Office relocation is a specialized service and not all movers can do a good job with it. A successful office move is done efficiently over a weekend so that the employees can come back on Monday and start their work exactly where they left it. Of course, you would realize that moving your office is slightly more complicated than moving your home. While moving an office you would also have to set up the computers all over again, work on networking, the telephone lines, and what not. The bigger your office, the more problematic the move becomes.



Essentially, you would need your technical support team geared up for a crisis time alert. Every wire and every plug has to go in to the socket they are meant for.

Professional office movers usually set aside a lot of time just to research on the things that could go wrong during the move. It makes sense to assign a project manager, who would be in constant touch with the movers to figure out and validate the way the move will take place. Also the project manager should be responsible to keep in touch base with the higher management. There will be several serious decisions to be made by the management as such. For instance, when deciding on the area (in terms of size) and also, space allocation in your new office space, you may want to give a serious thought about the growth in employee size in your company. You would need projections of company strength, about two to five years from the date of relocation.

As you near the date of your relocation, you would need to start making architectural sketches of the layout of the office space. At the same time, you would have to work with the builder to finalize each maintenance-specific issues associated with the building as such. You would need to make sure that the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning are in working state. Also, at the same time you may want to start furnishing your office space keeping in mind the work area necessities that your kind of organization requires.

Once every thing is done and you have talked/negotiated/finalized on a mover, you should go ahead scheduling meetings with employees. Your mover would have provided you with specific instructions, guides, & tips during the move period. Be sure to share these with every employee. As you do this, prepare an Office Moving Guide and incorporate all information about the new office. Pass it on to all who are connected with the organization. It should include the location map of the new office, blue print of the whole office, employees seating position etc. Finally, have every employee clean their cabinets, and pack them according to directions given by the mover. Ask them to clear all personal valuables and shift them personally.

Also, contacts play a key role in the growth of any corporation and they help sustain an organization. So make sure you do not lose any contact. Notify the post offices about your change of address and also, publish a notification in local newspapers and your website.

Most importantly, make sure there is nothing left behind that is important. Employees may be negligent and forget little pieces of paper here and there. You don't want that do you? After all they can contain quite a bit of information about your organization. Conduct a thorough inspection of your older office space after the belongings, computers, et all has been transported. If you find anything at all, it may be a good idea to use a shredder.

After the move, make sure you are in constant touch with your employees. Have quick meetings about any difficulty faced by them, and sort out all logistics problems. Any office moves of decent size often take more than a year to plan and execute.

So, buck up, and good luck—the toughest project of your professional career is at hand.