Working in an office where you are comfortable is important and helps in both boosting morale and confidence. But sometimes, due to various factors, you may have to move the office to a different location. These factors include expansion of the company, notice from the building’s owner, citation of a more ideal location, acquiring own building, etc.
The Office Moving Process
Moving can be hectic, and if not properly done, could end up being disadvantageous to the company. A Lot of people don’t like this task of office relocation. There are several tips you can follow to help you in having a smooth office relocation exercise. But most people tend to forget them in their haste to relocate, or in trying to avoid the cost.
6 Simple Tips for Office Relocation
Relocation to a new office comes with excitement, but if not well planned and executed, it could leave you regretting why you made the move. Not forgetting the crucial office relocation tips is key to avoiding such awkward scenarios. Follow the tips below for a smooth transfer of your office.
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Most offices are stocked up with items that are either no longer in use or their usage is not significant. Such items take up space that could otherwise be used for other purposes or simply create more space for better mobility.
When planning to relocate, one of the best office relocation tips, in this case, would be to find companies that offer de-clutter or clean-up services, so that they can do thorough cleaning. This will help you in evading the cost of transporting items that are not needed.
They would also help in putting various office items neatly, helping in minimizing repair costs that would otherwise have occurred due to disorganized or dirty offices. The laser printer, for instance, needs keen maintenance to avoid the costly cost of a laser printer service to repair any damage. Decluttering helps in making documents easily accessible and makes the office look tidy and awesome.
With such great service, you have fewer items to move. This will give your new office a much better space. With this space, you can organize how the new office will look, and where each item will be placed. The dispenser, office telephones, computers, office desks, and much more. Do good organization of your office outlook.
Adapt to Your New Market
Most people are often reluctant to relocate because of the fear of the unknown. Being used to a particular place, or market area, makes one hesitant to relocate. All you need to do is do proper market research prior to choosing the site to relocate to. In the new office, things may not necessarily be as in the former, but with the right steps, things will definitely work out.
That said, change is often a good thing. Long before you relocate, start making the necessary changes, like updating the new address in advance. Failing to update your new address early may cause confusion and disappointment to your loyal clients. Inform your customers, staff, suppliers, and other service providers where they will be finding you once you relocate.
Office relocation tips dictate that some of the areas you will need to change and update include; email signature, websites, social media, brochures, flyers, Google My Business, yellow pages, Yelp, and Google map maker.
With the online address update, you may engage a digital marketing company or more specifically a reliable, local SEO agency to do both – the changes and marketing of your new address. It would be important to get used to the new location, market, structures, and probably a new way of doing things. Let your staff get used to the new location, so that they can perform their duties better.
Upgrade Your Equipment
Whenever office relocation is done, the office equipment needs to be assessed to determine its usefulness. If there is any equipment that is obsolete, there is no need to move with it. Instead, it can be sold out, given out or disposed of, depending on its condition. As you move to a new office, it would be ideal to move in with newer, better and upgraded equipment, that would help in more efficient work delivery.
One of the top office relocation tips requires that you get rid of unnecessary equipment. You may then purchase the new and better ones from available sources. Good and classy office furniture create a good impression of the office. Good office fixtures can be bought from a furniture outlet. Don’t hesitate to make an investment, since you may have these for a long time. Make sure to get commercial office furniture that will last!
Among the top office relocation tips commonly forgotten by most people is assessing the new office before relocation. Take time to physically visit the new site, check for any areas that may need repair or upgrading, and take necessary actions. This may include washrooms, resting/dining areas for staff, plumbing, electrical wiring, etc. When staff moves to a new office that still requires some renovations, they will take a lot of time to adjust to this new environment and thus may affect their work performance.
Reward Your Helpers
Office relocation is not always an easy task. Office relocation tips recommend that you engage a team when planning to relocate. Doing it on your own is not a wise move. Engage a project manager to help you in the planning and execution of the office relocation task. They have the skills, knowledge and experience of doing this.
Let the employees be engaged too. They are the ones who will be spending a lot of time at the office as their workstation. Let them have a physical check of the new office, to get acquainted with the environment. Update them about the plan, date, timeframe of the task, new address, any new rules of the new building, any arrangements about parking, and any other information they may need to have.
