Month: May 2014
5 Packing Tips To Take The Stress Out Of An Office Move
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—moving can be stressful. An office move is no exception. There are so many aspects of an office move that have to be taken care of even before the moving truck arrives—and those aspects just multiply when you have to coordinate that with your staff members.
So let’s talk about one of those key stressful aspects of moving: Packing. In an office move with multiple staff members, organization, coordination and minimization are key tricks to taking the stress out of packing up for an office move. Here are a few packing tips your organization can use during an office move:
Packing Tip #1 – Decide: Trash it or Pack it? Before you or your staff even begins the packing process, each of you should evaluate and identify the items in your work areas that will not be needed in the new office location and disposed of them immediately. Why move these “Trash It” items twice when you can save time, space and money ensuring that only the necessary “Pack It” items will be shipped to your new location.
Packing Tip #2 – Third-Party Storage – For such items as hard-copy files which may be important to keep yet may not need to be readily accessible in your new location, a third-party storage company could be a viable option. (Of course we would also encourage keeping a soft copy of these files in case of an emergency.)
Packing Tip #3 – Take personal valuables and memorabilia home. If there is anything that can add stress to a staff member during an office move, it is having their personal memorabilia packed in with the rest of their office equipment and stuffed onto a moving truck in the hope that they will see them arrive safe and unharmed at their new location. Save them from that stress. Encourage them to take their valuables and memorabilia home with them until after the move. They can always bring those items to their new location after he move.
Packing Tip #4 –If possible, try to attain and utilize boxes that are the same size. This will help lessen any wasted packing space when loading the moving truck.
Packing Tip # 5 – Label everything! Proper labelling of packed boxes and other items that can be easily missed such as lamps and wall hangings will help ensure that everything will be delivered to your new office and not be left behind at your old location.
So don’t stress over the packing. Instead organize and minimize using the above five packing tips. Doing so will save time, space, energy and money.
Extend Your Brand Into Your Interior Design
OK. I’m about the make a statement that may have some of you in shock.
Ready? Here it is:
Interior design and branding should go hand in hand when designing or redesigning your office space.
Surprised? You really shouldn’t be. Consider this: “branding” by definition is the act of imprinting some sort of mark or unique identity to something in order to make it stand out or be memorable. Companies in general aim to brand their products and/or services with colours, artsy images, logos, a slogan or any combination of these so that the outside world will remember them…but what about when the outside world or even your staff comes into your office space? Consistency both inside and outside of the office can only further enhance your branding efforts.
So how can a company incorporate elements of its brand into the interior design of an office space?
First, consider your walls. Walls are the main canvas of interior design. Any or all components of your brand can be displayed on your walls. So if colour, for example, is a key component to your brand, you can either paint all the walls your brand colour, create an accent wall with your brand colour, or paint portions of your wall the brand colour. A logo can be painted or mounted on one of the walls in a reception area or boardroom. Artsy images such as waves, stripes or bubbles that may be related to your brand can be painted or stenciled as accents to your wall design. Even a slogan or mission statement can be stencilled or mounted on a wall of your office space in order to reinforce your branding efforts.
Now, consider your floors. Similar to walls, colour, logos, slogans or artsy images can be incorporated right into your floor or carpet design, budget permitting. Most companies that incorporate aspects of their branding into their floor design would primarily have this in their main reception area. (Of course, the floors would need a special coating to ensure such images remain intact in high traffic areas.) A smaller budget option would be to have welcome mats in your brand colour either with or without your logo or artsy image intact.
Finally, consider your non-fixed items such as desks, furniture, and accent items such as table mats, coasters, pillows, flower pots or other accent décor items. A simple application would be to purchase such items in your brand colours and have them placed in key areas of your office space. Some companies may take this step further and add their mission statement, logo or branding image on some of these items.
Branding is not just for outside the office. Whether you own or lease your office space, there is always a way to extend your brand into the interior design of your office.
Corporate Space Planning & Relocation Advice 