7 Important Things to Consider When Relocating an Office
Perhaps you’re relocating the team to somewhere more cost-effective or downsizing to a home office (or upscaling to a fully-fledged workspace). Whatever your motivation, relocating offices can be as stressful as home ones!
That is unless you have a plan in place. This office relocation checklist makes relocating your office as free of surprises and stress-free as possible. Here are the seven key things to consider when relocating your office:
1. Establish the costs
One of the first things to figure out is how much the office relocation process will cost. The costs involved will depend – to a large extent – on where you’re moving from and to.
For example, if you're leaving an office lease, you may have to pay an exit fee or dilapidations. If you’re moving into an all-inclusive serviced office that is already furnished, you won’t have to worry about buying new furniture.
Other factors to factor in when it comes to setting a budget is the price of the removals team and business hours lost due to disruption during the move.
2. Start with planning
Good planning will help keep your team smiling and downtime to a minimum. Consider which aspects will affect your business the most when planning your move. You should do this from the start when looking for a new location.
Ask yourself:
● Can my employees and clients commute easily?
● Is the office able to facilitate hybrid meetings?
● Does the rent include utilities, internet connection, cleaning services and building management?
● How flexible is the contract – can I exit, downsize or scale at short notice?
3. Choose an office relocation company
Don’t forget to book an office relocation company such as Removals & Storage Experts before your move. Choose a company that can help you with packing and provide specialist support when moving valuable and technical items, such as desktop screens.
Do you need to move your office furniture into storage? If so, there are flexible solutions out there. You can store your office belongings monthly until you find a new workspace or sell them.
4. Declutter your office space
As with moving home, relocating offices presents the ideal decluttering opportunity. It’s the perfect time to replace legacy equipment – if you can afford to – and get rid of furniture you no longer need because half of your team now works from home.
Many sustainable office clearance companies can resell, reuse and recycle your unwanted items while helping you reduce your carbon footprint.
5. Communicate with your employees
Don’t forget to keep your stakeholders updated. Notify employees of the move in advance and make them aware of what their responsibilities will be. Provide partners, suppliers and customers with your new contact information so they know where to reach you.
Inform the relevant people if you think your office move will impact your business's ability to meet its deadlines.
6. Pack your office items
Here are some top tips to keep in mind when packing up your office:
● Empty drawers and desks, etc.
● Label everything.
● Provide your moving team with a plan for your new office, so they know where to unload everything.
● Choose a removal company that can dissemble IT equipment properly.
● Back up your computers.
● Transport sensitive items personally and securely.
● Notify office furniture lease companies of the move.
7. Move to your new office
Your moving day will come around quicker than you anticipate! Ideally, you’ll have booked a good removal company, a firm with experience handling office space relocations, ahead of your moving date.
Once everything has been unloaded, it’s time to plug everything in and ensure the phone systems and Wi-Fi are in working order. Before the move, you should have created a checklist of all items to help you identify if anything is missing.
Key things to remember
You can have the best office move checklist in the world, but you may still need help if you try to do everything independently. Office relocations involve a lot of time and effort, so as tempting as it might be, try not to do it all yourself.
Delegate specific tasks and responsibilities to your team and ask for help when you need it. You’ll probably find that your team wants to be involved in the moving process.
Seek support from those around you, including your office removals and storage company. They will be able to provide you with friendly advice and help when it comes to getting your items safely from your old office into your brand-new workspace.