The process doesn’t have to be difficult whether your business is moving offices to make room for collaborative spaces and hybrid working arrangements, or even merely to find a site that better suits your needs. This manual will demonstrate how, with the right attitude and preparation, your office move may serve as the impetus for a corporate transformation.
Justifications for moving your offices
There are numerous causes for office moves. You might be growing to a new city, relocating to a better place, or finding a better location to house both in-office and remote staff.
Here are a few of the most common justifications for moving your workplace.
1. Moving can help you build your brand.
A company’s offices might reveal a lot about it. Office design, for instance, can express right away whether your company is modern and quirky or more traditional. Moving is a quick approach to alter how others view your brand because visitors may learn a lot about it from your offices.
Style, tone, and purpose of a company’s brand frequently evolve as it grows. You can swiftly refresh your style by moving offices in order to make it consistent with the message you want your firm to present.
Your choice of location, building, interior design, and style will have a big impact on how your brand is portrayed and how it strikes the proper tone.
2. Moving can spur the development of novel working practices.
In a stuffy, traditional company, new approaches like swarm intelligence, lean working, agile workplaces, and hybrid work may appear challenging to apply. However, the opportunities expand if you move. Before the interior design is finalized, you will have the opportunity to put new theories and methods into practice.
It will be simpler to designate sections for hot-desking, collaboration, small acoustic rooms, open workspaces, and employee lunchrooms. You’ll have a clean slate to work with and the opportunity to use your individual style.
Working in a new building can completely revitalize employees. Getting started at a new job offers a wonderful opportunity to introduce fresh and creative working methods.
3. Moving gives your business the possibility to expand.
The hiring process can be simplified by having more space, a prettier workplace, or a better location, which will improve your workforce. You might be in close proximity to enormous talent pools or have the room to grow your workforce.
A business that just relocated to nicer, brighter premises is also likely to come off as more impressive to clients and potential workers who can sense a cultural match right away. Moving shows success, tenacity, and vitality; you aren’t just sitting put and allowing the business to become regular.
4. Moving can assist you increase employee safety.
People become acutely conscious of confined workspaces that facilitate the spread of germs as a result of COVID-19. According to Circadian data, unscheduled absence costs businesses an average of $3,600 for hourly workers and $2,650 for salaried staff every year. Given that COVID is unlikely to entirely vanish, these numbers will likely rise.
Some companies might opt to switch to a more open workplace layout with partitions separating workstations. Other firms might desire to relocate to a structure with better ventilation. To communicate with workers who work from home, some organizations may need fully equipped video conferencing rooms, while others may use outdoor settings.
5. Moving can enable you to reduce your rent.
Even though the majority of businesses still use offices, there have been some downsizings. You might be able to reduce your rent because there is more office space available for lease and there is greater competition for renters. A large central headquarters may also be abandoned by some larger firms in favor of smaller satellite offices for functional groupings.
Depending on the commercial real estate market in your region, if your business is reaching the end of its existing lease, you might be able to benefit from reduced rentals for equivalent premises somewhere else.
How to organize a move
A successful move depends on staying organized and hiring the proper aid. For the finest results, heed these moving advices:
- Prepare in advance for your move. It is best to begin arranging your office move as soon as possible. You won’t feel pressured into making rash judgments if you give yourself enough time to plan the transfer or manage a third party. If you choose to handle the move yourself, be sure to plan a budget, give yourself a deadline, and have a clear idea of what you want from your new home.
- When moving, take into account outside assistance. It may be simpler to choose outside assistance. Office relocation companies can assist you in finding your new premises, relocating your personnel, managing office interior design, and handling unforeseen problems. Utilizing a third party ensures that you are looked after from beginning to end: The choices you make will be yours, but someone else will be in charge of the arduous effort required to get there.
- Find trustworthy help. Do a thorough comparison of your possibilities before choosing an office relocation specialist. Find out which businesses are affiliated with or in the same industry as yours. Request case studies, recommendations, and testimonials. Your move will go more smoothly if the moving company has greater experience.
How to successfully move offices
Three essential components are required for a successful office move: personnel, funds, and conventional moving activities.
Managing the individuals involved in your transfer
Discussing office moves with your workers can be difficult, especially if significant changes are on the horizon. Even good changes can be stressful because they generate disturbance, unpredictability, and unfamiliarity.
The new commute, parking, the new office, and lunch options might worry employees. Employees may worry about their family adjusting to a new area if relocation is involved.
Some companies discover that it is simpler to partner with outside firms to support their staff counseling before, during, and after the shift. You can feel secure knowing that these businesses have the knowledge and experience necessary to help your staff effectively.
Here are some things to do to be thoughtful to the people involved with your office transfer, whether or not you’re utilizing a third-party relocation service:
- Let your landlord know. Know the conditions of your current lease and what providing notice entails.
- Inform your personnel well in advance. Make sure your team is informed of the change in advance.
- Give your group a voice. Ask for opinions and unofficial feedback on the relocation. Employees will support you more if they feel included. Request their advice on location, style, and layout.
- Be a proactive listener to employee issues. When an employee has a query or concern about the new workplace, try to be proactive in responding with advice and information. Give them maps of the parking, commuter routes, public transport stations, and eateries that are close by, for instance. Include details on community centers, neighborhoods, and schools, especially if it’s a new community.
