Relocation is not a one day process. Especially if you are moving an entire office. It’s a daunting task to move all employees from one place to another let alone valuable things like expensive equipment, technical devices, computers, machinery and office furniture.
Planning and arranging the move is going to be a tedious task if you don’t have the right services for help. It’s important for the move to be successful without any hitches or glitches. For this purpose, we’re here to help you with a step-by-step relocation process that you can start working on before-hand.
6 Months Prior
- Review your existing lease and fix an end. Pay all your dues and close all loose ends beforehand
- Look for office shifting services and get quotes. It is advisable to ask the companies their prices and service inclusions
- Decide on a logistics firm that fit your budget and provide you with value-added services like moving, packing and storage at affordable rates.
- As office shifting requires dismantling / cabling of respective computers – it is important to choose the service providers who have technical know-how of the same.
- Labeling of respective staff members computers also plays an important role for data privacy.
- If there is a Data Centre Migration – then ensure the service provider has experience of Cabling, Mounting / Unmounting and Migration inventory management.
- Decide whether you should include insurance as part of the deal. It is one of the most crucial yet overlooked part
- Get a planning team to start planning the relocation in phases
3 Months Prior
- Contact the movers and packers and share your requirements
- Lock in moving date and time with the movers and pre-arrange all the necessities
- Clearly communicate the date by which you want the new-office setup ready to ensure there is no loss of working days.
- Clear out the requirements beforehand for eg, if you need storage services then inform the movers about the time and period of storage. Similarly, if you need packing and unpacking services then arrange them beforehand so that you have enough manpower on the day of moving.
Communicate Internally and Externally
- Create a moving plan and inform the staff to involve required people for the plan of action like packing devices, stationery kits, desk amenities etc
- Assign responsibilities to team members and inform all employees of the same
- Lastly, communicate to external stakeholders of the move and share the new address to keep them in the loop.
2 Months Prior
- Arrange the installation of machines and telephones in your new office
- Create a plan to set up the computers and IT systems along with sitting plan of the employees department-wise.
- Start packing all the necessities in phases, starting from the least important to the most
- Collect important documents, keys and other security resources from your employees
- Transfer utilities to the new office and set a cancellation date of existing utilities
1 Month Prior
- Start packing and tagging inventory furniture and office supplies
- Don’t forget to take pictures of your stuff to ensure that you don’t lose anything during unpacking
- Catalogue the moving furniture for you as well as the logistics firms benefits
- Keep your packers and movers informed about the amount of moving and storage stuff so that they can plan transport beforehand too
- If you have decided to take insurance (which you ideally should) then convey it to the movers so that all documentation is taken care of.
1 Week Prior
- Take note of your new office and decide what can go where this will help you load and unload things quickly
- Remind employees to pack personal belongings in a box and to label them for clarity
- Review your moving schedule with the movers to help assign who will do what
- Purchase packing material or you can talk to your moving service to cover that aspect (Many relocation services offer 3 layers protective packaging for added security)
- Start packing and loading things, from the least required to the most required
Moving Day
- Move whatever is supposed to go into the storage facility as per the plan of action
- Load the rest of the furniture and amenities in moving trucks, ensure they are all labelled well and have been sorted as per need
- Keep a track on moving progress by staying in constant touch with the logistics team
- Load and unload furniture as per pre-decided plan, you can take help from the movers itself for an additional cost
- Unpack everything
- Take note of all your stuff and ensure that everything has been moved safely
- Lastly, communicate the same to your employees and inform them about individual spaces so that they can unpack with ease
- Install machinery, devices, equipment safely and securely
- Finally, meet loose ends by starting amenities and utility services like electricity, water, internet etc.
You’re all set! Moving will be stressful if you don’t plan ahead. Hopefully, this blog can help you get a head start. Don’t be afraid to make any spontaneous decisions if needed, after all, moving has to be glitch-free and hassle-free.
If you are looking for packers and movers then do give Mega Pack and Carry a call! We handle office shifting with ease.
