How to Plan an Office Relocation

Relocating to a new office can be invigorating for your business, but it can also be challenging. There are many moving parts, and you need to coordinate with internal and external stakeholders to make sure that you do not disrupt your business operations before, during, or after you move. Allied Thailand, the Careful Movers, offers these tips on how to plan an office relocation so that you can be well prepared for your office move.

About a year before moving

As with any undertaking, the more time you have to prepare, the better. In a previous article, we discussed some of the things to consider regarding lease obligations for current and future locations, as well as furnishings and services for both. These points and the following should be among the first things you do in planning your move.

Start planning early

Moving to a new location is something that should not be done on the spur of the moment. You will want to start planning early, making lists, and setting schedules and timelines to track your progress to make sure you have everything covered. There may be unexpected circumstances that you cannot prepare for, but the more prepared you are for the things you can control, the more bandwidth you will have to face any unforeseen issues.

Let employees know

Informing your employees about the move as early as possible is beneficial in many ways. You can ask for potentially important feedback regarding aspects of relocation that you may not have considered. You should be able to get more and better cooperation if staff are included in the process, even if it is just information sharing. Also, you may find enthusiastic volunteers to help ease your workload for the move.

Find a moving company

Once you have decided to move, you should start looking for a moving company. Check reviews, ask for referrals, and request detailed quotations. Professional moving companies that handle commercial moves, like Allied Thailand, will be more than happy to answer questions regarding the process and fees included in their quotations. Just because a company provides the cheapest estimate does not necessarily mean it will cost the least. Make sure you find a company that you are comfortable working with.

Six months before your office relocation

Downsize and take stock

Relocating is always a good opportunity to upgrade or downsize. You and your teams can take inventory of what equipment and furnishings you have and decide whether you want to include them in the move or buy new equipment for your new location. These decisions could be financially beneficial too, as in some cases, moving could cost more than replacing or upgrading. You could consult trusted professionals, such as the team at Allied Thailand, regarding resources and options.

Tell everyone

As soon as you have a new location selected, you should start informing clients, partners, vendors, and anyone else you keep in touch with about your upcoming move. It could be a simple flyer or a notification at the end of your email signature block. In some cases, this will be informational only, but for vendors and others who interact with you at your office, they can start preparing for your move as needed.

Part of this notification process may be a little more formal as you prepare service providers at your old and new locations regarding disconnecting and setting up services such as telecoms, internet, and electricity. And do not forget your catering company and coffee supplier! You will want to make sure to schedule these events as close to your moving date as possible, maybe even having some overlap to ensure seamless operations.

Set up moving system and inform staff

You may want to delegate oversight of the relocation process to a move manager or team. They can take on some of the organizational and internal logistics and be the point person for the rest of the employees. Speaking of employees, you should make sure to update staff on the move’s progress so that they can start preparing their workstations and work for when moving day comes.

A few months before you go

Get everyone packing and tagging

Your moving company, such as Allied Thailand, should provide resources to help pack general office equipment and fixtures, but you should have people pack up their own desks before the movers come in to take the furniture.

It is also highly recommended to have a clear-cut labeling or tagging system so that you can identify the content of boxes easily. For example, one color or symbol for printer paper, ink, and peripherals so that all those supplies will be unloaded by the printer. You should also make detailed inventory lists of what went into each box as well. Your Allied move manager can help you implement such a system.

Update new address where necessary

Now that your moving day is getting closer, you should start implementing the changeover to your new address. This includes getting new stationery (business cards, letterhead, envelopes, etc.) printed with your new details. If you have template files and electronic documents with your contact information, start updating those as well. It may be some extra boxes to move, but this way you will not be in your new office using letterhead with your old address.

Make back-ups

This should be part of your IT regime, but just in case – Make back-ups of all your files. If you are working from onsite servers, you may want to consider using a cloud service to allow for uninterrupted operations as movers unplug your computer system. Discuss with your IT head the best way to handle this because you want to make sure everything goes back to normal when you turn your computer on in your new office.

Let Allied help you plan your office relocation

There are still more steps and considerations to keep in mind, especially as you get nearer to your moving date. This is just a list of some of the things you need to think about to give you an idea of potential obstacles and challenges so that you can be prepared. If you choose Allied Movers as your office relocation company, you will be well prepared, as you will benefit from our generations of experience moving individuals, families, and residences across town and across time zones. To find out how Allied Movers can help you with your office move, contact us today.