Also consider other factors that may affect them. Some of these factors include;
- New cost of transport that may be higher
- The fact they may have to commute for longer
- Time taken to adjust to a new environment
- A disruption from work
Engaging them is beneficial to the company because, to some extent, they will reduce the cost of hiring movers. They may do lighter tasks that don’t necessarily require professionals. Such tasks may include locating and arranging files. They can also come in handy in labeling items in the office. Packing these items blindly without proper inventory is risky. It will be difficult to account for any missing item.
Irrespective of the size, worth, or frequency of usage of an item, identify all the ones you intend to relocate from the old office to the new one. Not taking good inventory will make you end up relocating with junk items such as old and unused files, furniture that are damaged and unused, old stationery, etc.
To give them the morale to help in preparing the office for relocation, and to save time from breaking for lunch, one of the best office relocation tips here is to hire services of corporate lunch catering to supply the staff with lunch.
Another helpful unit needed is the movers – companies that offer services of relocating people and companies. Because this is their expertise and they have excellent knowledge and resources for such services, they aid in relocating your office smoothly. They also reduce the risk of items breaking, or getting lost, if the task were done by nonprofessionals.
But even before hiring their services, one of the best office relocation tips to follow is to conduct thorough research about them. Check out their range of services, any discounts or offers, and reviews or recommendations by others. This is to avoid hiring the services of a sub-standard mover who may end up causing losses due to the mishandling of your office equipment. The discounts or offers may also help in cutting costs, considering that on the day of moving, you may have to shut down your office or business operations.
Make Yourselves Known
When in a new office, especially in a new building, you are almost a stranger to the surroundings. Your office has new neighbors, some of whom may not know the kind of services or products you deal with. One of the great office relocation tips to follow is to market yourself in this new location. You can do that through various methods like erecting billboards and banners, social media, and word of mouth.
You can engage the marketing department in your company, or if you don’t have one, hire people/companies that do marketing, at a fee. With their expertise in this marketing field, they will come up with the best advertising options such as professionally-made commercial sign design, which will help in marketing your new office. In their content, they will include crucial details like the new address, contact, services or products offered etc.
Ensure Your Legal Security
Whenever there is office relocation, there are high chances of items as well as data or information getting damaged or lost. It is important to plan well to prevent such unwelcome scenarios.
It may be impossible or extremely expensive to retrieve data once lost. Therefore, the security of data is paramount. One of the recommended office relocation tips here is engaging the services of IT experts, right from the start. Avoid last minute rush to involve them when things are getting out of hand.
These professionals will disconnect and remove cables, servers, and other technical equipment from the old office. Also, they are the ones to help in restoring, reconnecting and setting up the IT system in the new office. They will tell you what is needed in the new office before moving in, including upgrading the IT. This will therefore help to prevent data loss.
There are also other factors to consider, for the security purposes of your business. You may need legal advice about the relocation process, especially on change of address, sale of unused items and so forth. You may also need to have insured your items to avoid incurring any losses.
When moving, even the most experienced movers can make human mistakes, resulting in damage or loss of your important items, such as computers, hardware, furniture etc. Taking insurance against such losses becomes a wise thing to do.
You may also engage the services of a surveyor before moving to the new office. The surveyor will assess the state of the building, its stability and so forth. This will help avoid cases whereby, after moving in, a notice is issued to all tenants to vacate due to a pending risk.
One of the crucial office relocation tips to pick from this section is to have the services of a local business law attorney, business insurance, accountant, surveyor and IT experts. Another important thing to do is come up with a proper and accurate budget for the relocation process. Business insurance, especially, should not be ignored.
You should also ascertain the cost of movers, the new rent and deposit payable, marketing cost for the new location etc. Failure to come up with a clear and accurate budget risks making the whole relocation process a costly and regrettable process.
When planning to move, make all the necessary plans in advance, disposing of unwanted items, so that on the material day of moving, you will have less work. You can then start by moving the less needed items, leaving behind the most needed, plus fewer employees. This is to avoid causing inconvenience to your loyal customers. This is also to avoid or minimize losses that would arise due to the closure of the business or office operations due to relocation. Closing for long days is not friendly for your business, therefore try to look for days that may be less busy, like holidays or weekends.
In conclusion, moving has never been easy. With the love for a comfort zone that one is used to for long, the idea of relocating may never be welcome. However, sometimes moving is necessary. The office relocation tips in this article can help make your moving process less stressful.
By applying the above relocation tips, you will have a smooth, stress-free and inexpensive office relocation. This will see you have your new office well set up and with staff ready to continue working without any major interruptions.