The most effective corporate office space moving strategy depends heavily on time efficiency. Even when the corporate office is shifting, there is still a business that has to be run. Planning the moving process in a time efficient manner ensures that not too many hours will be sacrificed to maintain the proper flow of operations for the business to continue making money. Naturally, you’re going to want to strike the right balance between dedicating energy to moving and sustaining the business as effectively as possible in the meantime.
The Following 9 Tips Are All Crucial Aspects Of Making The Moving Process For A Corporate Office Space Go As Smoothly As Possible.
1. Allow for Ample Pre-Move Preparation Time
To maximize the chance of everybody understanding all of the ins and outs of the corporate moving process, you will want to allow for at least 90 days of planning in advance. Three months of planning is ample time to get everybody prepared without the moving day being so far away that it’s taken for granted. Within 30 days, all of the questions that employees have regarding the moving process should be answered and accounted for effectively. Also, make sure to explore your expansion options with your landlord/property manager if you haven’t already.
2. Invest in a Reputable Moving Company
No matter what your company is or what office space you are moving to, you’re going to want to make sure that you have the help of the most reputable moving company that you can find. The planning phase should give you ample time to do your due diligence on the best moving company in your area with the tasks that you entrust to them on moving day. As a rule of thumb, it would be best to invest in the help of a moving company that has experience with moving projects to and from a large office space that resemble your own.
3. Develop a Detailed Floor Plan
One of the most important aspects of any large office space moving process will be the quality of your floor plan. The floor plan should be a detailed blueprint describing exactly where any and everything physically transported in the process will be located in the new office space. The floor plan should both take into account the size of objects being transferred and the best ways to navigate the new office space.
In addition to making sure that the floor plan is properly detailed, you will also want to ensure that everybody gets a copy of it. The more people that have a copy of the floor plan, the less confusion that there will be about exactly how the new corporate spaces laid out after it has been moved to. To cover all bases, it’s a good idea to ensure that the floor plan is posted publicly as well.
4. Get Everybody Onboard in Advance
The best way to prioritize time efficiency in the moving process is to make sure that everybody is on the same page as early as possible. Ensure that every single employee is aware of the exact game plan for moving into the new corporate space. Even if certain elements seem to be relatively minor, like plants or small pieces of furniture, include them in the floor plan anyway. The fewer loose ends that there are in the final floor plan, the better of a chance that everybody will have to understand exactly how things should go on moving day.
5. Develop an Office Moving Guide
One of the best ways that you can ensure that every employee understands the moving process following is to develop an organized Office Moving Guide. The moving guide, much like the floor plan, should be distributed as widely as possible in advance. The more organized and that the moving guide is, the more quickly that everybody will be able to get right to work after the move is completed.
Just as the floor plan should both be posted publicly and individually distributed to all personnel, make sure to deliver a copy of the Office Moving Guide to everybody who needs it in advance. The Office Moving Guide should instruct employees in everything from the right places to locate certain office amenities to the unpacking process.
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6. Item Packing Best Practices
Beyond making sure that all the logistics of the moving plan are in place, you are also going to want to take account of how to physically pack the items being transported. To be safe, any objects that are usually held in wall units, desks or cabinets should be securely stored in boxes. Because some objects will naturally be more fragile than others, fragile personal possessions should be protected with either newspaper or any other form of stuffing that can reduce the risk of breaking.
Because the movers can’t be held responsible for any damage to your corporate office space or personal possessions, any personal items that are too valuable to risk breaking during the moving process should be moved privately. Make sure that all employees who have highly valuable personal object that they aren’t comfortable with having moved professionally understand the importance of doing so privately. In certain cases, a moving company might be able to arrange for special containers to transport the more personal possessions such as plants, pictures, fountain pens and lighters.
When it comes to items like working papers and letter trays, it’s important to make sure that they are securely locked before the moving process begins. Just as the moving consultant can arrange for special containers to transport fragile personal items, the moving company can also arrange for security files to be consolidated by escorts in advance as well.
In the same way that items should be labeled to let movers know where to put them, items that are meant to be moved should be labeled appropriately as well. If there are any pieces of furniture or equipment that should be discarded instead of moved to the new office space, make sure to mark them with a Do Not Move label. Ensuring that movers don’t mistakenly transport any items that were supposed to be discarded is a very important aspect of cutting down on the overall expenses of the moving process.
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7. Use Color Labels
In addition to making sure that everybody is aware of how the moving day should progress in advance, color labels can make the process easier as well. The more immediately that any object can be identified as belonging to a certain area on-site, the less confusion that there will be on the day that said objects have to be moved. If movers can immediately determine where everything should go just by looking at the labels, the chance of any accidents or hold-ups slowing down progress can be minimized.
8. Eliminate Unwanted Objects in Advance
One of the best ways to make the moving process smoother is to get rid of any unnecessary objects prior to moving day. Any outdated equipment or files should be purged before the packing process. The less unnecessary items cluttering up space during the packing and moving phases, the more quickly everything can move along.
9. Technician Pre-Arrangement with Property Manager
In addition to making sure that the moving company is prepared, it’s also a good idea to make sure that the landlord or property manager of the building you’re moving to has the proper assortment of maintenance technicians available as well. Boxer Property locations have on-site staff available to ensure that maintenance requests are swiftly responded to. Any electricians, plumbers or other tradesmen necessary for the new office space to become operational should be on-site when you need them.
See Also: Why You Need to Consider Your Employees When Choosing a New Office Space Location
