Five Things to Remember When Moving Offices

Moving is an experience that charts highly on many people’s least favourite things to do list. When it comes to moving an entire office, the stakes rise considerably. Lost productivity, staff gripes and health and safety concerns are just some of the factors you may have to deal with. To help minimise potential stress, here are some of our tips on how to move your business.

Make a Plan

Planning and organising the move in advance will eventually save you time and energy. Before you start packing your furniture and office supplies into boxes, make a list of all the important items you’re about to move. With that list in hand, visit your new office and make a floor plan – decide in advance what goes where and try to create a space that stimulates productivity. Only then should you call a moving company to get things into gear.

Consider your Workers

We choose jobs based on different criteria such as salary, work environment, potential for growth and last but not least, location. By moving offices, you might be making life harder for some of your employees so if you value their contribution to your company’s success, try to make it up to them. A bump in salary, a transportation allowance, a company car – think of something that will keep them from quitting, it’s easier to retain employees than hire new ones.

Let Everybody Know

Physically moving is just a part of the challenge. What is also of great importance is letting the world know that you’ve moved. Remember to change your company address online, as well as on all printed marketing materials. Send out newsletters to your subscribers informing them about the move and do the same via social media and personalised phone calls. Another great way to advertise your new premises is to organise an office warming party that also celebrates the move.

Use the Opportunity

Moving office is a hassle but also a great chance to upgrade your outdated office equipment, optimise your office supplies, and get rid of those stacks of useless documents that have been piling up in your filing cabinets. If you don’t already have one, buy or rent a shredder to dispose of all the papers in a safe and more environmentally friendly way.

Expect some Downtime

An important tip that many people overlook is to plan for the future. In the first few days after your office relocation, you have to allow for some downtime and decreased productivity. Some of the new office gear might not work properly and your employees have the right to be a bit confused or late to work on the first day in the new office. Keep all this in mind when making plans for the first days of business in the new location.

Moving offices probably won’t be fun but with proper planning it is sure to turn out smoother and less troublesome than you anticipated.