5 Critical Steps in Prepping for an Office Move

While there are many items on an office moving checklist, project development and office space planning, which set the tone for the rest of a move and determine its success, are two of the most critical.

1. Develop a project plan.

Any complicated project benefits from a solid plan. Developing an office moving checklist is just one part of the planning. Identify major phases like breakdown of the current office, vacating the current space, transporting goods and settling into the new office. Then, determine the tasks for each phase, and be sure to note any dependencies in your list.

2. Determine a timeframe.

While your furniture, equipment and other business assets might get moved in one day, some office moves take six months or more to plan. At a minimum, take at least three months to plan your move. If you’ll be bringing in outside experts, do this at the very beginning. They’ll save you time and money by getting your plan up to speed quickly and identifying any gaps.

3. Conduct an occupancy review.

Once you have your plan and timeframe, start the office space planning process. You may be moving to a larger or smaller space. To make optimal space decisions, do an occupancy review and an employee census. Analyze your current departments and what they’ll need in the future. This is a great time to review headcounts with department leaders and identify how space is used currently. Does your office have unused space or overcrowded areas? What are your plans for each department’s headcount going forward?

4. Determine square footage and create a floor plan.

With the occupancy study completed, you’ll understand future space needs and can start detailed office space planning. This includes workstations, equipment centers, offices, conference rooms, fixtures and other spaces. Experts can provide independent and objective assistance with all of these space considerations including site surveys, facility reviews, technology assessments, space planning, furniture strategy and employee move preparations.

5. Create a budget.

Once you have all of these items documented, it’s time to determine the costs. Run through your office moving checklist carefully. Be sure to include things like the prep and turnover of your vacated space. Read your lease to understand all of your responsibilities for leaving your current office, and consider the cost of cleaning and restoring the vacated space to the landlord’s expectations. In addition to the move expenses, consider cost savings on other planned projects that would be convenient to complete during a move, like a technology upgrade.

As will be obvious, moving an office involves much more than transporting desks from one place to another. There’s no shame in looking for some help with office moving and space planning, but if you do so, best plan for it early.

Thinking about an office move? Feel free to contact us. We’d love to hear more about your business and talk about how we can help.