Golden Rules of Moving Office - #2

As I mentioned in my last blog, change can be unsettling for employees, not least an office move, and businesses have a responsibility to their employees to make this transition as stress-free as possible.

I’ve always been concerned that many companies do not give enough strategic and operational thought to the whole moving office process. This amazes me given that employees and property costs are the two highest expenditures for most businesses.

However, I see the same mistakes being made time and time again. Primarily, businesses underestimate what is involved with an office relocation, they don’t start the process early enough and they have a misplaced belief that they can save money by not engaging the services of external professional help, typically giving responsibility for the office move to someone who has never managed one before.

The end game for most companies should be to end up in the right property, on the right terms, with the right deal, with the right office design and layout, with the right furniture in the right places, with everything working on that first morning in the new office – and all this having happened on time, to budget and with the minimum hassle and disruption to the business and employees. Easy when you say it quickly!

Moving Office can seem a complicated, time consuming, stressful and potentially expensive journey into an unknown world. But, there are certain factors that YOU can control. I have compiled my golden rules of moving office to break the process down into a series of simple tasks and checks which if followed will positively impact on a stress free, successful and profitable office move.

#2. BE CLEAR ABOUT YOUR REQUIREMENTS
A clear understanding at the outset of your basic strategic and operational requirements will make the whole moving office process go more smoothly – and save time.

Don’t worry too much about the technical specifics (as that is part of the advice you will receive from your external property move professionals).

But you must have an overall idea about the key drivers of your office move, including:
 Where you want to move to
 How much space you need (see www.HelpMovingOffice.co.uk for the Office Space Calculator)
 When you need to be in by
 What key features you need your new office to have
 What your planned business objectives (including growth plan) the move needs to satisfy
 Type & length of lease you want

Top Tip: Ensure you have a consensus about the key drivers from the decision makers within your company – or else you could waste a lot of time and effort.

This is my second Golden Rule, you can access all ten along with more free information, guides and checklists to help you manage your office relocation at www.HelpMovingOffice.co.uk.