Shifting an office is a daunting and somewhat annoying task for most of us. Also, it is not something that you would encounter every day. So, whether you are shifting to another office in the same locality to a different one, you need to plan out well and think of every possible step in detail, in order to ensure that this office shifting does not become one of the most stressful experiences of your professional life.
The stress would increase multiple folds if you have a lot of items to shift and you approach the moving process in a very haphazard manner. Like in case of every other project, you need to determine your needs and plan out when so that the execution is flawless. This will also ensure that the process becomes less annoying and painful.
At Pikkol, we have handled the shifting needs of companies of various sizes over the years. Our professional services have been availed by many reputed brands and we have shifted offices within, and across cities. Based on the vast experience that we have gathered over moving in excess of 200 commercial establishments every year, here are some tips for you on how to move your office smoothly and within the scheduled time.
These are office moving checklists which make the moving process more organised and stress free:
1. Create an office moving team: the best way to start is to create an office moving team for overseeing and handling the shifting process. This team will consist of people from across the organization, most importantly from the Administration, human resources, finance and supply chain departments.
2. Plan early: Shifting an office is not an overnight job, so you need to start planning well in advance. If you have been located in your present office for several years, then do not expect that you will be able to pack up everything quickly and make. Start early, ideally several months in advance in order to eliminate the last moment pain
3. Sensitize employees: keep your employees informed about the move. If the office is getting shifted to another part of the city, then they will need to make necessary arrangements for their daily commute to the new location.
4. Hire a professional moving company: this is a must if you want to make the moving process hassle-free. If your company is large, then check with them to understand whether they have enough manpower to handle your shifting. Also, plan the shifting on a date on which they will be able to provide their services.
5. Check building rules: Many commercial buildings imposed restrictions on when shifting can be done. Every building has its own set of rules regarding this. Check with the authorities of your existing office building, as well as the ones in the new office to determine the best time for shifting. It is highly likely that they will not allow you to shift during the daytime on a weekday, so you have either shift at night or on a weekend.
6. Check road transportation rules: The local authorities of most cities put restrictions on movement of heavy vehicles within the city during the daytime. If you are moving to a new office within the same city, then it is likely that you will avoid those hours for shifting.
7. Create an inventory list: the office moving team or the departmental heads need to create a list of the items in their department that would need to be moved.
8. Shifting critical items: in any modern office, the IT infrastructure is a major inventory that needs to be shifted. Special care should be taken to shift the servers and desktop computers quickly, so that the downtime is minimized, and employees can get back to work immediately when they join work in the new office.
9. Packing: Every item in your office needs to be wrapped and packed safely so that they do not get damaged during transportation. This is a lengthy process, especially because every item needs a different kind of packing material and handling. Allow the professional moving company enough time to get this done. This is a time-consuming process, but is highly critical in ensuring the success of the entire shifting process.
10. Moving: it is important to ensure no employees other than those belonging to the office moving team are present in the office during the actual shifting process. This will make life simpler for the movers, as they will not face any obstruction while working. The members of the office moving team should be present in both the old as well as the new office premises and coordinate amongst each other to ensure that everything goes.
Keeping these points in mind will ensure that the process of moving your office becomes less troublesome and error free. Consult the professional moving company you have hired at every step to ensure that the shifting process becomes smoother.
