Office Moving in the USA: Instructions from Moving Services

Making a schedule plays the most important role in the office moving as you tend to spend as little time on it as possible to avoid prolonged breaks in the work of your office.

Properly arranged moving guarantees that all your staff will be able to proceed with their work without considerable time loss. It implies that choosing the moving date you should understand when it will have the least influence on the working of your office.

It is necessary to tie-in your activity with the actions of the employees of the moving company and your staff to achieve an unimpeded moving.

When you are moving to a new office building it is necessary to find out how much time it is needed to deliver your office property to the new location. Efficient scheduling will provide that everything is ready as soon as possible and your staff will arrive at the new office in no time to continue their working procedures.

Packing and Marking

Packing all the things starting from documents to filing cabinets is surely the most tiring part of an office moving. Therefore applying a clear and understandable method of packing and marking is significant for a quick and easy transportation.

Correct stickers should be used to guarantee that all the things are in order and recorded to avoid the possibility of any failure in the process of moving like breaking or losing something. Accurate and detailed marking makes unpacking convenient and helps to put everything in its places in the new office quicker, it allows avoiding time loss and mess.

Finally, proper marking assists the employees of the moving company in determining brittle things that need particular attention for safe delivery.

IT Hardware Moving

IT hardware needs delicate approach. Switch off and pack all electronic computing devices following special packing rules to protect the fragile items from breakage while being moved.

Do not forget to create back up files to save all significant information and provide its safe arrival at the new office.

If mixed methods of work are used in your company and some of your employees work from home, keep in mind how moving may influence their working process, they need constant access to the office network to perform their duties effectively, so take care to assure all the required technical aid to sustain uninterrupted work.

Arranging Office Work

When you are planning an office moving it is high time to reconsider your views on arrangement of office work. Developing your office plan think about numerous advantaged of mixed methods of work and adaptable working surroundings – the features of an up-to-date office.

In accordance with the latest researches about 36% of employees work staying at home and 24% of them arrive at the office from time to time to make reports on their work. And this mixed method of planning working time attracts more and more company owners proving its effectiveness.

Combined working methods bring a lot of benefits starting from versatility and efficiency to a more favorable surrounding for working cooperation.

Those who have already tried these modern methods of working do not even imagine that they can return to working full-time in the office as combined methods turned out to be really advantageous.

Interaction and Management

While moving to the new office or making repairs in the present one make certain that all the employees of your company are aware of what is happening at all the stages of moving. Lack of definite directions may result in misunderstanding from the staff’s side and may cause welter and disappointment.

Efficient interaction significantly decreases failures and postponements as well as it strengthens the feeling of community in the company.

You should maintain joint efforts and constant communication with the employees providing their complete involvement in the moving procedures. Your employees should be kept up to date constantly starting from understanding who must be present in the office at each stage of moving to amendment of the moving timing in accordance with the changing conditions.

Office moving always implies numerous issues but successful teamwork and effective management will help cope with all of them.

Drawing up a Budget and Finance Management

It is necessary to control expenses throughout all your office moving as it is very important for providing reasonable moving cost that should stay within the financial estimates of the moving.

Firstly find out how much other companies have spent on moving corresponding to yours in quality and scale. It will allow you to estimate the alleged expenses and determine the possible ways of saving the company’s budget.

Then request commercial offers from several moving companies and pay attention to that one which services fully meet the demands of your company. Find out the following things:

• if the price comprises not only the services of movers but packing as well;
• if the employees of the moving company will unpack things after moving and put all office furniture and equipment in their places or your staff will have to do it themselves.

Analyzing expenses accurately before starting arranging the moving you can prevent unforeseen costs and obtain high-quality services for reasonable price.

Security Breach Prevention

Maintaining safety is one of the key aspects of a successful office moving. For providing safety of your office throughout the moving use the following advice:

• always lock the doors when you are out of the office during the whole day;
• put all the valuable items in the safest place you have about which no one knows;
• do not underestimate video surveillance system, it is very helpful for providing security; always keep your cameras operative so that you could have an access to them wherever you are; or you can charge someone from your employees with the duty of observing the safety;
• review applying some additional preventive measures for costly and worth-while property of the company including computer hardware.

