Moving Office Checklist
Like anything in life, without a well thought-out plan of action, an office move can be stressful. We have drawn upon our many years of experience to compile a list of top tips to help you plan and execute your office move.
Determine a Date, a Time-Frame and a Moving Plan
First things first, decide on a move date and time-frame for the move and from there you can devise a schedule. Depending on how much furniture and equipment you have and how big your office is, you may need more than one day to move. Your removal company will be able to guide you on this.
Professional office removalists in Perth, such as Adlam Transport, will come to your premises and assess this, conducting a full survey and providing you with a realistic time-frame – and a fixed quote.
Assign Tasks – Set Up a Move Committee
Assign a dedicated person / people to assist with both the planning and the move itself. Setting up a Moving Committee can be useful as they will not only help you, but will also help other staff with the transition. Staff are going to have lots of questions! So set up a committee who can field the questions and put your staff at ease too.
Internal Communication
Ensure all staff get a Move Plan. Ask your committee to help create a detailed move plan! The plan should include:
- Move date
- New premises location
- Items each staff member is required to pack
- Details of the labelling system – how staff should label their boxes
- New Office Plan with assigned desk numbers
Assign each person / desk a number – the number given in the new location should correspond with the new number on the new office plan. This way, staff know what to label their boxes, the removalists know where to leave boxes at the new location and the staff know where to go on moving in day.
Remember that some staff may now have a longer commute to work. Give them as much information and as early as you possibly can about the new move. Have the floor plan etc. ready for staff as soon as possible.
External Communication
Ensure you let all customers and suppliers know well in advance the date of your move, your new office address and when normal business will resume. If you have a skeleton staff working during the move period, or are expecting some small temporary disruptions, let your customers and suppliers know this too. Give everyone plenty of notice about your office move and then remind them when it comes closer to the moving date.
Leased Items
If you have any items on lease, such as printers and photocopiers, you will need to contact your leasing company and advise them of your move. The leasing company will organise moving the item(s) for you. Your removalist cannot move leased items for insurance reasons.
New Building
Contact the Property or Facilities Manager in your new building and make friends with them! Ensure your removalist has parking and good access to the entrance of the building to help save time. If there is no onsite parking, you may need to organise permits for on-street parking.
If your removalists will need access to a lift, ask the Property Manager to designate a specific lift for the removalists on your move day. This saves time as the removalists won’t have to wait around for lifts on the day.
Hiring Professional Removalists and Packers
As with hiring any contractor, ensure you have at least 3 quotes from office removalists. Again, in steps your moving committee – your knight in shining armours to help you with this! Compare the services, experience and pricing of each one. Know what to look for when you are selecting a removalist. Remember the old rule ‘buy cheap, buy twice.’ You want to work with a company which has lots of proven experience in office moves, as well as good customer reviews.
Your company should be able to provide you with crates and skates in advance so your employees can get organised and start packing.
Professional Pre-Packing
Most good, full service removalists will offer this service. While it is perfectly acceptable to have staff pack up their own belongings (this also can serve as a good de-clutter exercise), it is not advisable to have staff pack up the communal areas (i.e. kitchen crockery and utensils) or IT equipment etc. Take advantage of the pre-packing service on offer – it will save you time and stress!
On the Move Day!
Coordinators
Place a coordinator at the new building on move day. Your committee will probably have already nominated this person for you! The coordinator’s role will be to help the removalists as they arrive, ensuring that they have access to all areas required and pointing them in the right direction.
Nice to do!
Create personalised desk labels for your staff with their name, photo and job title. This will be very welcoming for your staff! And nicer than having just a number to label them.
Create welcome signs and direction signage for staff at the new premises! Show them how to get around, where the toilets and kitchen area are and provide some information about the local amenities – cafes, petrol stations etc.
Make life as easy for your staff as possible!
Contact us today for a free survey and quote to help get you on your way.