After much deliberation your organization has decided to move its office location. Now, you are tasked with making this happen without significant disruption to everyone involved and your organization as a whole. As director of operations at Selden Fox, this was recently my reality when we moved offices. In reflecting back on our office move, executing the move with only limited challenges seemed to center around four primary areas: schedule, communication, checklists, and delegation. Here we explore the aspects of these four themes as they relate to successfully orchestrating an office move.
Schedule
Once the lease is signed, you have a move date. Now work backwards from that date to schedule everything that needs to be completed and when. The schedule should include everything from construction needed at new space to when mail forwarding should start to the shut down time of your systems/network if moving a server room is in the plan. Set benchmarks and completion dates for all items on the schedule and refer to and update schedule throughout the process. When completed dates change—earlier or later—adjust others that are affected and plan accordingly. Keep the core leadership team of your organization updated on the schedule particularly when key milestones are impacted.
Communication
More information is always better when you are moving. Keeping everyone informed using the typical communication channels used by your organization, whether that is email, intranet, bulletin boards, messaging app, etc. Use the various communication pieces throughout the process as a way to internally market and create buzz and excitement about the move within the organization. Moving is a big change which can often be daunting for those involved so aim to inform, educate, and excite.
Checklists
Along with your schedule, a master checklist of all tasks that need to be completed related to the physical move itself, as well as the changes and updates needed related to a new address/location is an important tool to create and maintain throughout the process. The checklist can include target completion dates and will serve as a good benchmark on progress and obstacles for those ultimately in charge of the move. The items on this list include tasks related to the move itself, such as securing a moving company, choosing and ordering signage for the new office, and ordering furniture; as well as the necessary address changes for utilities and vendors and the necessary marketing and notification to clients and customers. Create an initial list at the onset of your move and continue to add to it as those working with you identify updates that need to be made, communication that needs to happen, and others that need to be notified about the location change.
Delegation
Throughout the move planning and particularly on scheduled move days, it is imperative to get others on your team involved. When creating your checklists during the planning phase, consider who else on your team could assist with some of the tasks that need to happen before the move, during the move, and shortly after the move. For moving days, take a divide and conquer approach as the more involved the easier and quicker the process will go. As it relates to packing, individual team members should handle their own belongings. Beyond individual belongings, there will be a lot more supplies and common items that need to be packed than you think, so assemble a team to work with you on packing. Divvy up responsibilities and provide specific instructions on how to label moving bins so items land in the correct spot at the new location.
Contact Us
Planning for your move, keeping everyone updated on the process and progress, staying one step ahead when you can, and getting assistance from your team will be the keys to a successful move. If you are embarking on or just considering a move, Selden Fox can help. Our team can serve as project managers on endeavors such as an office move or even serve in an interim operations role if such a need arises. If you are considering an office move and need assistance with this or other significant operational undertakings or have questions about the information outlined above, Selden Fox can help. For additional information call 630.954.1400 or click here to contact us.