- Provide assistance. Provide your staff all the tools they need to move with ease, both logistically and emotionally.
- Make a moving strategy. Your plan should specify which staff are in charge of particular duties, including acquiring cubicle components and setting up the new office phone system.
- Inform staff members about packing. Inform your staff if they will be packing their own desks, and demonstrate to them how you would like the equipment and boxes to be labeled.
- Make a list of the access components. Make a list of all the personnel who still possess key fobs, parking passes, and access cards for your prior location. Get access cards, parking passes, and keys for the new location and hand them out as necessary. Any biometric access control and visitor management systems that will be put in place at the new location should be made known to the staff.
- Inform others about the change. Inform your suppliers, customers, affiliates, and strategic partners of the change. Create a notification of a change of address, and update the company’s address on its website, social media accounts, bank accounts, and printed and electronic stationery. Additionally, you’ll need to update your company’s address on Yelp and Google.
- Be tolerant. If workers are tardy or require time to adjust, give them some leeway right after the transfer.
- Prior to moving, establish a budget. You may prevent unforeseen expenses and make decisions that will save you money by setting up a moving budget.
- Put an end to the current services. Services at the old office like janitorial, gardening, security, and pest control should be discontinued or changed.
- Reconsider your current suppliers. Review your present suppliers, then request estimates from substitute businesses that may now be nearby. A quick assessment and review could produce considerable yearly savings. For instance, investigate if you can locate more affordable solutions by researching the top water delivery providers in your new location.
- Review the available tools and technology. Decide if you should relocate your current technology and equipment after taking everything into account. Moving an office is a great justification for switching to newer, more effective solutions.
- Change your insurance coverage. Take steps to transfer your business insurance to your new location. Get a new policy if this isn’t doable.
- End the previous lease. Make that the previous lease was ended in writing.
How to manage customary moving activities during a move
- Look into shifting businesses. Decide whether you want to pack everything yourself or have a moving company handle it for you after doing some research on them.
- Consult a designer. To plan any landscaping, décor, or internal workstation arrangements, use an interior designer. So that they can create a floor plan, have the designer get in touch with the new office management to ask about the locations of Ethernet connections, phone connections, and electrical outlets.
- Purchase new furnishings. Make your selection and place your order for any new furniture, accessories, or equipment.
- How to manage customary moving activities during a move
- Look into shifting businesses. Decide whether you want to pack everything yourself or have a moving company handle it for you after doing some research on them.
- Consult a designer. To plan any landscaping, décor, or internal workstation arrangements, use an interior designer. So that they can create a floor plan, have the designer get in touch with the new office management to ask about the locations of Ethernet connections, phone connections, and electrical outlets.
- Purchase new furnishings. Make your selection and place your order for any new furniture, accessories, or equipment.
- Count things up. Before relocating, make an inventory of all the furniture, equipment, and office supplies, tag them with tags, and take pictures of everything in case anything is lost or gets damaged and you need to make a claim.
- Obtain moving equipment. assemble your relocation goods, including boxes, bubble wrap, packing tape, and labels.
- Pack. Put everything in its place or let the moving company do it for you.
- Set up shop in your new spot. When positioning objects in the new location, putting the dividers in place, and naming each space, refer to the floor plan. Set up the furniture and the tools, and make sure everything is tested.
- Install signage. If necessary, replace the signage in your offices and on your structure.
How to make a move more affordable
Even if moving your workplace can be costly, there are ways to cut costs:
- Plan and get ready. To make the best decisions and benefit from early savings, plan and get ready in advance.
- Examine your foreseeable demands. Consider both your immediate and long-term needs for workplace space. Consider purchasing more space than you now need if your business is expanding quickly to prevent moving again soon.
- Investigate and contrast relocating businesses. To compare like with like, look into moving company reviews and make sure that each quote includes all you require.
- Think about making a move in the off-season. Move when prices are cheaper (in the winter or the fall).
- Get rid of anything extra. Before moving, dispose of any obsolete, broken, or unnecessary furniture and equipment. Run promotions to profit from overstock and shred superfluous paperwork to simplify your moving tasks. If you have a ton of paperwork, think about using paper-shredding services.
- Compare prices and bargain. Whether from the moving company, interior designer, or management firm, don’t just pay the first amount they estimate you. Almost everything is a bargain.
- Team up when you pack. Instead of hiring a moving company to pack your documents and supplies, ask your staff to help and turn the task into a celebration to get them motivated.
- Avoid buying new furniture. Purchase used office supplies, or look around for the greatest prices.
New office, new beginning
- Although changing the location of your workplace won’t be simple, it doesn’t have to be a difficult or time-consuming operation. Moving offers you the chance to improve your company, inspire your employees, and make financial savings. Additionally, you’ll have a chance to review your key principles and assess the level of cooperation and communication among your employees.
- Additionally, you might discover that altering the environment of your team gives everyone a huge morale boost, motivating them to take initiative, work harder, and feel good about the business.
- The process of moving involves a significant amount of workplace shifting, but when it’s done right, the whole thing goes lot more smoothly.
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