They say that moving house is one of the most stressful experiences. Moving office is not quite the same but it can induce a lot of stress as well. In order to avoid this, you can do a couple of things to make everything run smoothly and help you settle in quickly.
Create a strategy and follow through
This is what you should consider before you get to the actual moving part. Think about the new office and the new setting. Try to visualize it and put it on paper so you can instruct the moving team on where each of the things goes. This way you will not waste time by moving furniture around within the new office.
Determine the best time in accordance with your business schedule and the amount of time required for relocation. Inform your staff, customers, bank, business directories and everyone else you are professionally involved with, of the new location and opening hours during the move. Get the boxes and the labelling equipment. If it is possible, make an inventory.
Prepare the new site
Before you touch anything within your office, send a team of technicians to the new office to set it up based on your scheme. You want everything to be in working order and at the right place. This particularly refers to cabling. If you are purchasing any additional furniture, it might be wise to have it in place before the move starts but be careful not to block any spaces you may need for putting the existing furniture. With this covered, your office will be ready for business as soon as you move your stuff in.
Delegate
Have a meeting with your staff to explain the roles each one of them will have in this project. I hope you have announced this move so they have been expecting it. Tell them how long it will last and how they will be compensated in case their part of the move is happening outside of the business hours.
Have them clean and pack their own working stations and select several teams to cover the communal areas. Select a team which will go to the new location to wait for the boxes of things and help unpack them. Explain the labelling – you should probably write where to put it, who it belongs to and what it is with a note if a box contains something which should be handled with care.
Clean, pack and label
Encourage your employees to start by discarding or archiving anything that they no longer need or use in their day-to-day tasks. This may even take place within the days prior to the move. The remaining things and equipment should be packed carefully, based on their delicacy. Remind them of the labelling method you agreed on. To be on a safe side, back up your computer data.
Hire removalists
Instead of hiring a van or a truck and organizing the actual loading, unloading, and driving, hire professionals to do this for you. By doing it yourself, you maybe end up saving just a bit of money which is nothing compared to the time and effort you will invest.
Sticking to the schedule is a priority, especially when there are really affordable home and office removals available. Once you decide on the agency, make sure that they have your requirements in writing so there is no confusion on the day of the move. If it still happens you will have something to support you and the misunderstanding may be resolved quicker.
Prioritize your belongings
I suggest you have the office furniture and the technical equipment moved out first. Once the furniture is set up, you will have space to accommodate things packed in boxes. You will avoid them laying around and people having to jump over them while they are trying to work. Technical equipment should go in the first round as you need it to be set up as you probably cannot work without it.
Teams at the new site
You need the selected team of employees to be at the new site to wait for the boxes and unpack them as they come to avoid cluttering. After they are done, have them go through the inventory list and make sure everything has arrived. You need a team of technicians to be ready at the site to set up the technical equipment and have everything necessary installed as soon as possible. There may be a need for minor repairs and tweaks on the spot, so you need to ready for that.
Don’t forget to make a break for refreshments to boost your people and show them you appreciate them and you recognize their efforts. Have a cleaning lady come in after all of you are gone.
The post 7 Tips For a Successful Office Relocation appeared first on VectorCentral News, Stories and Reviews.