When you’re ready to move to a new office, it can help to compile a checklist for office relocation before you start working. There are a million tiny details to take into consideration when moving one’s office from one location to the other. Forgetting even one detail could have disastrous effects, be it for an individual changing their office space or an entire company transitioning from one building to another. While this might sound like a lot of pressure, it’s also rewarding when you finish such a monumental task.
Thankfully for all parties involved, having a checklist of important factors to take into consideration can simplify the process and leave no stone unturned. A list can sometimes be the most important thing to have during any type of move, especially if it involves an entire office building. As long as the checklist of things to do during a move is written down and someone is there to see it, everyone involved in the relocation will know what their role in the job is and how they can help their partners and coworkers succeed in the transition.
Movers
Maybe you’re a whole company that’s relocating to another city or a single person with a small operation that is in the process of changing from one building to another. Regardless, having a checklist for office relocation is vital to ensure there is no lasting damage to company property. Forgetting to bring something along or not having enough space to bring it can cost a person or company time and money to continue making trips.
Hiring professional movers can simplify the process of relocation immensely. A business moving out of one building or city and into a whole new location can be a daunting task. Lucky for everyone involved, there are people with the equipment and manpower needed to ensure a safe transition. Moving furniture can be hazardous and not storing it properly in the right vehicle could cause damage. Professional movers can add some peace of mind for a person or company looking to relocate.
Insurance
When writing up a checklist for office relocation, one of the most vital things to ensure your company has is insurance. If someone was hurt during the move or any property was damaged in transit, having insurance can protect a company from enduring serious financial strain as a result of the accident. Although the immediate costs may be off-putting, the long-term benefits far outweigh the costs if the worst should come to pass.
There are several business insurance companies whose primary job is to protect companies in the middle of a move. Nobody wants to open the moving truck and find all their equipment was damaged in transit or show up to their new building and discover it was damaged in a fire, tornado, or other natural disaster. Having insurance can be the difference between life and death for a small company that doesn’t have the finances of a multi-million dollar corporation.
Land
As you make a checklist for office relocation, you should think about whether you’ll need to buy land. When a major company is considering a move to a new property, searching for commercial land for lease is the first major step in establishing themselves as a major player in their field. By leasing out the land, the company is allowed to build its property from the ground up and have its new building formatted to suit its sense of style or specific needs. After a company leases out the land, they are allowed to attempt to purchase the land for good at any point down the line.
Property Management
If you plan to own an office for your company, part of your checklist for office relocation should be figuring out how you’ll manage the property. You can either outsource this to an international service or go with a local property management company. No matter what you choose, you should make sure that the property management option you utilize is competent and updated on best practices in the field.
When you relocate an office, you need a management company that understands the struggles and joys of this process. Otherwise, they may crack under the pressure and become ineffective at their work. Managing a property may seem as simple as collecting rent, but there’s a lot more that goes into that side of owning an office. You’ll need to have a company that is honest about issues that arise on the property, strong in the area of customer service, and equipped to maintain the building to the standards outlined by local and federal regulations.
Doors
For any checklist for office relocation, you’ll want to consider how you can protect the privacy of your employees as they handle sensitive information and create safe spaces to meet with clients individually. Although it might sound like a no-brainer, you should look into commercial door installations if you’re building a new office for relocation. These may differ from local residential door services that focus on installing doors in private residential settings.
A door is the literal gateway to your company’s office space. Every client, customer, new hire, and other important individual will walk through the door of your office at some point. This is why it’s important to make it look as professional as possible while maintaining functionality.
Some folks may want a door that is glass for an elegant, modern look that allows them to see who wants to enter a meeting space. Glass doors also create an opportunity for investors to see what you are doing in your office space when they stop by the property. Alternatively, a wooden door or metal one can give you a sense of privacy as you work on sensitive projects or hold challenging meetings. The door you choose is entirely up to you.
Blinds
As with any office, you’ll want your new office to have a blind installation scheduled before you move into that space. Blinds protect your personal and professional privacy by shielding your office from prying eyes that may capture information from your workspace that is not appropriate for them to have. They can also keep the sun from becoming overwhelming in a workspace. This makes it easier to focus on work well after you’ve finished checking off everything on your checklist for office relocation.
