Preparing Employees for an Office Move 

Whether your corporate office is moving across the street or across the country, your employees will be affected. Adequately preparing them for the move will help maintain productivity, reduce confusion, and create an ideal environment for a successful move. Keeping employees in the dark about key move details, including how their efforts factor into the overall goal,  causes plans to quickly fall apart. By properly preparing employees for an office move, your relocation has the highest chance of sucess. To make sure that your corporate relocation goes off without a hitch, follow these tips. 

Communicate Early and Often 

Making sure that your employees are on board for the move begins with early discussions. Once details surrounding the move solidify, it’s time to break the news to your employees. It’s important to be mindful of your strategy, as change tends to be met with opposition. For some of your employees, the new location may be much more inconvenient.   

If possible, schedule an all-hands meeting to go over the details with everyone in person. Opting for a meeting rather than a mass email for the initial news will guarantee that everyone receives the information. It will also provide an excellent opportunity for immediate feedback. Remember to focus on the positives of the move while also acknowledging the potential challenges. 

After the meeting, take time to compose an email that includes: 

• Reiteration of why the office is moving 
• Important dates surrounding the move 
• Deadlines 
• The new address 
• Parking at the new location
• Special access procedures for the new building
• Acknowledgement of concerns raised during the meeting 

Organizing information in one central location can also improve employee buy-in. If your company has an intranet, consider creating a web page to hold information about the move. If your company does not have an intranet, creating a password-protected page on a public website is also a viable option. The website can be used for updates, a frequently asked questions section, and as a sounding board where employees can provide feedback. 

Establish Scope of Responsibility 

The move poses the potential to stress out your employees, and an effective leader strives to minimize stress levels. One easy way to keep your employees calm is to clarify their responsibilities. At a minimum, employees should be expected to pack personal belongings from their workstations, so be sure to provide each employee a box marked with their name.  

Ideally, the majority of the heavy lifting, logistics, and office decommissioning will be handled by a corporate office relocation company, but forming a special committee can help smooth the process. The committee should be on a volunteer-only basis, and you can entice employees to join by providing lunches or other perks. If the preparations occur during the workday, temporarily offloading their normal tasks can also be a motivating incentive. 

Plan for Disruptions 

Employees should maintain a productive work schedule during your corporate office relocation, but disruptions to their day-to-day activities should be expected. Downtime can be controlled by staging different areas of the office at different times and establishing quiet zones that are unaffected by relocation activities. On days where disruptions will be particularly bothersome, such as construction noise or utility work, consider allowing a remote work order to allow the employees to work in peace. 

Finding the Best Corporate Office Movers 

Preparing your employees for an office move is a key component of a successful move, but it is just one piece of a larger puzzle. Moving into a new office requires extensive planning, coordination, and project management. Attempting to handle the move on your own can lead to costly mistakes and burnout. Finding a relocation company with decades of experience moving offices will remove strain and uncertainty from the process. At Relocation Strategies, our experienced project managers are dedicated to completing your move without any surprises. If you are looking for the best corporate office movers, contact us today for a consultation.