Unpacking and Arrangement

 Putting everything in order at the new location is often laborious and exhausting, below you will find several advice to ease the situation:

• from the very beginning put all the office furniture and computer hardware in their places and make certain that personal things of your employees have arrived;
• then sort out the documentation of the company; watch the documents to be placed there where they must be and observe that not a single file is lost;
• if your company is using combined working methods then it is high time to customize the required hardware for providing access to the network of the company for those employees who work from home; this equipment comprises devices for arranging conference calls, remote document repository and other appliances for arranging effective long-distance cooperation.

2. Checking and Solving Issues

 Afterwards the office moving or making repairs it is not difficult to miss some important details that may result in occurrence of annoying troubles in the future. To avoid any negative influence on your staff’s operation at first launch working procedures in your company in the testing mode.

• Check the LAN connection to be confident that all the computers have the opportunity to access the World Wide Web and to get in touch together. It is especially significant in the situation when some employees work from home or apply diverse computer hardware.
• Check all the devices which are vital for supporting connectivity between employees such as video cams and mics, equipment for arranging online meetings, etc. It is quite important for remote workers to whom audio or video connection with the rest of the team helps fulfill their working duties.
• Check protection systems comprising system of access, security cameras and signalization. It is especially crucial if your company engages confidential information or demands conformity to some rules.

Office Moving Schedule

An office moving is a complicated procedure with numerous changeable stages. To guarantee an easy-going moving make up a schedule indicating the high spots of the calendar, significant moving stages, challenges to respond and purposes to reach before and after the moving.

Below you will see a sample of a perfect schedule for an office moving.

A Year Prior the Moving

• Estimate the scale of the moving and its cost
• Appoint a responsible person to watch the moving
• Examine several moving companies and choose the best one to perform your office moving
• Implement an inspection of the new office plan to specify its important details
• Revise contracts of rent and agree any required amendments

Half a Year Prior the Moving

• Inform your staff about the forthcoming moving and advise of any adjustments as soon as they occur
• Make up a control list for the moving and share it with the staff
• If it is necessary buy fresh pieces of furnishing, electronic hardware and stationery
• Buy updated name cards, signboards and business catalogues containing new contact details of the company
• Appoint the date for setting IT and telephone networks at the new location

A Couple of Months Prior the Moving

• Start packing the least important things
• Inform your suppliers, clientele and business mates about the upcoming moving and make amendments in your contact details
• Appoint the meeting with the representatives of the moving company at the new office to familiarize them with the place
• Agree all the aspect of the future moving with the moving company taking into consideration the schedule and route
• A month prior the moving take some of your time for customization of your working space including floor layouts, tools and consolidation and check it with some of your employees

A Fortnight Prior the Moving

• Pack the rest of the things and mark boxes indicating what is inside and where the things should go
• Disassemble pieces of furnishing and disconnect electronic hardware as appropriate
• Clear the actions with the moving company to confirm that all things are packed and prepared for transportation
• A week prior the moving use some of your time to manage the implementation of operating tools in the new office. Involve the staff in the procedure in order for them to be ready when it is high time.

Moving Time

• Oversee the moving to be confident that all the office property is loaded duly
• Perform finite inspection of the old office to make sure that you have forgotten nothing
• Control unloading and unpacking things at the destination

A Fortnight After the Moving

• Unpack the rest of the things and put furniture and office hardware in their places
• Check the Internet and telephone line connections at the new location
• Carry out the appraisal after the moving to determine zones for enhancement
• Arrange a party to celebrate moving completion together with the staff and business partners

Control List for Office Moving

Every office moving or reconstruction implies numerous issues and concerns. Nevertheless you have to remember several major details to provide your company with easy relocation.

To make your office moving easier we have prepared a useful control list including all significant details starting from finance management and arranging to unpacking and solving issues. We have mentioned several items and proposals as well to be certain you have embraced all the fundamental things.

Office moving control list

• Make up the moving schedule
• Mark the boxes
• Arrange the working space in the new office
• Adjust all the working tools
• Provide technical connection of the office equipment
• Welcome your staff at the new office
• Familiarize them with everything at the new location
• Amend your company’s contact details
• Get in close touch with IT specialists
• Arrange a welcome meeting
• Stay calm and adaptable

Make up and Announce the Moving Schedule

Provide that your staff is aware of the moving schedule so they could get ready and take the required measures.

