Moving Tips for Commercial or Office Moves

Moving Tips

There aren’t many things as disruptive to the work flow of your office as moving, but if you are organized it will go smoother. Having a detailed office move plan will make your job much easier. Every office move will be different, but here are some basic things to have on your office move checklist.

Delegate.
It’s reasonable to expect people in specific areas, like it, to organize their part of a move. Management and staff will have different roles. But as the person in charge of the move, you will be overseeing their parts. Make sure to send out emails and notify each department. Give them basic moving instructions, and let them know what is expected of them for the move.

Be sure to schedule the move at the end of the week.
This will give your staff the weekend to unpack, and set up their work space for work on Monday.

Start with your new floor plan.
In a sense, you’re going to be working backwards, but start your move plan at the new office destination. Using a floor plan of the new office (you may be able to acquire this from property management or building owners), mark where desks, and other items will be located within that office. Start a numbering system, and assign a number to each person for all of their furniture, boxes, etc. That will be moved to the new office.
** If you are dealing with a modular/cubicle floor plan, Bart’s Office Furniture can help you set up your floor plan to maximize the space you have available.

Inventory.
No matter how organized and detail-oriented you are, you can’t keep track of everything. Make an inventory sheet for each person to fill out for their area.

Management can make room/cubicle assignments.
Don’t get involved in office politics. As always expect staff to be maneuvering for the best offices, or cubicle areas. Leave these decisions to management (that’s why they make the big bucks).

Out with the old.
An office move is a great opportunity to have a general housecleaning. A few weeks before your move date, hire a mobile shredding company if your company doesn’t have a shredding system in place. Ask staff to go through their areas and throw out, recycle or put things in the shred bin.

Make sure moving boxes and labels are available.
Ten boxes per office or cubicle should be enough. Professional office movers will likely have directions about how they want you to pack up the office. Get advice from them as needed. Forward all moving instructions to all office personnel that will be moving.

Advocate personal responsibility.
Shortly before the move, office staff will need to clear out personal items from their work space. This includes breakable, irreplaceable, & personal items. They will be responsible for moving these items themselves. This way only work-related contents will be packed up, moved, and need to be unpacked.

Distribute a copy of the master layout.
Each employee should have a copy of the layout for the new office space. Ask all employees’ to use this when marking their belongings with their coordinating office number.

Have you ever lifted a file cabinet?
File cabinets are monsters. Unload and pack all but the last (2) drawers of the cabinet, and stick a label with the number on the front top of the cabinet. Be sure to label contents of the drawers along with any items you remove from a storage cabinet or bookshelf, so there is not confusion when unpacking these items after the move is complete. While unloading the file cabinets is a back saver, it also maintains the integrity of the cabinet, and prevents damages. Doing this will preserve the life of your cabinet, and save you on future repair costs.

Move the computers.
Everyone will be responsible for their laptops and should remove them from the office prior to the move. Bart’s office furniture knows how to move computers, so don’t pack those up. Your IT department will need to be in the loop to disconnect; reconnect and trouble shoot at the new location. Don’t get flustered when an unexpected crises pops up for you to deal with. There is always an unpredictable element for every move. Just go with the flow, and let the professionals do what they do best.

Leased equipment.
Make sure all Xerox machines and large copiers that are leased, or have a warranty through another company, are moved by those companies. If you wish to have Bart’s Office Furniture move the equipment, make sure to get clearance for this in writing. Reputable moving companies like ours will carry insurance to cover damages done during the move. However, if the machine breaks or needs service after the move, warranties and service contracts could be voided if clearance was not given prior to moving the equipment.