Office moving checklist: Stress-free relocation guide

Before moving your office either across the street or to a far-off location, you need to prepare a thorough office move plan. Ask yourself, how will you handle the expenses and potential delays or mishaps? What about employee stress and dissatisfaction? And how will your clients respond?

Selecting the right new office space

Businesses relocate for various reasons, ranging from the need to adjust to the office space demands to improving collaboration or even enhancing the company brand. Whatever the reason, begin scouting 3-6 months in advance to secure the ideal location. This timeframe will give you enough time to seek advice, explore alternatives and negotiate for a better deal.

When evaluating the space requirements, consider the current headcount and the projected growth over the next few years. By today’s standards, the best office space will feature open plans, good lighting, hybrid layouts, and remote-working facilities such as meeting rooms and collaborative spaces.

In terms of the office location, choose a spot with proximity to public transport to reduce commute times. This will also improve accessibility for clients and suppliers.

Lastly, consider the lease terms and the option to scale or adjust the contract as your business adapts to the ever-changing market dynamics.

Budgeting for office moving costs

Office relocation costs are often a key consideration for businesses seeking to move. The first step to budgeting for the move is to capture all the expenses and ensure you have accurate estimates. Typically, your overall moving cost will include mover fees, the cost of leasing the new office space, new furniture purchases (if any), utility setup, IT installation, etc.

When estimating these costs, contact the people offering these services instead of basing your estimates on random market statistics. You should then allocate some 10-15% of the total budget for unexpected expenses covering unforeseen or hidden costs. Since you will begin setting the budget a few months before relocating, the pricing may change. Be sure to keep track of the changing market prices and adjust your budget accordingly.

Depending on your company’s size, you may need to work with the finance department to get a clear picture of how relocating the office will impact your business’s cash flow and savings.

Coordinating with team members

Most businesses overlook employee engagement during the pre-move planning phase. A rule of thumb is to create a communication plan that will ensure your employees are notified early about the relocation. This streamlines the office relocation coordination efforts, as every stakeholder has a role to play.

Where possible, you can share the office moving budget with key business stakeholders and even involve them in selecting new office space. This should be done carefully to avoid involving too many parties, which could drag the decision-making process and result in delays.

To improve coordination, use project management tools to allocate tasks and establish deadlines. You can also plan temporary remote work setups during the transition to ensure business operations continue without disruption on moving days.

Once you have a plan for approaching the relocation process, you should create an office relocation checklist highlighting what needs to be done at a specified time. This is where advanced organisational skills are needed the most.

Initial office relocation panning tasks

The first step when creating a relocation checklist is to define the moving timeline. Sit down with your leadership team and identify the key dates and expected milestones.

You always want to align the relocation period with business operations. For instance, consider moving out during the off-peak season to minimise disruptions.

If it is your first time relocating and the task seems overwhelming for your team, consider hiring a consultant or an office moving company. The right moving professional will work with you every step of the way to ensure everything proceeds according to plan. This will often include creating a master checklist that will be made accessible to everyone in the company at least two months before the moving date.

Packing and logistics

If you have decided to do everything in-house to this point, it is time to call in the professionals. Organising and packaging all the office supplies requires trained hands. It is crucial to categorise office supplies accordingly, create an inventory list, and label everything to indicate where every item goes.

Your office movers will handle everything for you, ensuring nothing gets damaged during relocation. This means you won’t have to worry about fragile items, from electronics to glass to artwork. For IT and Tech equipment, your moving company will organise and label cables, monitors and other devices per workstation to ensure a seamless setup. They may also recommend backing up all the critical data before disconnecting the systems. If you decide to do the packing in-house, at least research and consider sourcing all the necessary packing supplies, from boxes to bubble wraps to marker pens, etc.

Final preparations

As with any critical project, a final inspection is a must. Take time to walk through the old office a few days before the move to ensure all the office relocation tasks are complete and according to plan.

Your movers will probably have completed packing, so your job will be to reconfirm the moving schedule and ensure that all the steps are moving as per the contract and agreements. Confirm that the data backup process was done right, and use the office move checklist to ensure everything has been packed right and ready to move.

Moving day checklist

The moving day is D-Day, when all your months of planning come to fruition. This isn’t the time to go loose and throw away your checklist. Instead, you want to supervise the movers and ensure the logistics go on smoothly. You may assign the managers to oversee the loading as you manage the high-level tasks, such as ensuring the remote business operations are running as usual.

Once you are in the new office space, assign some managers to oversee the unloading and placement of items in the new location. Depending on your agreement with the movers, they may be the ones to assemble the furniture and set up all the IT devices. The last step is to finalise the logistics and use the moving checklist to ensure everything arrives safely.

Post-move checklist

A day or two after relocating to the new office, arrange to have a few IT personnel run critical software systems and ensure everything is up and running before launching the office and welcoming the rest of the team.

You also want to notify clients of operational readiness. Consider sending out an announcement informing all the clients that the new office is fully functional. Conduct a post-move survey where you gather employee feedback to identify areas for improvement for future relocations.

If you follow the above steps, you will avoid critical mistakes that would otherwise jeopardise the entire relocation process.

How far in advance should I start planning an office move?

Typically, you should start planning your office move 3-6 months earlier. It all depends on how demanding you expect the relocation process to be. For long-distance relocation involving lots of office supplies, it is best to start your planning as early as possible.

What should be the first step in preparing for an office move?

The first thing you should do is to establish a detailed moving plan and timeline. This involves selecting a new office space, setting key dates, identifying tasks, and communicating the plan to employees. Each of these steps must be done systematically to ensure success.

How can I ensure my office technology is moved safely?

To avoid data loss and other inconveniences, back up all the data before moving. Label all the inventory for easy reassembly and use bubble wrap and other anti-static packaging to prevent damage to sensitive electronics.

What should be included in an office moving checklist?

Key elements to include in your moving checklist include the office moving timeline and key milestones, budget allocation, and inventory of the furniture, equipment, and files. For easy coordination, the checklist may also include employee and team responsibilities, vendor coordination for utilities and other services, and a client and stakeholder communication plan.

How do I communicate an office move to clients and stakeholders?

Send formal announcements via email or SMS with new addresses and critical dates. Similarly, update contact information on the business’s social media, website, and business cards. As the move date approaches, provide reminders and assign a point of contact where they can share their questions or concerns.

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