Office Removals – How To Complete It Successfully
Few companies may not need to move offices at all during their time in business, however many will happily embrace the challenges of relocating offices for many foreseeable reasons such as the end of lease on the premises, downsizing to save on cost or even upsizing due to the expanding growth of the company.
Taking on these challenges may at first seem like a tremendous task at hand but seeing it through will reward the company in more ways than one such as projecting a more professional image, promoting a more comfortable working environment for employees allowing the company to generate a new milestone by creating a new working culture and boosting office moral which may all lead to employees giving back to the company in what they know best and that is working harder leading to increasing employee productivity, efficiency and turning over higher profits for the business.
However, if an office move has not been well planned out, managed and executed well right from the start, rather than rewarding the company, it could cause a reverse effect that could disrupt the day to day business activities, increasing stress and disgruntled employees which ends up affecting productivity and eventually could grind the company to a complete halt and that, would be bad for business.
All offices moves are different in sizes and there is no rule to say that you can’t do it yourself or just leave it up to professional Office Removalists. Depending on the size of your company whether that be a small, medium or a large enterprise.
If you have a small company, you may want to choose to appoint some staff members as the dedicated relocation team and a moving manager to oversee the entire moving project, delegate jobs to the relocation team and liaise with third party suppliers and providers but most importantly to adhere to the strict deadlines of the office move.
On the other hand, if you have a medium or large enterprise, you may want to outsource the co-ordination of the office relocation to an expert project manager who will take accountability of the office move from the start and see it through right to the end and even the following days after the move. There are benefits of using these experts as this takes the pressure off existing employees who may for one be inexperienced in such a project and two, may find it hard to juggle their job at hand as well as co-ordinate the office move, all the while aiming to keep productivity at a consistent level. Therefore, using an expert project manager under these circumstances may prove more beneficial.
At 6 months, prior to the date of your office move.
Appoint an Office Moving Manager
You will only want to appoint one senior staff member to be the Office Move Manager. Now, be sure that your staff know who these people are so that they know exactly who to turn to if they need to ask a question at hand.
Identify what can be sold, donated or put in the rubbish
Be sure to identify any items that can be sold, disposed of or even donated. Put useful notes like what the item will be intended for.
Opportunity for new Equipment
An office mover is the perfect time for a business to take the opportunity to de-clutter and possibly look at upgrading equipment.
At 4 months to go until the move date.
Time to de-clutter
With the office move date getting closer, make sure you get your staff to help out with their own department de-clutters.
Confirm the number of employees to relocate.
Get the Office Moving Manager to confirm the number of employees to relocate; the best way to do this is to cross-reference it with a list on the payroll for each department.
At 2 months before move date.
Get quotes for the office removal.
Get at least 3 Office Removal companies to come in and give you a quote. A simple search on Google for the term “office removalist” will give you a range of good companies. We also recommend taking a look in the removalists section of findamover.com.au
Ensure essential services are up and running at the new premises
With planning of the office move well and truly underway, this is the perfect time for the Office Moving Manager to liaise with any other suppliers to get the essential services up and running in the new premises by day one.
1 Month until move date
Finalise your transit insurance
Most office removal companies will have the insurance level to cover your contents while under their care, if not be sure opt for insurance.
Parking Permits are booked with council
Ensure that any required parking permits are arranged and booked with the council.
One week until move date
Label furniture items and prepare destination labels
All furniture items will have to be labeled as per the delivery floor plan and the last boxes and crates packed on the day. A smart idea would be to put delivery destination labels around the new premise so the removals company can identify them quickly and know where to drop off.
Tie up any loose ends with the Office Removal company
At this stage any loose ends will have to be finalised and any issues with removal companies should be resolved.
On the day of the office move
Arrangements with Staff
Inform staff of expectations of the day and what needs to happen once they have finished packing. Will they take the rest of the day off or wait at the new premises? Also remind them that any sensitive documents need to be destroyed properly.
Final walk through with Office Removal Company Supervisor
The moving manager will also need to meet with moving company assigned supervisor for a walk through of the old and new premise to discuss and clarify everything that needs to be moved to the new building and locations and also to discuss any existing damages to the buildings prior to move and take photos if necessary. This is to avoid any disputes in building damages later on.
Best of Luck with the Office Move. We hope to have been some help.
Other Useful Websites:
www.kss.com.au for storage needs
www.hireabox.com.au for box hire and sales