How to stay productive during an office move

Whether it’s to a new market or a new physical space in the same city that might be more conducive to your work, moving your office can be challenging. Your relocation plans can disrupt your business activities. Your group may not be as active as usual because you’re focusing on moving everything, plus you may not have access to all the things necessary for work.

But your move doesn’t have to impair your business efforts far too much. You can use a few tips to help you remain productive even as you move your office. These ideas can be useful when trying to keep your business active during what is normally a stressful time for any company.

Communicate With Your HR Department and Your Employees

Talk with your business about your moving plan before you start. Make sure everyone is on the same page when managing the move. Let everyone know about your moving plans and how they can access you, whether by phone or email. You can also delegate some tasks to others in the business if possible. The jobs you move to other people should be planned carefully based on who you know will help you and how you can get something to work well.

You could also ask your employees for assistance with the moving process, particularly when they aren’t busy doing other things for your business. But make sure everything works within reasons. Don’t keep your employees away from their work. Let them help you based on what they’re open to manage.

Create a Plan For What You Want To Do Before the Move

You might need to complete a few tasks before you can start your move. Be ready to finish all those tasks a few weeks before moving, including:

1 – Major reports you need to complete

2 – Communications or conferences with other businesses or partners

3 – Any hiring processes you want to complete

4 – Budgeting for the coming year or period, including budgeting based on your new location and your moving expenses

Get all the tough tasks for your work out of the way before you move. Clear these challenging points before heading out to ensure you can get enough time for your move and that you’re not too focused on something.

Discuss Commuting Plans With Your Employees

Your employees will need to travel to your new site. Talk with them about how they can get to your new business location. Mention the directions for getting there, and provide a reasonable timeframe for when people can come to your site. Allow for some leeway for when someone will arrive at your new space, especially if it’s in a space that your employees don’t recognize.

Do not expect your workers to be completely ready to get to your new site. Allow them to take a few days to get used to a new location. The plans you put in should be managed well without being too hard to manage if you’re careful enough with your work.

Contact Your Customers

There might be times when your customers will want to contact you about something, but you’re too busy with your move to provide them your full attention. Let your customers know about your move beforehand. Tell them about your new location or contact info.

Mention your tentative schedule for your move so people will know when they can expect to reach you. Those customers will likely understand and will reschedule their communications with you at the right time.

Backup Your Data As Necessary

Back up every bit of data you have in your office to ensure everything stays secure. You can backup your contents on a cloud server, or you can use multiple physical drives to keep everything intact.

Whatever you use, the backups should be safe:

5 – Keep multiple copies of the same backup if possible. The effort keeps you from losing your data if one copy goes missing.

6 – Have other employees in the office hold their own copies of your data.

7 – Allow your data to be easy to access from anywhere. You can use a cloud system that can be accessed on a mobile device, or you can use something that you can insert into a laptop. The feature helps when you’re trying to do business while on the go.

Any data you do back up should be safe and protected. Be sure when moving that you keep everything in order and know where you are going with your work.

Contact Utility Providers

Reach all the utility providers for your business before you move. Let them know about your new location and when you will need to get their services ready at your new space. Some of the outside groups to contact include:

8 – Internet service providers

9 – Telecom services

10 – Utility and cleaning services

11 – Hospitality providers

12 – Maintenance companies, including janitorial services

The utility providers should have a schedule for what you will be doing, but make sure they know about your plans a few weeks in advance if possible. They will be more likely to move your services to your new spot if you provide enough notice of what you will be doing with your work environment.

Watch Out When Finding Low Rates

Some commercial moving companies may offer low rates for their moving services. But sometimes the cheapest option might not be the best. A low-cost provider might not be ready for you right away, or it might take a while for it to get your items to your new site.

Focus on quality when finding a mover, and make sure the party is someone who can keep your items together and organized while getting to your new office soon. A quality team will reduce the timeframe for moving, helping you remain productive.

Allow People to Work For Home

Working from home has become an increasingly common activity for many businesses. People can work from home in many ways:

13 – They can access some of the documents and data for your business through an online network. You can secure the data on a cloud database that people can reach from anywhere.

14 – Videoconferencing programs can work when people need to talk with one another. You can use some videoconferencing solutions that let users share their computer screens, which is useful for presentations.

15 – Have your workers send documents by email when they are complete.

16 – Plan a schedule for when people will work for you. The schedule should be suitable for everyone in the workplace.

While working from home isn’t always as effective as working in an office, it is still better than keeping your business functional during the move. Plan a work-from-home routine for everyone to use to keep the business running during this stressful time.

Look For Business Events In Your Area

Since you don’t have a physical space for operation during this time, you could always set up a temporary spot at a business event in the area where you are moving. You can set up a stand at a convention or rent a spot to promote yourself to people who aren’t familiar with your company, for example. You might also find networking events in your area where you can communicate with people.

Time Your Move Well

The last tip for staying productive during your move is to schedule the move on a weekend. You may not have as much of a work demand during the weekend. You can focus on commercial moving during that time without thinking too much about any pending activities.

All these plans for moving your office will ensure you can stay protective and active. Be sure to look at how you’ll move, and communicate with the others in your office to keep everyone on the same page. You can use these points for work when you’re careful.