The Complete Office Moving Checklist for a Seamless Move
It’s estimated that nearly 25% of Irish employees now work from home. With many companies switching to a remote or hybrid work schedule, office moves are more common than ever.
Sadly, moving an entire office is a lot more complicated than a home move. There are layers of added logistics to worry about during the process, from packing to setting up the new office space in advance.
That’s why it’s important to stay organized with a good office moving checklist. In this guide, we’ll walk you through some of the things you should consider to ensure a seamless moving experience for both you and your employees.
1. Create a Timeline
Ideally, you’ll be able to plan your commercial move well in advance. At least six months before the date will usually give you ample time to get everything done. Sadly, sometimes an office move is required unexpectedly.
In these cases, you should make a timeline that’s suited to the time you have left. Your timeline should start with hiring movers who specialize in office removal.
Depending on the season, these companies can often be quite busy. As such, you’ll want to make sure that you secure their moving services well in advance.
During this time, you should also secure a new location to work in. If you’re switching to remote work, this isn’t a problem.
However, if you still want a physical location, make sure you find some options and sign the lease. This is another thing you don’t want to put off as it can cause significant disruptions to your operations.
2. Communicate With Your Employees
Once you have a timeline established, you need to inform employees of your moving plan. This is vital for several reasons. First, if you’re moving your office far away, you need to give your employees adequate time to decide if they want to follow your company.
If you’re moving to another city, you shouldn’t expect all of your employees to uproot their lives for you. As such, you should be prepared for some potential resignations.
Second, if you keep your employees in the dark about your move, it might reflect poorly on company culture.
Lastly, you want to make sure that you minimize the downtime from work disruptions associated with the move. By communicating your plan, you ensure that everyone is on the same page about when they should and shouldn’t be working.
3. Decide What You’ll Be Getting Rid Of
It’s estimated that Ireland produces roughly fourteen million tonnes of waste each year, and office moves contribute quite a bit to this load. Part of the reason, besides the cardboard and discarded material, has to do with downsizing.
As we mentioned, many companies across the world are switching to hybrid work models. As such, they’re often getting rid of a significant portion of office furniture. Sometimes, you’ll be able to find a buyer for used office supplies.
However, if you’re on a strict timeline, you might not be able to find some quickly enough. As such, you should go through everything that you’re not planning on moving and put it into a corner or spare room.
Then, contact an office removal company to get rid of any of the large pieces that you can’t discard yourself.
4. Pack and Label Everything
Now, we come to the most tedious part of the moving process. While it might be quicker to just throw everything in a box and seal it up, you’ll want to avoid this urge.
Haphazardly packing things can prolong the unloading process by days or even weeks. Instead, come up with a system for packing and labelling everything.
Good organization helps ensure that you keep track of everything during the moving process. If you label certain boxes as fragile, it can also help you minimize any damage to your expensive equipment.
If you don’t have time to pack and label everything yourself, consider hiring a moving company that can pack everything up for you.
5. Make Sure the New Office Space Is Prepared
Ideally, you will have finalized the lease with your new office space. However, there are other things you need to do before the day of the move. For starters, you should make sure that things like utilities, phone, internet, and other services you need are set up.
In some cases, your business might require keycards for security purposes. You should install these before the movers bring in a bunch of furniture and supplies.
On the day of the move, you should make sure you have access to the new space. The last thing you want is for your movers to get to the new location only to find it locked.
How to Find a Good Office Moving Company
When it comes to finding a good office removal company, experience is everything. Moving offices is quite different from traditional residence moves.
As such, you want to find a company that’s aware of the strict timelines that often accompany these types of moves. Reviews can also be a good gauge of whether or not you want to work with a moving company.
If there is an overwhelming amount of poor reviews for a company, it should be viewed as a clear red flag. Lastly, you need to make sure they’re properly insured.
Falls and broken furniture are possible with even the most experienced moving company around.
As such, you should verify their coverage before working with the movers. If you want a comprehensive guide of things you should look for in a moving company, make sure to check out this resource here.
Need Help With Your Office Moving Checklist? Contact Man With a Van Dublin
We hope this guide helped inspire your office moving checklist. Every checklist will be different depending on the size of your office and where you’re moving to.
Here at Man With a Van Dublin, we’re passionate about taking the stress out of the moving process.
It doesn’t matter if you just need us to remove some rubbish, or assist you with the entire packing process-we’re ready to help. Contact us today to get a quote for your next office move.