Moving to a new office building is an exciting milestone whether you’re moving across town or across the country. Perhaps you need more space for new employees, or maybe you’re relocating to a more modern, contemporary office.

No matter the reason for your move, you have a lot to coordinate once you learn how to move a business to a new location. You’ll need to prepare everything, from your employees to your office furnishings, for a stress-free move.

If that seems overwhelming, don’t worry. We’ve created this commercial moving guide to help make your transition to a new building as smooth as possible.

How to Make an Office Relocation Action Plan

The earlier you start planning for your move, the more organized you and your company will be. Ideally, you’ll begin creating your office relocation action plan within six months to a year of your move.

You can start this process once you know you want to relocate your company and make details more definite once you pick a new location. Factor these steps into your office relocation action plan.

Review your current lease

Take a look at your existing lease before determining a definite moving schedule. Check if you’ll owe any fees or lose deposits if you end your lease early. See if you’re responsible for any property damage or repairs needed after you move and plan to spruce up your building.

Create a budget

Figure out how much your company can spend on commercial moving services and other needs for your relocation. Appoint a team to oversee the budget and coordinate the move’s financial aspects. Assign someone to hire, approve of and pay movers and other services.

Coordinate with managers

Consistent communication keeps everyone in the loop. Have regular meetings with team leaders to communicate steps of the moving process and delegate tasks to them. They can create a list of what equipment or items their departments will need to have moved to the new location. They’ll help develop and employ work plans for the moving process to keep all your employees organized.

Create a moving committee

See who on your team would want to be part of a specific moving committee. These people can include managers, human resources employees, and other employees. They can be in charge of communicating details about the move, instead of all your managers. Have the committee create a specific email address where employees can send questions about the move, or put together a webpage with FAQs to explain the process.

Create a timeline

As you coordinate with managers and your moving committee, collaborate to make a moving timeline. Determine when to hire moving services, when you’ll have meetings to update other employees and when you’ll begin preparing the office for the move.

Notify your property manager

Once you have a date confirmed for your move, you’ll need to let your property manager know you’re leaving. Try to communicate this to them early, so they have time to prepare.

Notify suppliers, services, and partners

If you have external relationships with clients, suppliers or partners, make sure they know you’re moving. Provide direct communication, from phone calls to emails, to update them about your relocation. You can then make the address change on your website and social media. Cancel contracts with local vendors if they don’t serve your new location.

Hire new services

If your current services and suppliers don’t cover your next office space, you’ll need to hire new ones. Delegate researching new service providers to someone on your moving committee. You can then organize hiring those services and arranging new contracts.

Create a floor plan

Once you know your new building’s layout, you can create a floor plan. Use a similar organization method to your current building if the workflow you have now is effective. If not, collaborate with managers and employees to design a more efficient layout.

How to Prepare for an Office Move

With an office relocation plan in mind, you can start preparing for your move. You’ll have two primary considerations for this process — your employees and the office itself. Incorporate these additional office moving tips into your relocation plan to be even more organized.

Prepare Your Employees

Your employees are an essential part of your business. You don’t want to lose them to the stress of a move. Preparing everyone in your company for office relocation, from managers to new hires, will help make the move go smoothly. You’ll eliminate confusion while maintaining your employees’ trust in you and the company. Follow these steps to lay the groundwork for office relocation.

Communicate details

Once you know for sure you’ll be moving, you should communicate that fact to your employees. You don’t want them to hear it through the office grapevine. They’ll appreciate having time to adjust and prepare for the move, too. You can either have managers convey this information and keep employees updated or handle this yourself. The method you choose depends on your company size and structure. As long as someone provides updates and information about the move, your employees will have a smoother transition.

Explain the reasons and benefits

If you can, provide your employees with reasons for the move. Clarify your motivations and help your company understand your decision. Be sure to mention the benefits. Is your new office in a more central location? Is it closer to more restaurants your staff can enjoy exploring? Perhaps it’s a larger space or has better parking. Emphasize these advantages to get your employees looking forward to the move. Remember that if you’re excited about the relocation, your employees will be, too.

Create a work plan

How will your employees work, if at all, during the office relocation? If you have specialized equipment that will take time to set up in the new location and your staff can’t work from home, communicate those details. You’ll have to decide whether to give employees that time off. If you’ve already provided tools and technology that enable online collaboration and communication, consider having everyone work from home until the move wraps up. Collaborate with office managers and get feedback from employees to determine the best plan.

Provide checklists

If every employee is responsible for organizing their area for the move, give them to-do lists. Have them collect their belongings and take them home before the office relocation. That gives you less to worry about for the move.

Let them ask questions

Encourage your employees to ask questions. Whether you provide a moving committee email address or message board, make yourself available for candid conversations or have manager’s field concerns, your employees will appreciate it. Answering these questions and concerns will also help eliminate confusion and misinformation spreading around the office.

