A Mover's Guide to a Successful Office Move

Office moving can be a tricky thing, causing a disruption to office’s usual office and productivity. That’s why office moves are infrequent.

However, moving to a new office may become necessary as your business and team grow and evolve. Additionally, a new space may benefit employees with more natural lighting and enhanced office space.

Moves aren’t always motivated by a need for more space. If more and more team members are working remotely, it may make sense to downsize your office space.

Regardless of the reason for your move, office moving affects the entire workforce. When done incorrectly, it can result not only in frustration but also loss of productivity and profitability. Having moved countless offices, we have learned strategies to ensure a successful office move for your business.

The Challenges of Office Moving

As we mentioned, office moving can bring its own set of challenges. The last thing you want is for your office move to frustrate and upset employees or hurt your bottom line. As a result, be aware of the following challenges:

Disruption of Work

The office is a place of work. Day in and day out, employees show up at work to accomplish required tasks and meet deadlines. Office moving interrupts this flow and it’s hard to avoid a bit of “moving mayhem”. Moving requires that, at some point in time, all office furniture, computers and paperwork must be packed up, moved, and then unpacked. During this time, unless work completed remotely or the move can be executed overnight or over a weekend, work will be temporarily disrupted. Remind employees to set “out of office” responses or rearrange their schedules and work calls around the move.

Financial Expenses

This disruption in work can result in a lack of sales during the moving period. In addition, there is a cost associated with hiring professional movers to execute your move. Fortunately, these costs can be written off. Other moving expenses may include new furniture and cleaning services, beyond the vacuuming and trash service that you may already have.

Extra Time & Paperwork

Moving offices requires a time investment in finding a new office and sorting out a lease agreement, utilities and more. Giving these tasks the attention that they require may mean that your other responsibilities will temporarily become more difficult to fulfill. Delegate as necessary and set realistic deadlines.

Potential for Disorganization after the Move

Moreover, even after the move is done, there is a potential for disorganization. Do all employees know where the filing cabinets were placed? Where is the new break area? What happened to that one important file? These common questions can continue to interrupt the workplace if the move is poorly organized.

Commute Impact on Employees

In addition to the extra costs, time and interruptions, moving may also impact employees on an ongoing basis if the office location equates to greater commute times. Moving offices, even 10 minutes in one direction, can make an already long commute even more difficult. Be aware of such impacts and how this may affect your employees. Some may consider working elsewhere if the commute increase is too large. It’s also important to consider local traffic. For example, if you’re moving downtown, rush hour traffic may exacerbate commuting issues.

Why You Need Office Moving Experts

As you can see, moving to a new office comes with its own challenges. Hiring office moving experts can alleviate some of the stress and help ensure a successful, minimally disruptive move.

Regular Movers Won’t do the Job Correctly

Regular movers are familiar with residential moves — packing up a house and unpacking it at the new home. Office movers, however, have the experience necessary to execute moves that have more complex logistics and many more moving parts. Successful office moves require a much greater level of organization and expertise than standard residential moves.

The organization of the movers you hire can impact your bottom line, especially if they don’t complete an organized, efficient move. In addition, special insurance and tools are often required by office complexes.

Do your movers know how to move printers, glass desks and other items? Here at All Jersey Moving & Storage, we’re familiar with many of the complex and precise needs that need to be met during an office move.

Why Choose All Jersey for Your Office Move

Flexible Schedule

Many businesses request a weekend move so as to minimize downtime and enable staff to be back at work as soon as possible. We offer a flexible schedule and try to accommodate preferred dates so you can can execute your office move on your schedule. Be sure to contact us as soon as possible to reserve your preferred office moving date. Depending on the size and date of your move, we may be able to relocate your office with no or minimal downtime.

The Right Equipment

Our experience and equipment enable us to move heavy, expensive office furniture and equipment like your copiers, fireproof file cabinets, and more. We also have masonite, corrugated wrap, and door jamb protectors. These are often required by buildings to protect the office walls and doors as items are maneuvered for transport.

Certifiably Insured

In addition, many office complexes request proof of insurance. We carry the increased limits that are often required. Our insurance also protects your items up to a certain amount, guaranteeing that if an incident were to occur, we’re insured – and you’re protected.

