Business risk analysts will tell you that moving office always constitutes a major risk to what’s called ‘business continuity’.
In other words, some businesses can struggle to continue working for a period of time due to unforeseen problems that have arisen during office moving activities.
At Total Care Removals we have a considerable degree of experience in this area and know that occasionally problems can arise in even the best-managed moves.
Here are some of our top tips about things you might be able to do to reduce your business exposures.
1. Allow contingency time to get your new office up and running. Planning your move for saya Wednesday and expecting to start business in your new location first thing Thursday morning might be brave. There is no allowance there for glitches, so, moving over a weekend (preferably Friday) might be more sensible. It will give you two days to cope with any problems that arise.
2. If you can, prepare your new site thoroughly and make sure it is fully up and functioning, then move your personnel into it. Their existing equipment and non-critical items from the old office can then be delivered as required. That does mean that for a time you will be paying for two office configurations but the extra expense might be justified by the reduced risk.
3. Allocate someone senior, if not you personally, to manage the entire office moving activity. Make sure that they are in charge of everything and are the prime contact point for your professional office relocation company. Don’t allow this responsibility to dilute over several people or confusion will result.
4. Make a thorough plan covering all aspects of the office move. Once you are sure it is right, get someone who doesn’t really understand the fine detail to check it and play devil’s advocate. That’s because when any of us get too close to events, we sometimes can’t see the flaws in our own thinking. Don’t be defensive and if someone tells you that your plan has things missing or is flawed, think carefully about what they are telling you.
Office moving doesn’t have to be terribly traumatic if you have planned and built in some ‘what if’ contingencies.