Whether part of an aggressive expansion, a tactical downsizing or moving to a new outpost office, relocation is one of the biggest steps for a business to undertake, equal in importance, excitement and indeed trepidation to moving house.
The reason for that is pretty self-evident; a change of scenery is typically very beneficial and a new office has the potential to be a far more suitable space now it is clear what your employees need to do their job the best, but it may not always be easy.
Besides making sure you hire the right office movers in the first place to make sure your vital equipment and documentation make it to your new location securely and safely, there are a few steps you need to make that, unfortunately, not every business leader gets right.
Here are some of the most common mistakes when relocating, and what you can do to avoid any negative repercussions.
Not Being Realistic With Timescales
The biggest mistake, and the root cause of the vast majority of other office moving errors, is simply not leaving enough time to ensure that every step of the moving process is completed properly.
Actually moving the equipment with the help of a moving company is the easy part, as long as you have the right partner company, but taking inventory of everything at the current facility, everything that needs moving as a matter of urgency and everything that has arrived is the more time-consuming part.
Not leaving enough time, usually caused by waiting until the notice period of your current lease has kicked in and created a hard deadline for moving out, leads to rushing the other stages of the moving out process, which can lead to missing equipment and potential legal ramifications.
Poor Communication With Employees
Relocation only truly works if employees buy into its benefits, and this takes communication, engagement and potential compromise.
This is true for any major business change, but is particularly the case for relocation, since it can have a direct effect on commuting times, access and quality of facilities, and these concerns need to be heeded, otherwise, the consequences can be seen even before you actually move.
It is essential to consider the implications and enter preemptive discussions with staff members to ensure they feel their needs are being communicated, as well as the reasons for the relocation.
This is particularly true for downsizing; despite it being a far more common practice with hybrid and remote working surging and it simply no longer being necessary for every employee to be in every day, it can be seen as a threat to job security and it is essential to immediately step in and dispel rumours of that ilk.
Not Prioritising Your Most Vital Infrastructure
Ultimately, you need to make sure whatever equipment or systems get used the most are transitioned quickly and carefully, otherwise, you can end up in the ignominious position of having employees relocated who can not work in their new location.
Make sure you have your new internet systems set up before anyone moves, make sure servers are relocated and reinstalled quickly, and plan redundancies and contingencies in case anything goes wrong.