Relocating Your Office - Here's What You Need to Know

One of the biggest tasks that your business could ever have is relocating to a new office. Trying to coordinate the logistics of moving all of your furniture as well as letting everybody know that you are going to be changing your address is big. The thought alone can induce a huge wave of stress, especially if your relocation takes you beyond your current town limits, which would mean that you may have to look at restaffing.

Your productivity is going to be threatened and there are potential disruptions to your business operations that you could really be doing without. If you don't have a clear plan in place, an office move can quickly turn into chaos. With that in mind, we've put together a list of things that you need to know when it comes to relocating your office.

1. Start planning as early as you can. From the moment you decide you might need to upgrade or downsize your office, you should start the planning process for the move. Do you need to contact Ozpack to get the materials you need for packing or do you have boxes already? Do you need to contact removalists or do you have enough vans within your business to be able to do it yourself? You have to consider the sheer size of your business versus the move as well when it comes to planning because if you're going to be a global business or changing from an office to remote.It changes how much you need to do. Early planning also allows you to let everybody know that there will be a move, and that's not just your team, but your clients and your vendors.
2. Assemble a moving team of your own. You need to have a moving team from your office if you want to have a successful move. This team is going to be responsible for managing the move from start to finish. So whether you enlist your entire admin team or you put department heads on each team in charge, you need to know who's going to be working with you. You need to look at this as a team job because while it will be your decision to move offices, everybody's going to need to get involved. When you think about your moving team, consider the responsibilities and skills required and choose people that will actively be involved in the move and be happy to do so.
3. Set yourself a budget. Setting a budget that's realistic is so important when it comes to moving offices. It involves estimation of costs, planning for any unexpected expenses, and over budgeting too.You have to ensure that the move remains financially viable for you. With a well planned budget, you'll be able to avoid overspending on this move and keep yourself on track. Consider every potential cost involved and then add a couple of $100 more. This way, when it comes to the move, you won't have any surprises. Don't forget to account for overtime pay because you can guarantee that your employees are going to be working hard overtime to get this move completed when the business will not need to be interrupted.
4. Communicate. Making sure that you keep everybody informed on this move from start to finish, it's critical for your business. With regular updates, you can make sure that this is an easy transition for everybody and reduce any potential anxiety. You'll also be able to ensure that everybody is prepared for the move so that nobody feels they are out of the loop. This communication should be clear and it should be consistent, and it should start with your employees. While it's important for your clients to know what's happening, the people actually involved in the move need to be the first ones to hear it from you.
5. Don't forget to hire a professional moving company. You could enlist everybody in your business to start moving things themselves with their cars and their vans, but it just doesn't work that way. Hiring a professional moving company allows you to budget for one cost that includes everything, and they have the experience and the equipment as well as the expertise to get it done. 

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6. Declutter before you do anything else. You can take all of your larger electronics down to recycling centers as long as they don't have any data left on them. Have your IT team go through it first to make sure that no intellectual property has been left on anything and you should be able to get it done easily. Decluttering can save you time, but also it can reduce your moving costs. You'll be able to get rid of anything you haven't used and organize the belongings for easy unpacking in the new place. You should also think about seeing if the removalists are also unpackers. This way they will pack one side, take it to the new office and unpack it that side. 
7. Do your employees? At the forefront of your move should be your employees and what they need. What did their new workspace look like and is it accessible? You need to ensure that you're also providing the necessary amenities, even if that means moving your favorite vending machine. There should be factors such as natural light and noise levels considered as well. So if you want your employees to remain productive, they need to be comfortable.
8. Inventory and label everything. Before you move, get everything into the correct boxes and label everything and then also cross examine the inventory with the packed boxes. When you do this, you can ensure that nothing gets lost. The removal list that you hire should have insurance just in case anything does get broken along the way, and if that's the case, you'll be able to make a claim.
9. Celebrate. Celebrating your move is a great way to boost morale and show people that your move is a positive step in your business. Whether you have a small party or a big team building activity in the new office and even have a small red ribbon cutting ceremony, you'll be able to get everybody involved. 

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