Moving offices can be a time-consuming and daunting process, and being able to get it done in the most efficient way, with the least amount of disruption to your business, is the most important objective for most businesses.
So, if you’re about to move office or are thinking about moving offices, then take a look at this simple guide we’ve put together, which should help make the move an enjoyable one…or at least very much less stressful!
Our 3 Most Important Office Relocation Tips
1. Be Clear On The Reasons
If you’re contemplating making a move, why is that exactly? Expiry of the lease? Reduce costs? Better location? Most likely, you’ll have clear answers to these questions. However, considering the cost – both in terms of time and money – that an office relocation can have, it’s important to be absolutely sure that moving office makes complete business sense.
Just as importantly; think long and hard about your long-term business and strategic goals, and how a new location may (or may not) fit into that. For example, if you’re an online business selling clothing with your warehouse in a remote part of the country, then the location of your office is unlikely to have any real impact on your business. However, if having a brick-and-mortar presence is something you’ve been thinking about, then having your office close to your planned shop (if they’re not going to be the same) may make logistical sense.
Another consideration to take into account is how your business growth will have an impact on the choice and availability of office spaces. If you’re planning to find your own leased office space then this usually isn’t an issue. However, for those of you looking for a serviced office centre, consider using one which has branches in at least a few locations around the country. Why? Choosing the same company to rent office space for subsequent branches may help you get the highest level of Return on Investment.
2. Plan Well Ahead
Once the business case for a relocation has been made, the next step is to plan the move well in advance and in as much detail as possible.
An office move has a lot of ‘moving parts’ and unlike moving home, any unnecessary delays or disruptions can ultimately increase the real cost of the move significantly.
Here are some questions you may wish to consider during this stage:
- Cost – what’s our budget? How much is the move going to cost? What would be the opportunity cost of the move?
- Strategic – how does the new (location/office space/address) fit in with our business plans over the next (1/5/10) years?
- Timeline – when are we going to make the move? How many days should we allow for it?
- Location – where are we going to move to? Proximity to local amenities (rail station, underground, shops, gym and so on)
- Facilities – parking, office centre facilities
When thinking about the above, it’s important to be realistic and err on the side of caution. It’s much better to be generous with your guestimates rather than ultimately finding the move to have caused a much bigger impact, financial or otherwise. Of course, the numbers we’ve suggested above are just typical representations and you should replace them with what makes most sense for your business.
3. Minimal Disruption, Maximum Efficiency
Moving offices is a major undertaking for most businesses, regardless of size and expertise (unless they’re a professional office relocation company!). If you’re a small and growing business, chances are that it will be your first time moving office, in which case it can be a daunting process, just like many other new experiences. If you’re an established company or perhaps a branch of a multi-national firm, you’ve most likely got a lot of office equipment, computer hardware, supplies and paperwork that needs to be moved.
In either case, effective management is the key to making sure it can all be done with the minimal amount of downtime and disruption – and that’s where good teamwork can prove to be invaluable.
Think of this as another important project at work which will require the skills of an effective team-leader, co-operation from team members, and helpful tools at everyone’s disposal for the successful completion of the task at-hand.
Since the purpose of this article is to help you with your office move, we won’t go into too much detail with regards to building an efficient team, but here are tips you may wish to bear in mind:
- Having a project manager can help. Ideally, this role should go to the person with the best communication and analytical skills, plus they should be able to delegate well
- List all the action items required for successful completion of tasks – collection, storage, packaging, relocation and so on, with action items grouped and assigned to teams or individuals
- Timelines assigned to each group of action items and/or tasks can help you keep track of the project and its performance. Regular checks on these can help avoid delays.
Conclusion
We hope you find this short guide useful and if you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. As we said before, think of this as another important client project and by applying the same processes and skills, you can be enjoying that cuppa in the comfort of your new office space in no time.
At Rombourne, we’re not just in the business of providing office space. We like to go that extra mile to help make our clients’ work days as comfortable as possible. If you’re thinking of relocation office, we’d be delighted to have a chat and offer you free, impartial advice and help.
