Tips for planning an office relocation

Moving your office should be exciting! You’re expanding your business, reaching a new clientele, and getting inspired by a change of scenery. What’s not to like? Oh, right. The whole process of actually moving your business! You have tons of bulky office furniture and fragile, difficult-to-pack computer equipment to move. And you have to do it quickly and without losing business too! Now that sounds like a nightmare. So what do you say to some moving help Oxford MS from experienced professionals in the form of a few useful tips? Planning an office relocation will be infinitely easier with this simple and straightforward guide!

First, understand why planning an office relocation is so difficult

Just as there are many good reasons why you should move your office, there are many reasons why doing so is difficult. Let’s start with the obvious: packing an office is a total nightmare. Office desks and chairs may not be the heaviest pieces of furniture ever. But they are certainly clunky and difficult to maneuver. Then there are the near-literal thousands of small office supplies that couldn’t possibly be easier to lose. Finally, IT equipment which can regularly be found in an office is fragile, expensive, and difficult to move without damage.

And don’t forget that the tight schedule of office relocation is no joke. The more time you spend moving, the less time you spend actually working and earning money. So being prompt and quick with your move is absolutely vital. You must keep all this in mind when planning an office relocation!

Then, start actually planning an office relocation

When it comes to office moving, things going wrong will literally cost you money. So having a good plan of action is absolutely necessary to prevent things from going wrong. But how do you make a good plan for an office relocation?

Start planning an office relocation as early as possible

Preparing a business for a move always takes time. Even if you’re only moving locally within Mississippi, you want to give yourself at least a couple of weeks to get ready. If at all possible, you actually want to give yourself more time than you’re really going to need to avoid any rushing. Rushing leads to panic which leads to mistakes and you don’t want that. So start planning your office move as soon as you can. Even if all you can do on the first day of planning is put a few bullet points about the timeline and goals on a paper, it’ll be some progress!

The key questions to ask yourself

At the very beginning of planning your office move, you want to ask yourself a few key questions:

1. When would you like to move and by when do you need to be in your new office space latest?
2. What is your moving budget?
3. What is your new office space going to look like?
4. How long will you have to prepare the new office before you absolutely must get back to work?

These key pieces of information will inform many of your decisions when moving, including when to move and which movers to hire. It is, therefore, paramount to have clear answers to them in the early stages of planning.

Time the relocation right

The timing of business relocation is incredibly important. Because your office cannot function (at least not at full capacity) while it’s moving, your business will need to slow down or even close for a while during the relocation. In order to avoid loss of business, you would ideally want to plan your move for a weekend or off-hours when you’re not working anyway. When that’s not possible, try to time your relocation for a period of low business volumes. That way any business you do lose will be minimal.

Don’t go planning an office relocation on your own

Planning an office relocation is not really a one-person job. So don’t try to do everything yourself! Instead, make a moving team or committee of colleagues and employees who will help out. You can rely on them to take some of the load off of your shoulders! Delegate different tasks such as packing personal belongings off of desks, keeping track of file backup, or staying in the office to observe movers. If necessary, hold meetings periodically to check on everyone’s progress. Choose some of the professional Tennesse long-distance moving companies to help you out in the process.

Create a moving budget

The size of your workplace, the outside services you employ (such as full-service movers or office space planners), and whether or not you plan to upgrade your equipment and office furnishings will all affect your relocation expense. In the event that anything is misplaced or destroyed in transit, you’ll want to include moving insurance in your budget. It may cost more to go with a full-service move, but it will save you time and money by taking care of all the packing, preparing, and unloading. Moving costs might be reduced if you pack your own belongings and assist with the loading and unloading of the truck.

Hire movers to help you with your office relocation

Hiring commercial movers is an absolute must for an office move. No matter how good you and your team are, you won’t be as quick or efficient as professional office movers. So whether you are moving a small office of three or an entire corporate building, hire movers to help you with the relocation. Do a bit of research on local moving companies that specialize in office moving and have some experience with it to find the right fit for your office.

Don’t forget to prepare your new space

Moving out of one office is just the first half of the relocation. Settling into your new space is the other. So don’t forget to plan the layout of the new office in advance. This will help you set things up faster once you move there. Hiring professional movers for packing and unpacking will also save you some time. Your relocation strategy should contain the following elements:

• A layout of your new office space, indicating the locations of various pieces of furniture, workstations, common areas, and office supplies. If there are problems with your present workplace, such as bottlenecks or copiers that are overworked, now is a good time to devise a new floor plan to address them. You should provide a copy of your floor plan to all of your moving and IT service providers, as well as your furniture suppliers, electricians, and HVAC contractors.
• A list of all the things that are already in the office, such as furniture and electronics. This is the time to pick what will stay and what will be replaced in your new area.

A professional office space planner can help you plan your new space and make the move easier by streamlining the design and build-out process. When you’re in the middle of moving, don’t redesign! The reputable commercial movers Memphis can help you take out your old furnishings and electronics and bring in the new.

Announce the move to your employers

Tell your staff about the big change using a well-thought-out email, newsletter piece, town hall presentation, or short film. No matter what format you use, your announcement should be complete. All of the information that employees require must be conveyed through the medium of communication. Because the more detail you put into your communication, the easier it will be to comprehend all the processes of your workplace transfer.

Make sure to include any relevant tasks to your master to-do list as you write the announcement. Including “creating and distributing checklist” as an action item in your timetable is necessary if your announcement reassures employees that they will have a comprehensive “office move checklist for employees” of to-dos prior to moving day. Spyder Moving Services Memphis is always there to help out with packing and moving if you need to move on short notice.

Notify the suppliers of your existing services

Moving your office doesn’t just concern you and your employees. Your utility providers, business partners, and customers should all know in advance about your relocation. So don’t forget to inform them that you’re planning on moving, when and where to. Let your current service providers know that you’re moving. Included in this are the following:

• UPS, FedEx, and the Postal Service.
• Subscriptions to publications like newspapers and magazines
• Relevant divisions of the federal government
• A telecommunications service provider.
• Utilities.
• The printing industry (for business cards, promotional mailers, stationery, etc.)

Finally, execute the plan!

Of course, planning an office relocation is just the first step. Once you have a plan, you have to execute it too! Again, starting as soon as possible is going to be a good idea. Booking movers should be one of the first things you do because doing so well in advance will get you the best rates. Then you can slowly start packing what you can and preparing your business for the relocation. Good luck!