5 Important Steps to Remember When Planning on Relocating Your Business

Unless your a project manager who loves a challenge, no one enjoys the process of corporate relocation. Just like residential moving, it can go wrong in so many ways from getting the pick-up, and delivery addresses wrong to breakages.

In fact, it’s even more challenging than your typical house move because you’re moving with your staff and also have to think about the disruption to their workspace set up and the downtime may also impact on your sales and customer service too.

It’s therefore critical that you get an office relocation off to great start. In our article is a straightforward five-step process for your office move project manager, which could be you.

Step 1: Have A Plan

No one plans to fail, they fail to plan. Every move has the potential to be a logistical nightmare. Therefore, you will need a plan that includes the what, why, where, how and when for each activity undertaken. For example:

• What needs to be done leading up to the move: A few points here may include finding a new office, renovating the new office, and finding a moving company.
• Who will be in charge: You need one office move coordinator to oversee every aspect of the move. Select someone with excellent organizational skills.
• • Who will be in the office moving team: Once you’ve appointed a coordinator, proceed to select a team responsible for executing the move.

For every decision, you make use of the four Ws and H to confirm your decision is the correct one. For example, for choosing the relocation project manager here are some sample questions:

• Why is the person a good choice?
• What will they bring with them that gives you confidence they can manage the project?
• Where will they be located during the project?
• When do you need them on the job?
• How are they going to communicate during the project?

Every decision is made with confidence when you’ve used the four Ws and H to determine the best outcome.

Step 2: Set A Timeline

Your relocation is a project, therefore use a project management methodology to drive the process. For example, you’ll need a list of task and timelines, and one of them will be knowing when the current lease expires so you can plan around that date. Once you see the lease expiry date, you can pick a moving date and start ironing out details of the move.

A moving timeline enumerates individual tasks that will be worked on between the current time and moving day. Ensure that the schedule takes into account de-cluttering and purging as well as the time you need to set up the new office.

Step 3: Set A Budget

There will be cost, and your budget will need to include relevant costings for staff, the services, i.e. the moving company, and whether you plan on upgrading some of your equipment and furniture.

While you’re at it, see if you’ll need moving insurance in case a few items get lost or damaged. When picking a moving company, it’s always a good idea to use full-service movers because such companies will streamline the moving process by taking care of everything from packing up and collection to unpacking at the destination.

Step 4: Plan The New Office

Two things are crucial here. First, you need to create a floor plan, showing the locations of furniture, communal spaces, workspaces, various equipment, and so on. Also, take this time to identify and address issues with the current workspaces such as small walkways and congestion. Secondly, planning allows you to create an inventory of existing equipment and furniture and decide what items you’ll carry to the new office and what needs replacement.

Step 5: Notify All Stakeholders

Begin with your service providers, including; the post office, relevant government departments, telephone and data providers, utility providers, and printing companies. Let them know that you’re moving and inform them of your new address. Then, notify the clients too. Send a letter or postcard to each in advance, distribute flyers and postcards if possible, mention it on social media, send emails, and add a notification to your site such as a banner, stating that you’re moving to location X.

It’s often a little more complicated than we’ve made it look, but if you follow this short guide, rest assured of a smooth move.