Moving offices can be an exciting, busy and potentially hectic experience. Whether you are moving into a larger serviced office or expanding your business in your first owned building, it’s important to get yourself and your team ready for the big move. Here are a few of our best pointers to help make your move as smooth as possible.

Purpose: Ask yourself why you’re moving

Before you start your move, you need to think about why it is you’re moving and how it will benefit your business, your staff and your customers.

Are you trying to gain more space, ready to employ more staff or are you trying to impress and appeal to bigger clients and reach new markets? Are you hoping to make more of an impact in the local area or is it time to refresh your working environment to accommodate your staff’s individual needs to help boost morale and productivity?

Whatever the reason for your move, make sure you know the reason for doing it and plan appropriately. Include your staff as often as possible, this will show them why the move will be better for the business and not leave them in the dark about the process.

Planning and design

When you start your planning and designing process think about what motivation you have to fuel your design ideas: Do you have members of staff with specific needs that need addressing, such as quieter areas for those with more introverted personalities, areas to breastfeed, extra meeting space for collaboration? Talk to your staff as often as possible ahead of the office move to make sure you have a wealth of information and ideas for the design and layout.

By understanding where your business is at now, what challenges you face in the way you work and any issues your staff have will allow you to put ideas in place to help the staff of all different needs and preferences work to their very best ability. Increasing productivity, staff wellbeing and ultimately helping your business thrive.

A new office is the perfect time to realign your branding, the look and feel you want to achieve and the presence you want to portray to anyone who comes into your office. Typically, businesses decide this is the time to refresh their brand personality, by moving away from standard designs and historically corporate colours.

A fundamental part of planning the design of any space is knowing what space you are working with. Ensure you have the floorplan for the new office, this will allow you and your office fit-out company to play around with possible layouts and what will work best for your team. At this stage, clearly define where communal spaces will be and how your desks will be laid out. This stage is especially important to futureproof your office, to support you as you grow.

Summary
– Talk to your staff often to understand their needs
– Use the floor plan to workout spaces and areas ahead of time
– Plan your colour scheme and core design theme well in advance
– Ensure your designs are futureproofed, to support you as your business grows

Collaboration

Making your space not only look spectacular but also function effectively for your business and staff needs is paramount. Take the time to work collaboratively to create a seamless office move experience.

Don’t forget that once you have an office, a plan, a design and all your new ideas, you need to bring it all to life. Make sure you are working effectively with your removals company (if you are using one), that you have assigned designated supervisors for steps of the move (e.g. staying at the current premises until the last of your office has been moved over and then a supervisor on the other end as everything arrives). Ensure everyone is clear on their roles ahead of time.

Summary
– Work closely with your staff and core stakeholders in the design for the new space.
– Ensure you are open-minded to the needs of others
– Ask your staff for feedback on your current workspace and how it could be improved for them
– Keep employee wellness at the forefront of your mind during the design
– Actively seek ideas and collaboration with your team
– Discuss and work with core members of the move process (removals companies, supervisors of the move, every individual actively involved in the move.)

Timing

Finding a good time to move offices is never going to be easy but try to move at a time that isn’t typically busy for your business and not in the middle of any major projects, as your business still needs to function as effectively as possible throughout the process.

Planning efficiently ahead of time should allow a far smoother move, so make sure to be prepared! Working with a full-service office fit-out and furniture company gives you peace of mind that every step of the move will be handled, from the design of your new space to the plumbers or electricians necessary and all the support during the move.

If you’re getting to ready to make a move, talk to our team about how we can give you a functional, perfectly designed and personalised workspace.