Office Move
Why Your Employees Should Not Manage Your Office Move
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
Avoiding Post-Office Relocation “Growing Pains” – Ask the Right Questions
Ok. So in one of my previous blogs, I pointed out seven post office relocation “growing pains” to avoid, namely
(1) Insufficient office space to facilitate growth
(2) Insufficient electrical outlets and/or voltage for office equipment
(3) Noisy or disruptive heating/cooling system
(4) Telecommunications limited or not activated at new site
(5) Insufficient internet services available for your business needs
(6) Lack of transportation options for staff to get to the new location
(7) Lack of parking available
One strategy to avoiding the above is by asking and answering the right questions.
- How much staff and equipment do you currently have?
- How many additional staff do you foresee hiring within the next five years? What about equipment?
- Do any of your staff need closed-in offices? How many will be in cubicles?
- What about meeting rooms, lunch areas, storage areas?—how many would your organization need?
Your answers to the above questions multiplied by the knowledge that the standard space allotted to each room or staff member ranges from approximately 36 sq.ft (for a small cubicle) to 300 sq ft (for a large office) can help determine the ideal size of your office space should be in order to meet your current and future business needs.
Some office environment questions you may want ask include,
- Is that heating/cooling system noisy or quiet?
- What about windows – are there a lot or very little?
Why these questions? Background noises such as the low hum of a heating or cooling system could prove to be quite distracting especially if your organization regularly conducts meetings via conference calls, webcast or Skype. As for the windows, studies have shown that employees tend to work more productively if they are able to see the outside from their work areas.
Here are some more questions you may want to consider regarding the geographic location:
- Outside of walking or driving a personal vehicle, is the potential new location easily accessible by public transit?
- Are there a variety of eateries, post offices, and other services nearby that would be complimentary to the function of your business ?
Finally, to avoid technological “growing pains”, one should seek answers to the following questions:
- How many outlets are available for your equipment?
- What about your telecommunication needs such as telephone, internet availability? Can the telecommunication services in the new area accommodate your company’s current and future telecommunication needs?
It can be easily overlooked, but I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for businesses to actually know what their organization needs in relation to their office space to function effectively. Asking the right questions, and aiming to get the right answers is a step closer to helping your business hit the ground running once your office move is complete.
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.
What Not To Forget When Moving Offices – “Redirection of Mail”
The end of the year is in sight! With year-end comes the urgency to tie up loose ends, boost sales, and finalizing business deals. Year-end is also a prime time for implementing organizational changes for the coming year such as changes in staff or moving to a new office location. Top that with the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and you have the perfect platform for missing some essential details, especially when it comes to moving offices from one location to another. In fact, in our 20+ years of experience of helping companies relocate, we have found that 8 out of 10 companies make the same common errors when relocating to a new office.
Want to know one of them? Here it is:
- Failure to arrange the redirection of mail with the post office
Surprised? Don’t be. Companies can easily negate arranging the redirection of mail because they may have internal systems in place to inform their database of current stakeholders of any changes they make with the company. As well, the rise in the use of social media for businesses may appear to slowly negate the need to address the redirection of mail with the postal company.
So why is arranging the redirection of mail with the postal service so important? Here are a few reasons:
- It covers all bases. Even if your company can inform its entire CRM database of your company’s new address, utilizing the postal company’s redirection of mail service both emphasises the change and can catch any drippings of important mail from those patrons who may not be on the CRM list or who may correspond with your organization once or twice in the year.
- It’s a time-saver. With all the other intricate details involved in moving offices and running your regular business operations, contacting your postal service and taking advantage of their redirection of mail or mail forwarding service is one way to take care of a very important job in less than five minutes, especially since those arrangements can now be made online. In addition, the postal service can continue ensuring your mail is forwarded to the correct address for weeks, months or even a full year, so you won’t have to worry about it.
- It can be cost-effective. Postal services, like Canada post for example, may charge a small fee for taking care of the redirection of mail, but compare that to the cost of having a staff member take time out of their regularly scheduled activities to consolidate a list, prepare a “change of address” announcement and managing the sending of that message to your contacts, paying the postal service may be the cheaper route to go.
So if your company is planning to start the upcoming year in a new office location, remember to contact your post office and take advantage of their redirection of mail service.
3 Strategies to Retain Customers During a Corporate Relocation
Don’t let the fear of losing your customers stop you from moving into a new office. If the current office is not in an ideal location or it can no longer sustain your manpower, there is no other option but to relocate. At D.J. McGauley & Associates, we are dedicated to ensuring that your corporate move is seamless in every aspect. Here are three proven strategies to retain your customers during your corporate relocation.
1. Have a relocation marketing strategy
Your relocation marketing strategy must not only be intense; it must also be well-planned. At least one month prior to the move, you should reprint all your brochures and letterhead with your new address. In addition, change signature files on all outgoing email correspondence to include the new address.
Post announcements about the move in highly visible areas within your current location. Your past customers should also be sent postcards, with highly valuable clients receiving handwritten notes. Print correspondence should be followed up with emails to remind them of the move. All correspondence should visibly highlight the new address.
But it’s not enough for you to tell your employees that you’re moving to a new location—the why matters just as much. Emphasize what moving to a new location means for them: a better quality of service, accessibility, and convenience are among the reasons that you can point out.
2. Hold a Grand Opening event
Lure your existing customers to the new location by holding a special event just for them. Give them discounts, a special sale, or irresistible freebies—anything to get them to attend to your new location. Getting them to your new location is the first step to retaining them.
Once they’ve stepped foot in your new office, talk about the highlights of the new location and why it’s a much better place than the former. Giving customers the VIP treatment while sharing your insights with them will make them feel like they are part of the decision and the reason for the move. This will surely offset any inconvenience caused by your corporate relocation. Involve your existing customers in the “journey”, and reward them for sticking with your brand through and through.
3. Have an online relationship with your customers
Social networking is an extension of your relationship with your customers. Find a way to bridge that gap caused by the corporate relocation: network with them online. Get them to your new location by holding exclusive online discounts and coupons for your loyal customers. If you do not have one already, this might be the perfect opportunity to start a loyalty club, where your customers can track their points through an online platform.
For more tips and strategies to help you stay connected with your customers during a corporate relocation, contact us today. We will help you along every step of your corporate move.
Corporate Space Planning & Relocation Advice 