O F F I C E R E L O C AT I O N

G R E E N L I G H T L I M I T E D E B O O K

D e s i g n e d & C o m p i l e d b y G r e e n l i g h t L t d G r e e n l i g h t C I . c o m

H I G H L E V E L C O N T E N T SPage 4: Introduction

Page 5: Reasons for moving

Page 6: Know your exit strategy & Key milestone dates

Page 7: The key questions

Page 8: Building your plan

Page 9: Having a detailed budget

Page 10: Creating your relocation team

Page 11: Picking your new office

Page 13: Planning your space

Page 14: Your furniture

Page 16: IT & telecoms

Page 17: Your communications plan

Page 18: Physically moving

Page 19: When you arrive

Page 20: Once you’re in

Page 21: Conclusion

I N T R O D U C T I O N

On paper, moving office may look like a simple process. However, it can be complex, stressful, time consuming and if executed badly, expensive.

The truth is, with good planning and effective communication throughout, relocating your office should be straightforward and bring an array of benefits to your business. To name a few, a new setting can bring about improvements in operational efficiency and productivity, decrease your overheads and provide an injection of momentum.

Research has shown that a business will usually relocate once in every five or six years and 70% of the time, the person in charge of the relocation will be leading this kind of project for the first time.

It is important that an office move is led by someone with experience, but what kind of experience does this person need? Is it experience specifically in office relocation? No. They need to have experience in managing all the things associated with an office move. The aim of this ebook is to examine what exactly is involved in an office move and in turn, what skills are needed.

We’ll cover everything associated with moving your office. From building a detailed budget to picking the furniture, this is your guide to everything involved in office relocation.

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R E A S O N S F O R M O V I N G

There should be key operational or strategic reasons to move:

• Your current lease is either expiring or has a break option

• You are expanding, getting smaller or are moving as a result of a merger / acquisition

• Your business is moving location

• There is a financial driver, such as a reduction in overheads

• There is a business need to be geographically closer to your customers

• Your current office doesn’t facilitate a desired working practice or increase in productivity

You might have a reason that is not listed above. Of course there can be many different reasons for an office move, the key point

is to make sure that there is one!

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K N O W Y O U R E X I T S T R AT E G Y

Perhaps an obvious point, but to move offices you will have

to exit your current one. It is absolutely crucial that in doing

so, you abide by any terms in your existing lease.

If you are not careful on this point, you expose your

business to potential financial penalties.

Here are some key questions to ask yourself.

• What is the expiry date of your current lease?

• Does your current lease have a break clause?

• What is the notice period you have to give?

• In what way do you need to serve your notice?

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K E Y M I L E S T O N E D AT E S

As with any project, you will have to have a plan. But the

first stage is to outline the high level dates associated with

your move.

At this stage, you don’t need to worry about going into

detail. Just start small and build it out later. Try working with

the following three dates.

• The date your current lease expires

• The date that notice needs to be given

• The target date to be in your new office

This might seem extremely simple, but you have to start

somewhere. These are the foundations to your plan.

T H E K E Y Q U E S T I O N SBefore you embark on setting your office move in motion, there are some big decisions that must be made. Whoever you choose to lead your project, you must have answers to the following.

1. Has the move been approved by the Senior Management?

2. What are you doing? Are you moving to smaller, bigger, better or cheaper offices?

3. What is the location that you want to move to?

4. What is the time frame for your move?

5. Are there any special circumstances behind the move?

6. What is the overall budget for your relocation project?

7. Who, in the business, is responsible for delivering the project?

8. Who are the key stakeholders, both internally and externally?

It is absolutely vital that Senior Management buy in to the move and that you have an internal leader on the project.

B U I L D I N G Y O U R P L A N

To ensure success, you need to plan. The plan needs to be detailed and nothing can be forgotten. Every single component of your move needs to be identified,

dependencies need to be highlighted and due dates or time frames need to be allocated. If this is done well, it will ensure that your move stays on track.

You should consider the following:

• Your actual move date

• The switch from your current lease to your future lease

• Discussions with any external providers you need during your move

• Estimated effort times and completion dates for all aspects of your project

• When the planning phase begins

• When you must be operational in your new office

• Once you have time frames, review with any external providers to ensure that they can match your expectations

• Ensure that any external supplier changes are factored in to your plan

This is not an exhaustive list, just a glimpse into the kinds of things you should be planning. To have the best chance of a successful move, you should begin

as early in advance as possible in order to give yourself the most amount of time.

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H AV I N G A D E TA I L E D B U D G E T

No doubt in the feasibility stage of your office move, Senior Management will have provided your project leader with an expected or available budget for relocation. In order to validate this however, a detailed budget will need to be produced.

There are many aspects to a relocation budget but some of the following should be considered:

• Office rent, any business rates, services charges, insurance and any ongoing maintenance costs

• Any deposit needed at the new property

• Any fees for external providers

• Any office design, spacial planning, signage, furniture and other office equipment needed

• Costs associated with IT and telecoms systems, whether it be purchasing new equipment or migrating your own

• Whether any repairs / changes are needed at the new property and at the old

• Any HR costs associated with the move. Are you hiring more people? Are there going to be redundancies?