In case you have some remote staff, advise them of the moving and bring them to its arranging from the very beginning. Make sure that everybody is kept up to date with any serious amendments and upgrades so they face nothing unexpected when they come back to the office.

Look at the following questionnaire that might be able to sort you out:

• Have you informed all the staff about the moving schedule?
• Have you determined all the goals to be reached prior, in the process and after the moving?
• Have you appointed responsible people for each stage of the moving?
• Have you determined any possible issues that may occur in the process of moving?
• Have you developed a backup plan for postponed or impeded moving?

Mark the Boxes

Apply scotch to close the boxes carefully and mark them indicating what is inside and where the things should go. It will help to avoid confusion during unpacking at the destination. Try to apply marking boxes with different colors for different premises in the new office to understand immediately where to carry boxes while unloading.

Below you will find several additional points for your moving control list:

• Have you made up a comprehensive list of the company’s property for transportation comprising furnishing, computer hardware and other things?
• Have you given distinct packing instructions to your staff for them to understand clearly what must be packed and how?
• Have you prepared all the required packing materials including containers, scotch, bubble wrap, etc.?
• Have you used colorful marking to specify where the things should be placed at the new office?
• Have you made up a layout of the new office indicating on it where exactly the transported things should be brought?

Adjust All the Working Tools

Now it is high time to prepare your working space:

• Make sure your IT specialists have connected all the office equipment and tested it
• Ask your staff to visit the new office
• Provide your employees with the detailed information related to the new office for everyone to feel at home there

Well-arranged working area directly influences the effectiveness and productivity of everyday business operations. The more efficiently it is arranged the better results you obtain. Motivate your employees to make useful suggestions on improvement of the working environment. If they make a personal contribution to common business it will be more pleasant for them to work there.

Arrange the Working Space

Arrange the working area at the new location so that to provide your staff with all the necessary things to perform their duties productively and cooperate efficiently. Preliminary planning will help to cope with it easily. Decide in advance what and where will be situated to put the things in their places immediately after they are brought by the moving company.

Below you will see several advice on designing an up-to-date office space which your staff will appreciate.

Create zones for rest

If you make special areas where the members of the staff can have a rest communicating to each other it will improve cooperation between them and influence teambuilding in a positive way.

Assign conference spaces

Arranging well-equipped conference spaces where your employees can have access to audio or video connection gives them an opportunity for high-level communication with their colleagues or business partners and customers not depending where they are at the present moment. Regular meetings at conference spaces let the staff always be aware of what is happening at the company and adapt to the changing circumstances.

Arrange common workplaces

The employees of the company use numerous electronic hardware in their daily work but there are such devices which they need not every day but from time to time. You can arrange common workplaces for your staff collecting there such rarely used devices so that every employee could have an access to them when he needs. It allows optimizing the use of office premises and equipment, it is particularly helpful when some employees work from home or are often on business trip arriving at the office just occasionally.

Provide your staff with the latest software

The market of software is constantly developing in a very rapid pace, always be sure that your employees have the most up-to-date versions of working tools. Modern technologies make interaction between colleagues easier not depending how far they are from each other.

Amend your Company’s Contact Details

Do not forget to amend your company’s contact details after moving as it may result in confusion and profit loss.

To avoid negative consequences provide that all contact details are amended in a timely manner to stay in touch with your customers and partners and to keep business reputation.

It is necessary to amend the company’s contact details in the next spots:

• company’s official internet resource
• personal accounts on partners’ websites
• email correspondence
• visiting cards
• Google maps and similar sites
• voice message of the answering machine
• company’s catalogues and booklets

Stay Calm and Adaptable

Any office moving is always tiring and destructive, so your staff will surely need some time and efforts to get used to the new location. Remember and try to do the following:

• In case you can afford it, let your staff avoid taking part in the moving. It will reduce stress for the employees and they will be able to proceed with their work from home during moving. As for the office moving, it may be completed by a professional moving company much better than by your staff.
• Obstacles and issues during moving are almost always unavoidable. Try to stay calm and reasonable during your office moving.
• To minimize stress and to save time order office moving from Moving Services. In such a case your office moving will not take a long time and your company will continue working as soon as possible with minimal downtime.