When you move to a new office, it can be fun to play with the types of simple objects you incorporate into the space. While everyone needs blinds or curtains, you can get creative with the type of blinds you choose. Some may be great for letting in a little light during the daytime while others might block out all light so you can focus on your work without distractions. You should research different types of blinds before committing to one. After all, they can be hard to change or replace if you don’t have the budget for new blinds once you have selected some.
Landscaper
Designing the landscaping for your office relocation is a key part of preparing for the move. From calling contractors to assess your land’s potential for your dream landscape design to putting the finishing touches on a landscape project, you’ll want to have professionals there to help you with every step of the process. While you could do this aspect of office relocation on your own, it can be tiring work that zaps all of your physical resources amid a stressful move. To play it safe, you should get help from landscapers who know what they’re doing.
Although landscaping might be a low priority at first on your checklist for office relocation, it plays a key role in making your new office look professional. If your company is building a new office space for your workers from the ground up, landscaping can show that you take appearances and effort seriously as a business. Sloppy landscaping, on the other hand, can make clients take you less seriously and think that you’re not as professional as you’d like to be.
Elevators
If you want to make your building accessible to folks with mobility issues, you’ll need to invest in an elevator installation. As you’re moving to a new office building with your company, you’ll need to think about how accessible the space is. Additionally, elevators can make it easier to move furniture, filing cabinets, and large shipments between offices. This makes them essential for anyone who is moving to a new office.
As you make a checklist for office relocation, you should consider what you can do to make it easier for others in your office to move between floors if they need to do that. This may mean installing elevators or even escalators if you want your office to have a modern feel. Some folks may prefer to take the stairs, but it doesn’t mean they won’t appreciate a lift from an elevator if they ever need one.
In addition to making your office more accessible, elevators give your colleagues a space to connect before and after work. “Elevator talk” might be dreadful, but it can also be a crucial part of creating a corporate culture. When the elevator becomes a meeting space for all departments, magical interactions can happen after you relocate.
Trees
When you dream of relocating to an office in the middle of the forest or other natural paradises, you’ll want to invest some time and energy into learning about tree care. If you rent an office in an urban setting far away from the nearest green spaces, this might seem like it’s not applicable. Still, picking up potentially useful skills that are tailored to your new office location is what creating a checklist for office relocation is all about.
If you’re building a new office building on barren land, planting a few trees can help you keep the air around the building fresh. It can also give you shade to enjoy warm summer days when the trees grow up. What’s more, it’ll make you feel good about giving back to the environment. As an extra perk, trees will give you privacy without ruining your other landscaping design plans.
Fire Services
Fire safety should be a priority regardless of whether you intend to move office soon or stay put where you are for a while. If you aren’t confident in your office’s ability to detect and manage fire safety concerns, you can call around to figure out what fire system services may serve your area. If you love your current fire system company but you’ll need to move to a new office, you should add that task to your checklist for office relocation.
When you’re considering what services you’ll need to prevent a fire or evacuate your building safely if it’s on fire, you should ask others who occupy your building what services they use. If you rent office space, you may have to go with whatever services the owner of the building requires its tenants to use. Those who own their new office may have more freedom in choosing the fire prevention and protection services that work for their needs.
Having a checklist for office relocation can simplify all of the issues we’ve listed above that surround relocating office space. Anybody involved in an office relocation can step in and make sure that all the moving parts are going exactly how they were intended to go. As long as everyone is doing their fair share during the duration of the move, the process can go through swiftly and smoothly and everyone involved can benefit from the results.
As you decide what you or your company needs to do to prepare for an office move, don’t be afraid to delegate tasks to professionals or co-workers if it all seems too overwhelming for one person to do. After all, a manager’s job is knowing their limits and how to communicate those limits to their subordinates. If you struggle to ask for help with relocating an office, you can enlist your second-in-command to strategize ways you can break down your tasks and assign them to the appropriate parties. This will make your checklist go much faster and make it easier for you to balance everything you need to do during this stressful time.
