An office move can be transformative for businesses and organisations of any size. From giving you size to grow, more space to create, more control over your brand, or more connection to your community, a new space is always exciting!
Or it will be, once you get past the actual move.
An office relocation is a Major Project, and like all big projects, needs careful planning. Although moving can feel overwhelming, by breaking it down into a series of simple steps, your office move will become smooth and stress-free.
Follow Star PM’s Countdown of 4 Elements, 3 Tips, and 2 Essential Groups to 1 smooth Office Move.
If we were meant to stay in one place, we’d have roots instead of feet.
Rachel Wolchin
Four Elements To Consider
Budget
Before you begin searching for a new office space, the very first step is to determine your budget. How much can you afford to spend on rent, utilities, and other expenses such as cleaners or office maintenance? Once you have a budget, it will be easier to narrow down your search to spaces that are within your price range.
Location
Location is an essential element when you start considering an office move. Base your decision around factors such as accessibility, transportation, and conveniences. Do you need to be close to public transport, have plenty of parking options, or be close to food and retail outlets? What would suit you, your employees, and your clients best?
Size and Layout
Consider the number of employees, the type of work you do, and the equipment and supplies you need for your business. Are you looking for only offices, or offices that have additional spaces like warehouses or workshops? Depending on your business, this will affect how many desks, meeting rooms, or open spaces you need when considering an office move.
Internal fit out
Internal fit out is something that many people don’t consider until they are in a space that doesn’t have great internal fit out. From improving functionally to enhancing aesthetics, internal fit out is essential to creating a better work environment for your team.
Designing and designing an office space that will meet your business’ specific needs and requirements can require anything from purchasing new furniture to minor renovations to complete office overhauls.
When you are looking for a new business space, make sure that the general layout suits your business’ needs. If the existing fit out works for you, that is great! Otherwise, factor in extra budget to cover the expenses of your new office’s fit out.
Three Essential Steps When Preparing For Your Office Move
Planning
You can never be too prepared during an office move! Planning is your best friend when completing big projects, and it will be as well for your big move. Make office moving checklists, document lists, and spreadsheets. Include all tasks – big and small – on your lists, as well as the steps leading up to them and the people, teams and companies responsible for each task and sub-task.
By delegating every element of every task, you transform a mammoth project into more manageable bite-sized chunks. Use your planning documents as your road map for your office move, and make use of sharing software to let your team members collaborate and see what needs to be done.
Timing Your Move
Your business still has to function during your moving process. Consider when your business peaks are to try and time your office move during your business’ quieter periods.
Make Deadlines
Make deadlines for every task and sub-task to help you and your team get everything done more efficiently. Seeing deadlines that you are all working towards will also help motivate and excite your team over the move. If you can, schedule in a post-move party as a final task to celebrate your successful office move!
Not sure about what to add to your ‘Office Move’ list? Here are some of the most common tasks to help you get started:
- Measure up: Block out a few hours to measure everything in your new office space. From how high your windows are located on the wall to how far each power point is located, these measurements will help you configure your new spaces more efficiently.
- Inventory: Make an inventory of everything you want to take in the move, and make a list of everything you need to buy.
- Ordering Furniture: If you need to order any furniture for your new space, make sure to do it earlier to ensure on-time deliveries
- Security: If your business requires security, get in touch with your new building manager to see if security is covered by your rental at least a month before your moving in date. If you need to find your own security company, now’s the time to ring around for quotes and get them to survey the new office. Many security companies need a month’s notice, so get this done early.
- Removals: Whilst many people remember to hire removalists, many forget to hire a team to strip-out their old office space. Contact Star PM to experience true wrap-around services for a stress-free office relocation.
- Inform your suppliers: Get in touch with all your suppliers, from cleaning companies to newspaper deliveries to water suppliers, at least three weeks ahead of time to let them know of your moving date. If you are moving to a different area of your city, consider researching new suppliers that are more local to compare their costs.
- Change of address and phone number: Prepare change of address notifications to send to contacts and suppliers. Set up mail redirections and forwarding numbers if you can’t arrange to keep the business number that you already have.
Two Groups Of People You Must Not Neglect
With all the steps and planning involved with an office move whilst balancing your business’ day-to-day operations, communicating with your team and your clients can fall to the wayside.
However, they are the top two groups you must prioritise communications with during the entire process.
Your team will be directly affected by a new location. They may have concerns that need addressing, from needing to change their daily commute and any additional costs that may happen, to changing their daily schedule to ensure that they can arrive at work on time, to parking availability, or even concerns over redundancy.
Encourage open dialogue with all the members of your company and anticipate any likely issues before they become problems. Give your employers clear reasons for the move, explain how they will benefit, and what you hope to achieve in the future with this move.
Similarly, clients and customers will have their own concerns over your office relocation, such as potential delays or changes to the services they receive from you. Maintaining clear communication with your clients and customers as you are moving offices will reduce confusion, keep their trust, minimise disruption, and allow for a seamless transition to keep everyone happy.
One Stress-free Office Move
With your lists prepared, clients contacted, team updated, and timeline settled, all you have left is to do the actual move. Congratulations!
Once the dust settles in your new business space, make sure to check in with your team regularly and ask for feedback to maintain morale and momentum. Their feedback will help you reinforce the positives of the office move whilst also identifying and tackling any issues with the new business.
Need a bit of help? Contact Star PM for office fit outs and strip outs.