When relocating the office, you must keep the interests of the employees and clients in mind while ensuring that the transition is smooth so that there is minimal or no business disruption.

Office relocation is a major project and consists of several processes that might look daunting but not so if you can identify the tasks to do and the checks to perform. Planning holds the key to smooth moving. You must envisage the activities of moving office, create an action plan and ensure smooth implementation.

To make the office move smooth by executing the project on time and within budget, you can hire a professional removal service such as Delco Removals. And you must pay attention to every detail of the processes so that everything works as planned.

What are the things to consider that makes office location a hassle-free affair will become clear on going through this article.

Choosing a new location

The reason for moving office must be clear in your mind when selecting a new location because you must get what you want.

Consider the requirements of your new office right from the available space to amenities and other conveniences that should match with your expectations. In addition, property cost is also a factor.

Be aware of the advantages of moving to the new location and how good it will be for the business. The location should be business friendly and easily accessible by all stakeholders, employees and clients.

It should be a spacious office to ensure smooth operations that will help the company to grow.  Discuss with the stakeholders about the new location before you take a final call.

Planning for the move

Start planning at least 3 months from the proposed date of moving about office furniture and equipment you need at the new place. Depending on the way you want to set up the new office you might require some new furniture or might think of replacing the existing set with entirely new ones.

The first step in planning for the move is to consider the floor plan of the new office space to understand how well you can do the office set up with the existing furniture. Make a list of new furniture and some additional office equipment, if required. Order those well ahead of time so that everything is available on the desired date.

Involve employees in the move

The office staff is your extended family whom you are taking along when relocating the office. Take them into confidence and involve them in the process by assigning specific roles to carry out tasks that help to make a move smoothly.

At least 6 months before the moving date, identify a leader of the group and select team members who will be working on the project. Share the budget for the project and the plan for moving with them so that you can assign roles that every member must assume for smooth execution of the project.

Take stock of the items to carry

Office inventory is usually huge as it consists of a variety of items including office supplies and consumables required for smooth operations. Over time, unused and unwanted items creep into the inventory. This is the time to get rid of it.

After all, you want to make the best use of the available space in the new location and should not carry any unwanted items with you. Create separate lists of inventories that you want to move and what you want to discard. Plan for disposing of the unwanted inventories before moving.

Work out a moving timeline

How you want to make a move and on which dates- these are things that you must finalize by discussing with the in-house moving team. What kind of removals company to choose is an important decision to take at least 6 months ahead of the moving date, and you must finalize the deal.

Decide about the steps to take when preparing for the move and align the activities with the proposed timeline so that there is no interruption of business operations.  Whether the removalist will do the packing or your staff will handle also needs to be finalized. 

Create a floor plan for office layout

Having gone through the rounds of finalizing the modalities of making a move it is now time to focus on starting up the office at the new location as soon as possible. Maintaining business continuity is a critical consideration. You must start operations at the new place as soon as you put the furniture and office equipment in place.

For facilitating the process, you must have a blueprint of the office layout finalized before moving so that you lose no time in setting up the new office.

Create a plan for unpacking

First things first should be the motto during unpacking goods at the new location. The moving team must prioritize the items that need immediate unpacking to facilitate quick setting up of the office at the new location. Therefore, there must be a clear unpacking plan that the removalist must follow.

IT comes first

Give priority in moving the items related to IT because to start up the business operations, the IT infrastructure must be in place. Electronic items need special care for safe handling, and you must share its importance with the removalist company so that they do a good job. You can even think about upgrading some IT equipment before the move.

Arrange for transit insurance

Provide an accurate list of inventories to the removalist company so that they can arrange for suitable packing materials and transport and even arrange for insurance of the goods when moving. While removalist companies arrange for transit insurance on the payable basis, you can take a policy by yourself too.

Prioritize the departments

Identify the key departments that are critical for setting up the business operations at the new place very quickly. Maintain a list of items that need repacking on priority. Move the key departments first followed by other departments.

Although not linked to setting up the new office, remember that cleaning up the old office space after moving out everything is also your responsibility.