A Guide to Managing an Office Move

Managing an office move can be an extremely intimidating prospect, as you are responsible for moving staff, expensive equipment, and electronics. If it is your responsibility to manage an office move, you are probably left wondering, where do I start? Understanding the steps to take and what to organize can help you to more effectively manage an office move. This guide is here to help you learn all you need to know to keep you stress-free while manage a successful office move.

Sort Out the Logistics

The first step you will want to take to manage a successful office move is to create a plan. You will likely want to begin by sorting out the logistics of the move. For example, you will want to review your current lease. This will, of course, enable you to plan move-out dates, but it will also allow review information regarding your deposit. Reviewing your lease early will provide you with the time needed to make any superficial updates needed to guarantee a return on your deposit.

At this stage, it is useful to get some quotes from moving companies and self storage solutions. Doing this early on will allow you time to find the best deal on the market. Since top-quality movers tend to book up early, it is a good idea to book well ahead of your move to ensure you have everything ready and in place.

You might also want to consider purchasing moving insurance coverage. This is particularly useful for businesses that have very expensive equipment or that depend on certain equipment. Even if your business doesn’t have top-of-the-range, expensive equipment, you might want to look into insurance anyway.

Start Planning

Every good manager understands the power of delegating, and in this respect, managing an office move is no different from any other task. You should assemble a team of people that can help you to manage the moving process. It is worth considering who should be on your move planning team carefully. You don’t need to involve half of the office, but it is worth thinking about the type of people who would be useful to have on your team. For example, would it be useful to have a member of upper management on the team? Focus on individuals who have good planning and organizational skills.

Create a Budget

The next step you will want to take is to create a budget for your move. It is vital that you set your budget quickly to ensure that you do not inadvertently spend too much early on. Understanding the budget you have to work with will help you to better ascertain what professional services you can afford to hire. For example, if you are working on a more limited budget, then you might want to ask employees to spend an hour picking up and moving their belongings rather than using paid professionals to do this.

Pick a Date

Once you have started planning and sorted out your budget, you are ready to decide on a move-in date. Once you have picked a definite move-in date, you should let both your old and your new landlord know. After choosing a date, you are also ready to confirm a booking with a movers company. 

Communicate with Staff

Once the logistics have been finalized, you can let staff know about your upcoming move arrangements. When you are informing employees of the upcoming move, you need to outline a clear plan. It is useful to explain your expectations of employees from the get-go. This will ensure that there is no miscommunication and everyone is clear about their responsibilities regarding the move.

Once you have informed all employees about the upcoming move and explained their responsibilities, it is good to focus on specific roles. You can assign specific roles to a few key team members. Providing key employees with a checklist will help them to keep on track. Breaking down tasks and assigning them to different employees will reduce your workload and help keep other people up to date with the moving logistics.

Design Your Office Space

There is no point moving everything that you currently have in your office space if some of it will not fit. You can sell or donate old office equipment that you will not need; this will help you to save money that would be wasted moving unnecessary equipment.

To better ascertain what you will need in your new office space you should visit the new space. It is also useful to get a floor plan of the new office space so you can better understand the space you have to work with. If you have the budget, you might want to consider hiring an interior designer. An interior designer will help you to get the most out of your new office space, helping to make it a positive, healthy, and productive working environment. Make sure to add pops of colour to the walls, as this has been proved to improve productivity in employees. In fact, you could look into some tech lighting, such as LED neon signs, to really make your office walls stand out. 

Plan an IT Set-Up

One key sign of a successful office move is being able to get into the new space and back to work as quickly as possible. In order to ensure that your team is able to get into the new space and back to work soon after the move, you need to organize an IT setup. You will need to arrange to have internet put installed in the new office space. You will also need to arrange to get IT to come in early to set up a computer and any other equipment you might need.

Communicate With Your Customers and Suppliers

When you are organizing an office move, it is vital that you remember to inform your customers and suppliers about the upcoming plans. It is useful to send a change of address email to all relevant parties ahead of time. The change of address email should inform relevant parties of your new office space and the intended move date.

Managing an office move might seem like a hugely intimidating prospect, but it doesn’t have to be as difficult as you might at first think. As with any other management challenge, the key to managing an office move is effective communication with internal staff, partners, and moving professionals.