How to Plan an Office or Business Move

Whether you are expanding or downsizing your business, relocating your equipment, stock, and staff will take meticulous planning.

Even a seemingly simple office move needs careful planning if you want to avoid any disruption to your business and to your customers.

Obviously, there are so many variables that a one size fits all guide to moving your office is impossible to create that would fulfill every company’s needs.

But here we will show you how to plan for an office move and give you invaluable tips on office move project management.

Additionally, we can help you plan any business or office move, no matter what the size or complexity of your move, by introducing you to one simple planning tool.

Known as a Gantt chart, this is a super-efficient way of planning a business move and an online search will provide you with some free templates for you to use.

How to Project Manage a Successful Office Move

How do you plan an office move project? Painstakingly thoroughly.

As with any move, it is essential to start the planning process as early as possible.

Your first task will be to appoint someone to oversee and manage the entire office relocation.

It should be determined how you intend to move, in a phased way, or all on one day. This will affect your office relocation action plan as key dates will need to be factored in.

It is wise to have each milestone of the move clearly detailed at the beginning of the project. Get this in writing, agreed, and signed off by the most senior manager, so that everyone is clear on their objectives.

Your Gantt chart will be the office relocation action plan and the benchmark to control the timing of each stage of the office move (more about Gantt charts in the next section).

Spend as much time as possible on the planning phase, consulting as many key people as possible.

Having created your office relocation plan you may then need to select people to be responsible for managing certain departments or aspects of the move.

Again it is wise to have the DRP (designated responsible person, the person who is responsible for completing that task) sign off the task sheet that is assigned to them.

Having a floor plan of your current office and new office is useful. Have a staff meeting and determine what works, and does not work in your current set up and plan to improve the work space in your new location.

Good communication is vital when relocating. Especially so when moving workspaces, when at least some of the workforce will be resistant to the changes. Hold team meetings to ensure everyone knows why the move is happening and emphasize all the positives. Keep everyone fully briefed as to how the move is going and as each milestone is reached.

One of the crucial tasks early on in the planning process will be to select a reputable commercial removal company. This is vitally important to get right and a whole section of this guide is dedicated to choosing a good removal company just for this reason.

But first off, let’s introduce you to Gantt charts and show you how much easier it will make the entire moving process.

What is a Gantt Chart for Moving Office?

Simply put, it is a list of all the tasks that you need to complete, the date that you have to have that task completed by, and who is responsible for completing that task. It will ensure that nothing is overlooked during the move.

Crucially it charts which tasks have been completed and which aspects of the office move have fallen behind, or are ahead, of schedule.

You can make the chart as complicated, with as much detailed information as you wish, but from experience, I would say that simple is best.

Agreeing on a colour code for completed, in progress, and behind schedule tasks, is important so that it is easy to understand at a glance where the tasks that require more attention are.

You may also be interested in this moving planner and calendar, which although for home moves, you may find it useful.

How to Create a Gantt Chart or Business Moving Checklist

You will need to insert the tasks that relate to your particular move, and also insert the dates and names of who is responsible for each task to the Gantt chart template you have downloaded from the internet.

Depending upon the size of your business move you can create a Gantt chart for each department or aspect of the move. So you could have one for offices, production, stock, human resources, and planning the new office or building for example.

So the first column of your office move spreadsheet will list all the things that need to be done.

Note that the list should be in the order that the tasks must be completed, in some cases the next task cannot be started until the previous task has been finished. Some tasks can be completed simultaneously and are not dependent upon each other being completed first.

Once you have a comprehensive list of things that need doing, assign a DRP in the next column.

Now put week numbers or dates at the top of the following columns leading up to the actual move date.

Then assign a period of days for the task to be completed and colour the cells that correspond to that length of time.

Depending on the complexity of the move you may want to factor in review meetings on the chart.

How to Move a Business Efficiently

A commercial removal company is very likely going to be needed for larger office moves. It is the most efficient way of moving your business, saving you time and resources.

It should be noted that even for smaller office moves it may be wise to hire a removal company for health and safety reasons. Having your staff move heavy desks and cabinets that they are untrained for, may result not only in lost work days but a hefty financial penalty should they be injured.

Your staff can then concentrate on the day to day tasks of the office and causing as little disruption to your customers as possible.

Not only that, but think of all the risk assessments you will have to write. Not a good way to spend your valuable time when there is so much else to do.

So you will need to hire a removal firm who are experienced in the type and size of move you are undertaking.

An experienced commercial removal firm will be able to offer invaluable advice and support, so it is vital you choose the best removal firm you can find.

You should seek 3-4 quotes from local commercial removal companies so that you can compare prices in the first instance.

Once you get those quotes, be sure to thoroughly research each of the companies and compare exactly what services they offer.

Read as many reviews as you can find, and check out their website. Visit their premises, a clean and tidy depot and trucks will usually indicate an efficient and professional removal service.

It goes without saying that the removal company must visit your site to see exactly what the move will entail and so that they can give you the most accurate quote, as well as formulate a plan for moving your business.

Compare those quotes, type of service offered, insurance levels, complaints procedure, and resolution process. You may also want to consider if they are a member of one of the trade associations, which has certain benefits to you as a customer.

It is likely that they will assign a moving advisor to you and it would be prudent to have that person attend at least one of the final review meetings so that you all know exactly what to expect on moving day.

Final Tips on How to Plan an Office Relocation

There are some things that you may not have considered in your initial office moving plans. The office moving checklist is not set in stone, but it pays to have the initial planning phase as thorough as possible.

Try not to have to change the plan, but if you do, make sure you number them as V1, V2, V3 etc. so everyone is working off the right version.

Have a contingency plan in case any of the milestones are missed in your plan.

Your business relocation plan should anticipate all eventualities and have a solution for those incidents should they arise.

Bonus office relocation tip: Create a business relocation binder. This will hold all the important documentation relating to your move, all in one convenient place.

This guide here relates to creating a home moving binder but will introduce you to the concept.

Moving your office or business is also a good opportunity to revise work practices and this may affect how your new offices are laid out. This is a whole other aspect of the office move and requires separate, but just as thorough, planning.

Include people from all levels and departments of the business in your planning, input from frontline staff is often invaluable.

But this guide has been all about how to a business to a new location, we are a moving website after all. I will leave you to figure out the other intricacies of your business move.

And finally, as was drilled into me constantly, don’t forget your 7p’s:

Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Pitifully Poor Performance.

You only get the opportunity to get a business move right once. There is no second moving day.

So be sure to hire a reputable removal company to make your office move as efficient, safe, and easy as possible.

Get it right and your moving day will go flawlessly. Leaving you time to organise an amazing office warming party.

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