywhere that formal communication and accountability is necessary, make sure you have the right forms signed and agreements documented. You never know what you might need to pull out again down the road, and it’s better to have the information on hand and not need it than to need it and not have it.
Step 3: Pack
Within a couple of months of the move date, make sure you have a good idea of what to expect in your new office space. If it’s larger, smaller, or oddly shaped, you may have to rework how you want to set up the new building differently from the old one. Set aside time that you or someone from your planning team can measure everything and draw up a plan to fit your furniture and equipment in the new place.
If your movers don’t pack your things, set each department to box up their files and equipment, along with whatever else they’ll need at the new location. Even if you’ve agreed that the moving company will pack up, you can have employees sort everything so that it’ll be easy to find during the unpacking process. Take this time to declutter and cut down on useless junk or furniture that won’t fit in the new office.
Step 4: Move
Set everything up to make it as easy as possible for your movers — give them your office design so they know where to put things, keep the lights on so that they can see, and set up whatever amenities you need to make sure they can do their job well. If your business is continuing in another location while the move takes place, make sure everyone involved knows where to be.
Once everything is in the new location, test your phones and computers to make sure everything works correctly. Check your lease agreements, services, and anything else you need to update to operate business as usual. Once everything is in place, you can settle in and enjoy your new office.
Whether you’re moving your residence from one apartment building to another, or you’re relocating your office across town, Affordable Moving Co. is here to help. Since 1978, we’ve provided the people of Chicago and the surrounding area with reliable and quality-driven movers. Contact us today to see how we can help make your transition smooth and safe.