Month: June 2015
Celebrate Canada’s 148th Birthday, July 1st!!
……………………………………………
DJ McGauley and Associates Inc. is your Office Move, Reconstruction and Reconfiguration Project Management Company of choice for the Toronto, GTA and surrounding areas. If an office move or reconstruction of your 2000 – 25,000sqft office space is a remote possibility, consider contacting us to arrange a no-obligation site meeting. We guarantee that by the end of that meeting you will know all that would be required to make your office move/reconstruction project a successful reality.
Call 416-239-1931 , email [email protected], or visit our website to complete our contact form.
The Link Between Lease Negotiations and A Rushed Office Relocation
We see this quite often. Companies that know that they will need to relocate to a new office space start the process two, sometimes three years in advance, but they still end up rushing the physical office relocation procedures to within the last three months prior to their scheduled relocation date. Why is that?
Well, let’s look at the process. Companies planning an office relocation begin by engaging a real estate agent whose main focuses are to (a) find an ideal office space and (b) negotiate and close the lease. Often, however, the new location requires some redesign or reconstruction to “fit” the image and culture of the business that is moving in. That process requires a designer to be engaged to view the new location and draw up the plans for the company’s approval before office construction or build specialists are brought in to do the work…
Stop. Here is where the common error lies—Companies often are led to believe that they should not engage a designer until the lease is 100% finalized and signed. Getting to that stage of the lease negotiation process, however, could take up most if not all of the two or three years set aside for planning and putting into motion the physical office relocation!
So, when should a designer be brought into the picture?
Well, despite what most real estate agents may advise, we suggest that when there is an 80% commitment to the lease, even though the lease is not signed, that a designer be brought in to learn about the company’s goals and vision for the new office space, view the new office space, and draw up office design plans for approval. By the time the final office design plan is approved (an approximate three month process), the lease should be fully finalized, which means the office construction and build process along with the furniture research, purchase, delivery and set-up, and finally employee relocation-in can happen.
Leases are an important part of the office relocation process but they should not be the main cause of a rushed office relocation.
……………………………………………
DJ McGauley and Associates Inc. is your Office Relocation, Design, Reconstruction and Reconfiguration Project Management Company of choice for the Toronto, GTA and surrounding areas. If an office relocation or reconstruction of your 2000 – 25,000sqft office space is a remote possibility, consider contacting us to arrange a no-obligation site meeting. We guarantee that by the end of that meeting you will know all that would be required to make your office relocation/reconstruction project a successful reality.
Call 416-239-1931 , email [email protected], or visit our website to complete our contact form.
Celebrating Fathers!
……………………………………………
DJ McGauley and Associates Inc. is your Office Move, Reconstruction and Reconfiguration Project Management Company of choice for the Toronto, GTA and surrounding areas. If an office move or reconstruction of your 2000 – 25,000sqft office space is a remote possibility, consider contacting us to arrange a no-obligation site meeting. We guarantee that by the end of that meeting you will know all that would be required to make your office move/reconstruction project a successful reality.
Call 416-239-1931 , email [email protected], or visit our website to complete our contact form.
Why Your Employees Should Not Manage Your Office Move
Image Posted on Updated on
One of my clients recently moved to a new office building and in an attempt to save on moving costs, decided to have members of their staff coordinate the office move.
The next business day after the move was complete, the employees went into the office only to find that their phone lines were not working– someone forgot to contact the phone company to inform them of their move date. As a result, employees were forced to use their personal cellphones to conduct business.
In addition, they found out that all the company mail was still going to their old location — someone forgot to contact the postal service and alert them of both the move date and the change of address. So, the receptionist took two to three hours out of her work day to travel back to the old office location to retrieve the mail and distribute it to the staff accordingly for an entire week.
Is this a question of incompetency of the staff assigned to coordinate the office move? Hardly! They are experts in performing the job they were hired to do….which I bet was not to coordinate an office move.
Having company staff coordinate such a demanding project as an office move, I believe, is an incompetent decision. Here are four reasons why:
- An office move is a full-time project. From coordinating the move date with all stakeholders and third parties, to planning and implementing a communication strategy with all parties involved, to working with all utility companies, postal services and all other external services your company relies on to stay operational, plus working with construction managers if the new site requires reconstruction, the furniture movers, the moving truck and on-site lease managers, an office move could be considered a full-time contractual job.
- Unless you are a moving company, your staff would most likely not be trained to know and handle every detail of an office move.
- Your staff already fills a 40hr week applying their skills and talents to other duties related to your business operations. Adding an additional full time project to their plate that is not directly related to your business operations would only be a recipe for important details (like not informing the phone company and post office of your office move) being missed and neither job being done well.
- The thought of saving your company money via using your office staff in an office move is a myth. If five of your staff members were assigned to coordinate the office move and they each earned approximately $300 – $900/day, the cost to you would be $1,500 – $4,500 per day on staff being diverted from their regular business responsibilities. Add the loss of incoming revenue because of missed business opportunities (an estimated average of $ 10,000 per day), and the added cost of mistakes like those described at the beginning of this blog (mobile fees, extra mileage expense payouts), and you have an idea of how much it really costs to have your staff involved in an office move.
So what is the solution?
If your business is moving into a 2000sqft or more office space, consider finding an office move project management company in your area to take the lead and handle all the details related to your office move. Your company will be better off financially, incur minimal disruption, and enjoy hitting the ground and running once in your new office space.
