Navigating an Office Move

| March 23, 2013

Navigating an Office Move

Is it time to move office? Are you feeling overwhelmed by the immensity of the task? Expert office mover Shawn Wood has some useful tips to help you navigate through this endeavour.

Has your business found that prime piece of real estate that would be perfect for your new office? If so, then there’s no time like the present to get packing and settled into a place that will enhance your operations. At the same time, there’s plenty that can go wrong during an office move, including issues that can be the cause of serious problems if they are not anticipated or correctly dealt with. The following tips will help you prepare your office move and make sure that everything goes off without a hiccup.

The Moving timeline

Because lots of people may be involved in your move, it’s always a good idea to create and publish a full moving timeline to help those in your organisation prepare for the transition. This timeline should include all of the information involved in the transfer, not just a big sign with the moving date. Set up deadlines for packing up heavy equipment, sensitive files, or other things that may require special considerations. Each task should have an assigned person for personal responsibility and to cover all your bases. Most offices look at a time frame of at least three months for the whole moving process.

Planning ahead

Take the time to visit your new location and map out how your current office will fit into the new digs. Pay particular attention to storage space, the availability of electrical outlets and other special needs that your business may have. If you have big equipment, check that there is an entrance that will make it possible to get the equipment inside the building. Also, set up utilities like water supply and an Internet connection in advance to make sure that there are no gaps where your employees are stuck working with limited resources.

Moving time is upgrade time

Tired of that useless fax machine that never works? Moving time can be the perfect opportunity to upgrade equipment that has seen better days. Instead of lugging non-effective equipment to a new location, it may be better served as a gift to charity if adding better replacements is within your budget. In addition, this will give a true feeling of a clean start at the new place, possibly leading to better business operations.

Have a back-up plan

Even the best laid moving plans can go awry, so have a backup prepared just in case there are problems. This could be the possibility to rent a different property for a week or so while the kinks are being ironed out. Potential lifesavers to keep your business running during this time could include local hotels with conference room facilities or nonprofit organizations that have a location and only meet once a week.

In contrast to a family move where most of the members will be well aware of what is going on, a business move with several of employees can be infinitely more complex and frustrating to keep everyone on the same page. However, the right space can be the catalyst that sends your business to the next level and properly executing the move could mean your company doesn’t skip a beat.

 


Shawn Wood is the founder and President of Student Movers, a California moving company that helps families and businesses relocate across the Golden State. Shawn is a member of the California Moving & Storage Association, supporter of many Charities, and an avid snowboarder. Connect with Shawn on Facebook and Twitter.