A survey conducted by E.ON concluded that relocation of the office space is the second most challenging task for small businesses, after recruitment of their staff. Moving your office space is as draining as moving into a new living space. It involves packing everything, hiring truck services, and spending on packaging material and heavy furniture. Consequently, many businesses end up delaying their office move for years and paying high costs for renting and other services. Here are top five tips that can make the process of moving to a new office space much easier for you:
1. Plan It Early
A commercial relocation consists of various processes between finding a new office space, packing the existing workplace, and the final move. You can unanimously decide on a moving date and set a time frame for the relocation. This will ensure that your office days are not disturbed and the relocation process is not prolonged. After discussing it with the head of your financial department, set a financial budget for relocation. You can start by counting overheads associated with the relocation and the fixed cost of new office space. This step will also enable you to understand if you can afford to hire movers or moving agencies to make this process easier for you and your team.
2. Communicate
Communication is the key to making better decisions and avoiding conflict. A decision like an office relocation is significant for all your stakeholders, and employees are among the most important ones. Office relocation may even cause commute or mobility issues among your staff, so it must be communicated with them early on. These mobility issues can be solved by a work-from-home system if the job role allows them to do so. You need to notify your team about important dates, including the moving day and the time frame allotted for the relocation process. Communicate the new address, contact number, and building rules of the new working space beforehand to avoid any confusion among team members. Sharing everything early with employees will not only prevent confusion and conflict but also boost employee morale as they will feel that their opinion is valued.
3. Encourage Delegation of Work
While moving an entire office space can seem like a lot of work from afar, it can be easily broken down into doable steps. You can start your moving journey by encouraging your employees to be responsible for their respective desks. This will segment half of the work involved in packing the knick-knacks in the office. It will also ensure that each employee fills office material with the utmost care, preventing any resentment if things are damaged during the move. You can encourage your employees to create a checklist and give them a few hours to pack up their desks a few days before the moving day. This will ensure that the work of packing up the entire workspace is evenly distributed and confusion does not hinder your office projects.
4. Ensure Data Protection
Relocation can be chaotic, and your files and hardware can easily get misplaced in the chaos. This can lead to the loss of essential documents and damaged servers. It is vital to create a data backup for all your critical data, including your financial statements and legal papers, to protect your company from data loss.
5. Move Your Tech Gear
Disconnecting and reconnecting all your technological devices, including your work tablets, computers, and laptops, can be a hassle. These items are incredibly delicate and must be handled with utmost care and protection. You can seek help from your IT department in winding up all the tech gear at least a week before the move date. This is one job that cannot be outsourced to movers, as it involves handling sensitive data and essential assets of your business.
Plan to wind up the tech gear properly beforehand, and ensure the availability of enough power sockets and adequate internet supply in your new workspace. If there is any equipment that is to be discarded, you can look into donating or selling it. Some non-profit organizations will be happy to accept old computers and reuse them in offices that cannot afford new equipment. You can also put it up for sale online to earn some extra cash that can help you in your moving process.
Endnote
Moving to a new workspace involves a lot of work. To help you maintain a balance between ongoing work and your move, you can hire mover companies like Osmon Moving and Storage to help you with the whole process.
An office relocation is a stressful time for everyone, including your employees; you can thank them for their consistent support and loyalty by arranging a small party following your move to a new office space. This will celebrate the start of a new chapter for your company in a brand new working space
