What To Know Before Moving to a New Office Building

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Deciding to uproot your office and staff is a huge decision. Whether you’re trying to save money, downsize, or relocate closer to your clients, moving comes with many benefits and challenges. To make the move successful, you need to understand what to know before moving to a new office building. Use these tips and tricks to get started.

Hire Movers

As soon as you know you’re relocating your office, start looking for a local moving company. Movers can make your transition easier and help pack your items quickly. Further, local movers may charge lower rates than national companies. You may only have a weekend to move desks, chairs, printers, and other office equipment, and a moving company can help you do it quickly. Check reviews to ensure you work with a reliable business.

Inform Employees Early

Don’t leave your employees in the dark if you’re looking at new places for your office. Even if you don’t decide to move, you should inform them about the possibility. It’s better to forgo making a change rather than springing one on your employees at the last minute.

Assigns Tasks to Staff

Your staff is your best asset when it comes to relocating your office. First, appoint a moving manager to take charge of organization. In most cases, this will be your office manager or an administrative assistant. The job of a moving manager includes:

• Creating a budget
• Coordinating movers
• Sending communications to staff
• Delegating roles
• Following up on each step

In addition to a specific role for one staff member, all employees can help by moving some items from their desks. Ask employees to clear their personal spaces and carefully take their things to the new office. Provide boxes and packaging to prevent accidental damage.

Work With I.T.

One of the most important parts of relocating to a new building is moving your internet servers and plan. Coordinate with your I.T. department or contractor to ensure everything transfers properly. Work with trusted individuals to keep your data safe.

Get Familiar With Your New Space

Before you move into your new building, find out the rules and regulations you and your team will need to abide by. For instance, you might not be able to use the service elevator anytime you please. Review your lease, and make a list of guidelines.

As you move into your space, consider what might frustrate your staff. Are you noticing signs that your building has poor wireless coverage? If so, you may need to install a distributed antenna system (DAS) or improve your Wi-Fi network. Another problem that could frustrate employees is small bathrooms. For this, try to find additional restrooms throughout the building that your staff can use.

Pro Tip: If the elevators are slow, encourage your staff to take the stairs. Offer an incentives program to encourage your staff to be more active around the new office.

Preparing your staff and ensuring they can do their jobs at the new location are the most important things to know before moving to a new office building. Inspect the space before you sign a lease to make sure it will suit your staff’s needs. You will reap the most benefits when your employees are happy and productive.