Office changes are exhilarating at first. You see the result: everyone in your firm working and thriving in a brand-new, perfectly arranged workplace.
When you discover you have to find out how to prepare for an office transfer and organize everything in that gleaming new office, fear sets in.
Office relocations entail a dizzying array of natural and symbolic moving components. You must relocate everything, but you must also consider employee happiness, transitional workflows, restructuring, adjustment periods, and much more.
Analyze Employee Wants and Needs
The fact that employees are frequently kept in the dark about transfers contributes to their high level of anxiety. As change manager Angie Lee explains in her column, getting staff involved as early as possible will help you battle the unfavorable emotions and stress around the relocation.
The demands of the staff in the workplace, including “mobility, work style, workplace assistance, workplace needs, storage, and technology,” should be surveyed. Employees may have specific requirements regarding meeting spaces, privacy levels, noise levels, and closeness to other persons or departments.
To-do lists and notes on workplace transfer should be kept in one location.
Determine where and how to store all notes, paperwork, to-do lists, and other materials before the transfer begins. When you realize you have a timeline for the office move in Google Drive, a to-do list in Box, and a list of handwritten employee comments in…One of your notebooks, preferably not the one that seems to have disappeared from your work bag, centralizing information will save you from tearing out your hair later.
Sort important papers
Now arrange critical papers, such as insurance records, contracts, agreements, and other records, using the system you developed in step one. If you don’t already have contracts and agreements, make room for them now so you can keep track of them later.
Establish a master plan
The relocation manager must have a master plan that can be readily distributed to the rest of the personnel and corporate executives. This plan should simplify identifying who is accountable for what tasks, when they need to be finished, and other project updates. To make it even simpler for everyone to cooperate and remain updated, it could be helpful to utilize a project management platform your staff currently uses internally. You might begin by using a template like this or this, which goes into great depth on which activities are crucial.
Depending on the size of the business, the number of workers working there, and the style of office the company is relocating into, several types of logistics are required for office relocation.
Smaller businesses might move into a brand-new turnkey office rental, while large companies might develop an entire structure.
Announce for Moving
To inform staff of the significant change, prepare a thorough email, newsletter piece, town hall presentation, or quick video. Whatever format you decide on, the announcement needs to be detailed. All necessary information must be provided to workers in the communication. The more information you include in the message, the simpler it will be for you to comprehend all the stages of your workplace transfer.
Make sure to add any pertinent tasks to your main to-do list when you compose the announcement. You should put “creating and distributing checklist” as an action item in your schedule if, for instance, your statement guarantees staff that they will receive a comprehensive “office move checklist for workers” of to-dos before moving day.
The following details should be in your announcement:-
- Name and location of the new office
- Relocating date or dates
- Essential aspects of the new workplace
- Reasons for the action (Using a quotation from the CEO or another important decision-maker is a great approach to explain the shift and get people pumped for the change.)
- What, if anything, do staff need to do immediately now
- What future migrating information workers can anticipate
Talk to employees about shifting offices.
- After the announcement has had time to sink in, speak with staff to solicit feedback. Seek comments on parts of the transfer or new workplace that you can realistically manage and include in your plans, such as:
- Changing office requirements (Some workers might want to ask for standing desks, lighting, privacy screens, etc.)
- Requisite hardware (Replace broken keyboards, cracked screens, etc.)
- Changing seats (Some employees may need or want to change what teams and people they sit near.)
- Preferences for your work style, particularly if your new location will have both open and private floorplans.
- Design wish lists or suggestions
- Whatever prevents individuals from lifting large boxes and assisting with moving duties
Plan your several subsequent sends once you send the initial communication. If the complexity of your relocation requires it, you should usually send one message per month up until moving day. Ask the assistance of your company’s internal communications staff to make sure your messages are on point.
Set up your purchase procedure and budget.
Ask your company’s management for a budget (ideally on paper) and develop rules for finishing all moving-related purchases. Will a business card work for you? Will you be required to present invoices? Who will need to approve your vendor contracts or assets, if anyone?
You can visualize the movement process with the aid of this stage. You can allocate more time for all tasks requiring purchases, for instance, if a three-person team must approve all purchases and contracts.
