How to Prepare Team Members for an Office Move
Published by Chris Townsend
Companies move office locations more often than you think. When leases are up on buildings, they may relocate to a more affordable location, or a company decides to upgrade their offices, and temporary setups have to be accommodated. Whatever the reason for moving your office team, preparing them for this move will help the relocation process go quickly and smoothly.
How can I prepare my team for a move?
Moving the team members in your office can go one of two ways: easy or hard. There isn’t much of a happy medium in these types of situations. Teams can range in size from five people to 15,000 people or more, and it is quite likely that some of them are not going to be welcome to change. You have the ability to prepare and get your team through a move, even if it is without a few smiles.
Communication
Talking to your team about the move can help make sure that no one is caught off guard. Communication with your team should start as far in advance as possible. You should also keep open lines of communication during and after the move so that none of your team members are caught off guard. As soon as a plan has been created for office relocation, it should be shared with your team.
Office moves vary in the amount of time it will take to execute. Some moves can take as little as a month, where others could go on for a year. Once the preliminary plans have been made, sharing them with the team will help give your staff time to adjust to the idea of the relocation.
Let your team members know what will be expected of them during relocation. If the move is happening in phases, let your team know which phase they will be moving in. Make sure they know when they need to have their desks packed and ready for moving, as well as any other expectations you may have for them. A well-planned move is executed smoother than a spur of the moment move.
Keep Your Team Included
Depending on the size and type of office you run, it may be possible for you to keep your team members included by giving them tasks that will help with the move. You can begin this process by making plans and lists of who needs to be responsible for what. This will be a lot easier if you have a smaller team to move to.
Assigning various tasks like updating the address for the office on items like the company website, magazine subscriptions, website listings, and social media accounts could be given to various members of your team. Getting an inventory of items that are going to need to be moved, and their new prospective locations can help keep team members occupied and feel included in the moving process.
When should I notify my customers of the move?
As soon as you know the location of the new office space, you should start notifying customers. Even if you don’t know the exact dates of the move, you should let these customers know that a move is coming. You can notify them closer to the move of the exact dates when you have locked them in with your moving company.
When you move to your new office location, you don’t want to lose customers because they don’t know you moved. Your customers are a lot like your team. You have to have open lines of communication with them so that they know what is going on. Let your customers know that you and the office will continue to serve their needs during the moving process.
Keep Focusing on the Positive Benefits of the Relocation
Nobody said that office relocation would be an easy task. Anxiety and tension are likely to run high at some point during the process. You can help alleviate these feelings by focusing on the positive reasons for relocation. If you are moving to a location that offers more space for your team, let the members know that they will have more room and less “traffic jams” while moving around the office. Maybe the new location offers better parking, meaning no one has to park far away anymore. Use the highlights of the new office as an incentive for the move.
How should I choose a moving company?
Choosing a moving company for an office move may seem like the easy part of the entire move, but it really isn’t. Not all professional moving companies are created equally. Moving office equipment can be a sensitive situation. Computers and other high priced office equipment have to be moved. The company you choose has to be delicate and efficient at their jobs.
Moving an office is not like moving residential spaces. A lot of time and planning goes into prepping the existing location for relocation as well as the new location being ready. Floor plans are helpful for a moving company so that they know when moving each part of the office it is going to the right spot in the new facility. You will also need to coordinate the move of specific items with your technology department. You need to have as little downtime as possible during a business office move.
Three Movers Office Moving Specialists
If you have an office setting that needs to be relocated, Three Movers have a lot of options available for you and your move. Our moving specialists understand that downtime means losing profits for your business, so we offer various moving times, such as evening and weekend hours. Three Movers offer competitive pricing for your office relocation, as well as solutions that make it easier for you and your employees.
When you need to have your business office relocated, calling Three Movers means you get the experience you can count on and a name you can trust. For a free quote on relocating your office team, call Three Movers today.