Strategies for a Seamless Office Move

As you prepare for your office move, following the below strategies will help you and your employees minimize downtime and get up and running in your new office space.

Purchase Packing Supplies Now

You’ll need boxes, tape, scissors and markers or labels. Ensure that whoever is doing the packing has sufficient supplies.

Clean Up & Declutter Storage Areas

Although a maid service may keep your office clean, you may be surprised to find out just how much clutter your office has accumulated in closets, desks and filing cabinets over the years. Check every closet, meeting room and storage area, especially those that are infrequently used. Determine what items are used and donate, sell or throw away furniture, equipment and other items that are no longer needed.

Determine If Employees Will Do the Packing

Specialized moving companies like All Jersey Moving & Storage offer office packing, moving and unpacking services. However, you may determine that employees can assist in packing the bulk of your office items and that a moving company is only needed for the actual transport of furniture and equipment. Whether you require assistance with every aspect of your office move or only a portion, we’re here to help. It is important to note, though, how involving employees in the packing will affect their workload.

Notify employees as soon as possible as to what will be required of them and by what deadlines. Ensure that all employees who are involved in the packing process are using a uniform labeling system. This will help make it easier to get organized upon arrival in your new office space.

Update Contact Information

This is one of the most crucial items for a smooth office move. Send change of address cards to clients, vendors and other relevant organizations. You’ll also need to update contact information on your website, business cards, brochures, newsletters, etc. Be sure to give yourself or a team member extra time to complete this task as you certainly don’t want an outdated address published anywhere. Your Google business listing and other map services should be updated too.

Compare Office Floor Plans

Comparing your new and old office floor plans will allow you to determine where office furniture will fit or if new furniture and equipment are needed. This will prevent the headache of moving furniture just to find out that it doesn’t fit and should have been donated or discarded.

Cancel or Update Services

If you have cleaning, newspaper, internet or other services, either cancel or update them with your new office address. This could include parking lot snow removal and security too.

Preparing Your Team for a Successful Move and Transition

Make sure to communicate clearly with your employees about the move and outline expectations. Notify all staff of changes, requirements and more. Here are our tips for arming your team for success before, during and after the office move.

Before

Notify all employees of the moving dates and how this will affect them. Let them know if they get time off, if schedules will be changing and how it will impact them. Be sure to communicate the reason for the move and make them excited about their new offices. Are there any benefits they can look forward to, like more natural lighting, larger offices or a more spacious, well-equipped break area?

In addition, communicate any move-related expectations you have of your employees. What do they need to pack, if anything? What should they organize and declutter? Do they need to shred or discard of anything? Communicate all deadlines clearly, especially since employees will need to balance these tasks with their regular duties.

Prior to moving day, remind employees to clean out and pack their personal spaces. Inform managers of their moving day responsibilities. Give your employees guidance and time to execute the tasks assigned to them. Needless to say, moving offices requires meticulous organization.

During

Limit employee involvement on moving day, especially if professional movers will be transporting the items. If possible, arrange a weekend or evening move or you’re your employees the day off so your movers can work more safely and efficiently.

After

After the office move, encourage your employees to get settled as soon as possible. You may even consider throwing an office-warming party and offering incentives for those who get organized quickly. For instance, you could give out a gift card to the first desk that is organized. This encourages employees to get back into their routines. The less downtime, the better.

Be sure to thank employees for their hard work and contributions to the move. Mention how the new office will benefit them. Do everything you can to settle in quickly — stocking up the employee fridge and decorating the office with plants and welcoming decor.

Why Choose All Jersey for Your Office Move

All Jersey Moving & Storage has many years of experience with office moving. We know how crucial it is for your office to be back up and running and the importance of attention to detail.

Each and every item in your office must be carefully packed, labelled, moved and unpacked in your new location. We offer custom and partial services to fit your business’s needs.

As we mentioned, we’re insured, experienced, and bring the right equipment.

You can rely on us, with our five-star reviews and awards.

If you need more guidance and help as you prepare for your office move, be sure to check out our office moving guide. It contains numerous insightful tips to help you prepare for moving day.

We would be proud to help your office with a seamless move. Contact All Jersey Moving & Storage now for your office moving needs.