.……………………………………………
DJ McGauley and Associates Inc. is your Office Move, Reconstruction and Reconfiguration Project Management Company of choice for the Toronto, GTA and surrounding areas. If an office move or reconstruction of your 2000 – 25,000sqft office space is a remote possibility, consider contacting us to arrange a no-obligation site meeting. We guarantee that by the end of that meeting you will know all that would be required to make your office move/reconstruction project a successful reality.
Call 416-239-1931 , email [email protected], or visit our website to complete our contact form.
10 Reasons an Office Move is Not Like a House Move
Image Posted on Updated on
Whether you are moving into a new house or moving into a new office space, a move is a move, right? Well it may seem like that on the surface, especially when some of what needs to be done in both an office move and a residential move is the same (e.g. arrange change of address, pack, call the phone company, etc). In comparison, however, an office move has a much greater impact and greater risks associated with it, so it cannot be fully treated the same way as a residential move.
There are many factors that effect and that are affected by an office move that may have minimal to no effect in a house move. Some of those factors are outlined in the chart below:
| A House Move… | An Office Move… | |
| 1. | Impacts a family unit | Impacts 5 – 25000 + employees |
| 2. | Causes a mild interruption to family life | Can cause a major interruption to all employees |
| 3. | The cost of making a mistake (e.g. forgetting to arrange the forwarding of the mail) is minimal | The cost of making a mistake (e.g. forgetting to arrange the forwarding of the mail) could have a significant impact regular business operations |
| 4. | Minimal to no effect on incoming household income | Possibility of significant revenue being lost due to regular operations being disrupted and sales opportunities being missed |
| 5. | Minimal moving expenses (i.e. expenses can be limited to renting a moving truck and having friends help load and unload for a pizza meal) | Moving expenses being limited to renting a moving truck means higher expenses incurred by company to pay employees and disrupt regular business operations |
| 6. | No strict packing rules – items can be packed in irregular sized boxes | Strict packing rule – all items must be packed in boxes of the same dimensions to facilitate easy stacking in the truck |
| 7. | One family member can take time off of work to focus on the move on moving day | One staff member can be assigned to coordinate the office move but will be unfocused as that staff member would also be expected to fulfill his/her regular 40hr/week business duties |
| 8. | No operating expenses involved in family life | Organizations are obligated to pay staff even if their attention is diverted away from performing regular business duties |
| 9. | Lead time required for a successful move is two months | Lead time required for a successful move is two years |
| 10. | DIY approach can work successfully | DIY approach is not recommended |
These issues will be discussed in more detail in upcoming blogs. In the meantime, if your company has five or more employees and is planning to move into a 2000sqft – 25000sqft office space, why not contact us to arrange a 20-minute no-obligation site meeting. We’ll be able to advise you on what to expect, what to budget and how we can help.
……………………………………
DJ McGauley and Associates Inc. is your Office Move, Reconstruction and Reconfiguration Project Management Company of choice for the Toronto, GTA and surrounding areas. If an office move or reconstruction of your 2000 – 25,000sqft office space is a remote possibility, consider contacting us to arrange a no-obligation site meeting. We guarantee that by the end of that meeting you will know all that would be required to make your office move/reconstruction project a successful reality.
Call 416-239-1931 , email [email protected], or visit our website to complete our contact form.
7 Things To Know Before Your Next Office Move
Image Posted on Updated on
Your organization is outgrowing your current office space, so much so that an office move into a 2000sqft to 25000sqft office space is very possible. If this describes your organization, then there are a few things you should know before you plan your next office move.
- An office move should not be treated like a Do-it-Yourself project. Compared to a residential move, an office move can be more involving in terms of getting your equipment, computer and communications systems up and running so that your business can function optimally. Thus, it would be wise to consider seeking the help of a professional office move management company that can help take care of such details for you.
- A successful office move is one that is planned two years in advanced.
- An office move represents change and could add significant disruption and stress to your staff of five or more, so empower your staff by implementing an organizational communications plan.
- Having your staff be responsible for packing up the office up will not save you any money. If you compare the total of your staff’s daily wages to the cost of utilizing a professional office move company for a day, you will find that using your staff to pack up your office actually costs you more money than using a professional moving company to do the same.
- If your original office furniture was purchased from IKEA, it may not make it through an office move. Consider purchasing industrial-grade office furniture for your new office space.
- The planning of your new office space needs to be based on the actual (not assumed) measurements of both the office space and your office furniture.
- The smallest details in an office move such as informing the postal service of your new address and effective move date, could have the biggest impact on your business operations.
I’ll share some real stories related to the above in upcoming blogs. In the meantime, if an office move into a 2000sqft to 25000sqft office space is in your short-term future, why not contact us to arrange a 20-minute no-obligation meeting. We’ll be able to advise you on what to expect, what to budget and how we can help. Call us at 416-239-1931, email us at [email protected] or submit your queries on our Contact Form.
………………………………………….
DJ McGauley and Associates Inc. is your Office Move, Reconstruction and Reconfiguration Project Management Company of choice for the Toronto, GTA and surrounding areas. If an office move or reconstruction of your 2000 – 25,000sqft office space is a remote possibility, consider contacting us to arrange a no-obligation site meeting. We guarantee that by the end of that meeting you will know all that would be required to make your office move/reconstruction project a successful reality.
Call 416-239-1931 , email [email protected], or visit our website to complete our contact form.
Corporate Space Planning & Relocation Advice 