Among the various reasons that offices consider relocating to a new building, one is an expansion of the business. The improvement of the work environment and modernizing it is a great way to boost employee well-being, morale, brand image, and business productivity. Although such a decision is unarguably exciting, a commercial office relocation is an extremely challenging and comprehensive project. According to Safe Ship Moving Services, undergoing the complex commercial moving process needs thorough planning and effective execution of the task ensuring a smooth transition with minimum disruption of the business operation.
Creating an Office Move Plan: A Step-by-Step Guide
Before relocating to a new office, the management needs to formulate a well-organized business relocation plan. Following a step-by-step office moving plan is the best approach for businesses to initiate the relocation process without hampering the business operation. Here’s a detailed guide.
Step 1. Locate a New Office Space
To initiate, the management needs to create a broad plan considering the things they wish to integrate into the new office space as well as the location of it. Maybe the company like to add a fitness center in the new office to boost the physical and mental well-being of employees which translates into increased productivity. Or planning to shift into a business hub to uplift its brand image. Getting feedback from employees is a great way to make them feel valued and be a part of the family.
Step 2. Determine the Budget and Moving Timeline
Establishing a budget for relocation expenses beforehand helps avoid overspending on moving expenditures. The budget should estimate all costs associated with the moving process including moving expenses, expenses for replacing the obsolete office equipment with updated ones, construing IT infrastructure, and all other potential fees for permits, legal expenses, etc.
Since the moving process is likely to continue for a period, based on the size of the business, the complexity of moving, and its proposed plan, decide a timeline while continuing of job from existing premises and moving office furniture, setting up IT infrastructure can continue simultaneously.
Step 3. Hire an Office Moving Company
With specialized knowledge in commercial relocation, moving companies like Safe Ship Moving Services are geared up to provide solutions for any sort of potential issues related to office relocation. Once the moving companies are shortlisted, make sure to discuss their commercial moving packages and get quotes to compare and a competitive rate without compromising the quality of moving. while choosing one, check the license, consider years in the domain, insurance coverage, and ensure whether the dates of moving are suitable for them
Step 4. Prepare a To-Do List
When it comes to commercial moving, the process involves loads of tasks to perform. Make sure to list down the jobs in a sequential order to track them by the team and execute them on time. For example, notifying about the lease termination to the owner of the current property, informing customers, vendors, etc. about the proposed office relocation, hiring interior and furnishing companies, designing the office floor layout, and so on.
Step 5. Consider IT Relocation
Careful planning for effective relocation of IT infrastructure including networking system, and installation of equipment is vital to avoid the risk of unsettling business operations. Also, it is vital to get data backup, ensure IT security, and post-moving test process.
Step 6: Prepare A Record of Office Equipment
Preparing an inventory of existing office furniture and equipment will be helpful in figuring out items that should be moved to new premises. The remaining fixtures that are broken or outdated should be disposed of through recycling stores to generate additional revenue and also avoid carrying waste.
Step 7. Moving to New Office
Before reaching this stage, the management should finalize the moving company and they should be officially informed about the schedule of packing, loading, transportation, and unpacking all office belongings. The team who are allocated responsibilities to take care moving process should supervise the jobs carried out by the crew of the moving company.
Working with recognized commercial relocating companies like Safe Ship Moving Services makes sense since they provide a full range of moving services ranging from dismantling workstations, packing, loading, unpacking as well as re-assembling furniture as mentioned in the work order. Everything that the office team is coordinating with the moving company throughout the process to ensure a smooth transition to get started at the new premises.
