Whether your company is growing or downsizing, moving can feel like a big project to undertake for both you and your employees. The stack of files, books, supplies and equipment, poorly managed office relocation can become a headache for everyone involved. As such, you need to find ways in which to make the process as swift as possible. Some great ideas are explained below.
- Create an Elaborate Plan
If you have already contemplated on relocating your office, give yourself at least three months before the scheduled date. These months will give you time to create an elaborate plan on what needs to go to the new office and what should be thrown away. It would help if you also decided what stuff will be donated to charity and notify them so they can coordinate a pick-up date before your move. You also ought to find a secure method of disposing of unwanted electronic equipment.
In doing so, you will streamline the entire process and prevent unceremonious last-minute inconveniences.
- Inform your Employees well in Advance
Surprising your employees with a relocation right before the scheduled moving date will leave them confused and stressed. According to Shift, informing them that you will be moving in a few months’ time is an intelligent decision. In doing so, you will allow them time to prepare themselves physiologically, arrange their stuff and create a new commuting plan. They will also be able to create their schedule around the set date and inform their respective clients about the new arrangement.
- Create a Virtual Arrangement Plan of the New Office
Before your scheduled moving date, you need to visit the new office to gain a good picture of the entire layout. After which, you should try to figure out the right way of organising your furniture and equipment. The physical layout of the new office will also help you create a solid game plan for the position of different offices and stations.
The plan you create will make it much easier to arrange everything in the new office rather than move things around when everything is unloaded.
- Move the Non-Essential Stuff First
To make the process even less stressful for your employees, you ought to move the non-essentials first. This action will help you in two ways:
- It will reduce the effort and time that will be spent on the primary moving day
- By moving the non-essentials, you will allow daily operations to continue with minimal no disruptions
As such, evaluate your stuff and separate stuff and equipment by categorising them as essentials and non-essentials. Add it to your to-do list to make sure you don’t miss anything. Ideally, pack and label the moving boxes to make unpacking easy and quick. It would help if you labelled the boxes on the side to ensure that you know their content when they are stacked. It would also be in your best interest to ensure that they are arranged in their respective places.
- Change Your Business Details
Your business details may seem like minor, but they carry a huge impact. You don’t want your clients to visit your office only to be hit with the huge surprise that your company moved. Worse still, get your clients falsely navigated to the wrong address. As such, you need to update every detail in your website, brochures, business cards and phone listing. It would also be in your best interest to update your company’s location on Google maps to ensure that customers will find your company via GPS.
- Schedule a to Move Overnight
Relocating a business during the day will affect your company’s productivity as it will take one or two days of work. It may also stress your employees by disrupting their operations. By scheduling to move during the night, you will save time and prevent your employees from the stress and exhaustion they may otherwise be exposed to when moving. It will also prevent operation disruption, which will contribute to your company’s productivity. Ideally, you may also have everything arranged during the night to ensure that your business’s operations resume as soon as possible.
Conclusion
Relocating an office can be very frustrating, mainly because there are numerous parameters to be managed and handled effectively. Giving yourself time, creating an arrangement strategy and preventing business disruption can make the entire process easier. You may also protect your employees from frustration by informing them about the move earlier on and moving overnight.