Collect keys and parking passes

Put someone on the moving committee in charge of creating a list of everyone’s passes or keys. They can then collect them before the move and ensure no one has lost theirs. You can then distribute new passes and keys to welcome your employees to the new office.

Prepare the Current Office

Another essential part of relocation is prepping your office. You want everything ready to go once it’s time to relocate. Save time and stress on moving day by following these tips to get your current office shipshape.

Know when you can start moving

If you need to move a lot of items and equipment in your current office, see how early professionals can transport everything to the new space. If you can, get ahead instead of procrastinating until the last minute. That gives your company more time to set up the new office.

Organize and centralize crucial documents

You’ll want to have your company’s essential documents organized and in one place, ready to go for the move. You don’t want to lose contracts or notes in the shuffle. Back up all paper files in the cloud. Even if you already have digital versions of these documents, you should still organize the physical ones. Centralize them in one area of your current office to help you keep track of them.

Determine how many large or specialized items you have

You won’t want to risk damaging large equipment or items by prepping them by yourself. Instead, determine how much you have and communicate that to professional movers. They’ll know what packing supplies they need to move bulky or delicate items.

Purchase new furniture or equipment

You may want to use a move as an opportunity to replace old items in your office. Treat your employees to new desks or decor and create a stunning space.

Cut down your office inventory

Your move will go more smoothly if you clear the clutter of unneeded items. If you can, avoid ordering office supplies and materials as your moving date comes closer. If you’re getting new furniture for your relocation, pare down what you have now. Donate, sell or dispose of items you won’t need, depending on their condition.

Valuable Office Moving Tips

When it’s time for your office relocation, prepare with the most crucial things to focus on. These extra tips will help you on the day of the move and the days leading up to it.

Establish plans with your movers: You or someone on your moving committee should reach out to your professional movers before the move. Decide how many items you’re moving and where everything will go. You should also double-check the time you scheduled the movers for.
Confirm moving plans with your employees: You or whoever is going to be on-site for the move needs to know the schedule. Someone likely needs to be at your current office to let the movers in. You may also want to supervise the process and follow movers to the new building, which you’ll need to open for them, too.
Check the utilities in your new office: Ensure the lights, heating and cooling, plumbing and electricity work in your new building before you move. Contact your utility providers if you have any issues. You’ll need lights, climate control and other utilities as an essential part of an office relocation. You should also check that internet services are working if you got them before the move.
Give instructions to your movers: If you have any specific concerns for your items, communicate those with your movers. You may have fragile equipment or furniture you plan to store. You can also use your floor plan to instruct movers where to place or unpack items.

Use Professional Movers for Your Office Relocation

One of the best office moving tips is to hire professionals to help. You’ll have a stress-free move, especially when you trust a professional moving company with commercial services. When you hire commercial moving services for your relocation, you’ll enjoy benefits like these.

Get trustworthy moving services: Professional movers, like the team at David McCarthy Moving, are employees, not temporary hires. With trained professionals taking care of your move, you can rest assured they’ll handle your items carefully. For added peace of mind, we’re fully licensed and insured.
Streamline your moving process: You don’t pack up and move offices often, but professional movers do. They know the best way to pack, transport and unload everything. With years of experience and training, professional movers will work more efficiently than you and your employees would if you tried to pack up the office yourselves.
Free up your employees’ time: You don’t want to deplete your resources by having employees handle packing and unpacking items. While they can take care of small personal belongings, leave the larger items and equipment to the professionals. Your staff will appreciate the fact that you hired professionals to handle a move, instead of delegating the process to them.
Get access to storage: When you relocate with a professional moving company like David McCarthy Moving, you’ll have access to storage services. Perhaps your new building doesn’t have as much storage as your current one. Or maybe you don’t want to clutter your office with holiday party supplies and extra furniture during your move. Secure, air-conditioned storage facilities keep your company’s items safe while you focus on your relocation.
Have delivery services available: Some moving companies offer to deliver specific items to warehouses, stores or storage facilities, like the professional movers at David McCarthy Moving do. You can also organize delivery options with our scheduling services to suit your logistical needs.

Get Commercial Moving Services With David McCarthy Moving

If you need commercial moving and storage services, David McCarthy Moving would be happy to help. Our headquarters are in Bradenton, Florida, but we offer relocation services anywhere in the United States. We have over 30 years of experience helping businesses of all shapes and sizes relocate.

With us, you’ll have peace of mind, knowing we’ll help you get your business to your new location quickly and efficiently. You’ll be back up and running in no time with our professional office relocation services.

Contact us today for more information about our commercial moving services, and let David McCarthy Moving help you go in a new direction.

Office Relocation & Moving Checklist