Relocating to a new office can be just as stressful as moving to a new house. You have large furniture, complex electronics, and many rooms to pack. What’s more, you likely don’t have enough time to do it all as your work can’t suffer until you organize your new office space.
Whether moving to a different state or a different floor, an office move takes time and effort, whether your business is big or small. Once the date is set and you’re on your way to work days in your new office, it’s time to settle into your new space, and here are our tips on how to do that.
1. Hire the Best Moving Company
Hiring an excellent moving company will help ensure you settle into your new space smoothly, as they can handle everything from packing and loading to unloading and unpacking.
Moreover, moving companies have the knowledge, skills, and resources required to facilitate the moving process. They can also identify your business needs and make a proper moving plan. Check this office moving service if you want a company that is insured, certified, and well-established.
2. Plan Your Office Space
Planning your office space can help ensure everything runs smoothly once you start working again. Walk through your new office to check whether there are obstacles you’ll need to detour around frequently. Also, make sure each team member can work comfortably at their designated workplace.
By ensuring everything in your new office is set for maximum efficiency, you can start fresh once the first day at your new office arrives.
3. Encourage Your Employees to Pack Their Desks
The moving company will likely handle the packing and transporting of large office items. However, your employees will need to pack and move their belongings, and you’re the one who should encourage them to do that. Once you give them notice about the move, ask them to pack and move their things a little each day, as you’ll want to avoid packing at the last moment.
4. Keep It Clean
Start and continue fresh by keeping your office neat and clean. You can do this by encouraging your employees to clear their desks and get rid of everything they don’t use or need. People tend to be more focused in clear spaces, so keep it that way to boost productivity.
5. Make Sure Everything Fits
You need to make sure the dimensions of your equipment and appliances work with your new office setup. And this means you may need to get rid of the things that don’t fit before the final move. By doing this, you can avoid moving things you’ll toss out later.
6. Schedule Your Customer Appointments and Deadlines
It’s a good idea to give yourself and your employees a few days off, during which there’ll be no customer appointments or deadlines, so you can focus on the move. Otherwise, you’ll have a hard time looking for a clean space on the desk you’re unpacking.
7. Meet Your Neighbors
New neighbors can mean new opportunities for your company. So, make a welcome party in your new office and get to know the other building tenants better. That said, the party doesn’t have to be big – a little goes a long way in enhancing relationships with the people you share your working day with.
8. Make Your New Office Feel Like Home
Since your employees will spend a lot of time in the new office, you should make it feel like home. You can do this by adding new office decor, like art and plants, to brighten and liven the space.
Note that some employees may have a hard time adjusting to the new place if everything is new. To adapt more quickly, try to make your new office look like the old one. That’s not to say you need to make it look exactly the same, but try to add several familiar items to help you and your staff adjust to the new office space more quickly.
9. Update Your Address
Start updating all the documents with your new address as early as possible to ensure they are ready to use once you move in. This means updating our business cards, letterheads, envelopes, return labels, and everything else that displays your new office address. Moreover, contact your clients and distributors and let them know about the address change too.
10. Remember Your Business License
If you already have your business license, just make sure to notify the issuer of your new office address. Otherwise, you’ll need to make one. Most companies require a local business license as federal ones typically deal with activities regulated by one of their agencies, such as fishing, mining, broadcasting, and agricultural operations.
That said, local business licenses are supplied by your state or city and defined by local laws. And to get one, you typically need a commercial address that is a licensed business.
11. Ask Your Employees for Feedback
Once your employees are settled in the new office, keep them involved throughout the moving process by asking them for feedback as having motivated workers will boost business efficiency and profitability. What’s more, they may even have some good ideas on how to use your new space.
12. Label Your Boxes
No business owner wishes to lose expensive equipment, so it’s vital to label the boxes you’ll be moving correctly. You can do this by labeling each box with its location in the new office space and a number. You may also want to make a detailed spreadsheet with boxes’ numbers and items inside of them. While this may seem complicated, it will help prevent losing essential items.
13. Move Non-Essentials First
The moving process will be much easier if you move stuff like basic office supplies and plants yourself before the moving day. This way, you can have peace of mind when moving more important items.
14. Declutter Your Workplace
One of the best ways to downsize your office is to declutter. Once you start moving, you’ll notice equipment that doesn’t work anymore and equipment that needs to be upgraded. Some of the things you may no longer need include paperwork, furniture, electronics, and office supplies, which you can donate or sell during a charity event or a clearance sale.
15. Make Sure the Utilities Are Functioning Properly
Electricity and internet connectivity are critical for daily operations at your office. That’s why you need to ensure everything is functioning properly before you move in. This way, you and your employees will be able to settle into your new office with no additional stress.
16. Secure Your Information
It can be difficult to predict what will happen to your devices and data during relocation. For instance, you may lose vital documents because of malfunctioning hard disks and servers, so it’s essential to back up and preserve your data when moving. That said, it may be a good idea to use a visitor management system to keep track of employees’ and visitors’ personal information. You can also move your data to the cloud. This way, it will be easy to transfer them.
17. Make Your New Office Eco-Friendly
Now, many modern companies are considering the ecological impact of the relocation process. If you want to have an eco-friendly office, consider its environmental implications, such as the use of energy and water, the quality of equipment, and energy efficiency. Some of the benefits of working in an eco-friendly office are boosted productivity, lower costs, and an enhanced work environment.
18. Celebrate Your Office Relocation
An office move puts a lot of stress on everyone, and one of the best ways to reduce it is by throwing a party to celebrate the move. This way, you can also thank everyone for their contribution.
Keep Working More Efficiently
While office relocation takes a lot of work both from you and your employees, it’s a wonderful way to start fresh and increase your efficiency. However, this won’t be easy if you haven’t settled into your new office space.
After reading our article, you likely have a good idea about how to make sure everyone has settled into the new office and everything runs smoothly. After all, fresh space and good management lead to increased productivity, happier employees, and increased profits.
