Moving Office? Here’s What You Need to Know

There can be many reasons why you may need
to move office. Sometimes it’s out of necessity, and sometimes, you’re moving
to a better location or a bigger place. Whatever the reason, moving office
isn’t easy, as it can involve complex operations and mean that you may have
downtime. Here are some tips to make the transition easier and ensure
continuity of service.

Make
sure there’s some overlap

The worst situation for businesses is to be
in is having to completely close their office and move out before they get the
keys to the new one. This means there’s then a mad rush to get everything set
up so that you can take calls and deal with customers.

If possible, have a few days of overlap
where you have both offices available, that way, you can move teams one at a
time and it is less hassle. If this isn’t possible, consider letting some
people work from home and take calls during the move, so the phone lines are at
least operational.

Hire
expert movers for IT

While you may be able to move your own
desks and chairs, it’s recommended that you leave the moving of IT equipment to
the professionals. You should hire some server relocation
specialists for moving
equipment, especially bulkier items. This is because:

• IT equipment is expensive and
  the move is better left up to insured individuals in case anything goes wrong
• IT equipment should be packed
  properly using the right materials, which the professionals will provide
• You may want to hire people to
  pack things and install them at the other end, which saves you a lot of time

It’s not a good idea to move your IT items,
and if possible, you should hire professional movers to do the entire move as
it’s so much quicker and easier.

Send
out address change notifications early

From customers to suppliers, you’ll need to
let everyone know your change of address as early as possible, so they can make
a note of it. Changing address can be a good excuse to message people you
haven’t spoken to in a while, and there are many ways you can get the word out,
including:

• Social
  media
• Change of
  address cards
• E-mails
• Individual
  phone calls

It can be
complicated to change your address on things like bills etc. so consider using
an address switching service which will do it automatically.

Get
individuals to take things home

Offices are often filled with personal items, which can be annoying to sort out an organise during a move. Give people individual boxes so that they can pack their own items and temporarily take them home. This will ensure that you don’t have a lot of stuff hanging around on moving day and can streamline the process.

Rent A Storage Unit If you find yourself in between offices and you need to move as soon as possible. You can look for a third-party storage provider. Companies in cities with expensive rates like Brighton can’t afford to get extensions on their lease, and it isn’t smart to look for temporary office setups, only to move a couple of weeks later. You also can’t ask your employees to bring furniture home. Self storage in Brighton can be the perfect solution. You can move all your office supplies, computers and furniture to your unit and have the team take an extended break or work from home. When your new office is ready, you can simply transfer everything.

When you need to move office, there are
lots of ways to make the process easier. From hiring professionals to getting
the paperwork done, with a little forward planning, you can ensure that things
run smoothly on the day.