• Any costs associated with marketing. Addresses on stationary, business cards, marketing collateral or your website?

If you are using external suppliers you should always try and get more than quote in order for you to be able to negotiate the best possible rate for your business.

Something to consider is using the move to leverage other change within in the business. If you have the budget for it, moving offices could be a good time to implement a desktop refresh, or different print services etc. If this is the case, include the costs of that in your budget for the move.

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C R E AT I N G Y O U R R E L O C AT I O N T E A M

You have appointed your project leader. Now you need to look at creating a team solely responsible for the delivery of the project. Your leader cannot do everything on their own, there’s simply too much involved for one person to do.

You should look at structuring your team to include your overall project leader and a representative from every major department affected by or involved in the move.

Once you have your outlined team, you need to make sure that the people selected have the time to devote to this project. An office relocation is not something that they should be working on as a side task. If they need to be involved, it is the responsibility of their managers to ensure their other activities are covered.

Next, it is vital that the project team are having regular meetings to review progress to ensure everything is going to plan and if it isn’t, what the steps are to fix it. As well as these internal meetings, regular communication should be in place with any external providers that have been brought in.

It is important to make sure your project team aren’t the only ones that know what is going on. Regular communication to the rest of the business is just as important so that every member of staff feels involved in the process. Everyone has an opinion, some of them will be useful. Make sure you give your staff a voice.

P I C K I N G Y O U R N E W O F F I C E

The key to success here is to pick a good property agency to help you find the right office for you. In order for them to do their job in the most effective way

though, you should have the following questions answered.

• What size of office do you require?

• What is the length and type of lease required?

• What is your preferred location?

• What type of building are you looking for?

• What is the total budget for your office space?

• What type of facilities do you require? Do you need showers, parking and service rooms? How much meeting and facilitation space do you need?

• What are your timescales for relocation?

• Is the move going to result in a significant change to your staff’s commute?

Your property agency should be able to negotiate better rates with landlords than you could get on your own. It is also important to make sure that your

answers to the questions above are met. Property can be an emotional topic in that when viewing, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of a new place

to work. Remember though, if it looks amazing but not everyone can fit… You have a problem.

The key is to make sure that no matter what, your key requirements are documented.

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P L A N N I N G Y O U R S PA C E

It might be the case that your new office comes fully furnished and is designed in a way that works for your business. If that’s the case then you can skip this page. If you’re buying a blank canvas however, you need to make sure that your space is laid out in such a way that suits your business culture. Ultimately though, no matter where you work or what your culture, you need to make sure your office encourages productivity and collaboration. Think about the following:

• What space do you have and how does it fit in with your requirement for office vs open space?

• How big do you need your reception area to be? How many board / meeting rooms do you need? Do you need a kitchen?

• Where are the bulk of your staff going to sit?

• Where are communal pieces of equipment such as the photocopiers, printers or scanners going to go?

• Do you need partitions or storage areas put in?

• Do you need to hire an interior designer?

• Is there any refurbishment needed?

• Do you have teams that need to sit near each other?

• Do you have enough storage to ensure you don’t have clutter lying around?

• Do you need secure storage?

• Is there enough parking at the office? If not, is there an easy solution near by?

Whilst you need to have answers to these questions, make sure that you design it in such a way as to allow for flexibility growth in the future.

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Y O U R F U R N I T U R E

In the grand scheme of importance, furniture may seem low on the list. However, it’s important not to be complacent about it. Apart from

being it adding the ‘finishing touches’ to your office, it is what will form the basis of your visitors first impressions. It also needs to be

comfortable and practical for your staff and be in keeping with your overall design. You should think about the following.

• Are you going to utilise existing office furniture or purchase new?

• If you do require new furniture, will you purchase it or lease it?

• It’s important to meet with furniture suppliers and give them your requirements to see what they can do. Can they offer you a ‘try

before you buy’ so that your staff can voice their opinion on it?

• Consult your HR staff and teams to discuss ergonomic needs / any specialist requirements

• If you are getting rid of existing furniture consider how you can do so in the most profitable way possible or if there is an opportunity to

donate

• As well as organising your furniture delivery date, consider how long is needed for assembly and installation.

In line with flexibility for the future, consider using ‘modular’ furniture. This will enable you to have different configurations when needed.

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I T A N D T E L E C O M S

It could be argued that getting your IT and telecoms right during an office move is the most difficult part. There’s a lot to consider and it will require significant assistance from your IT department or if you don’t have one, the help of an IT / network specialist. You need think about the following:

• Assess your current situation regarding IT and telecoms equipment and collate an inventory

• Consult your specialist, whether internal or external, on an appropriate network cabling and wifi configuration

• Identify where power cables are needed and whether there are enough power points / the power points are in the right place

• Using the information from the last two points, decide on the best location for your workstations

• Create a configuration plan for all your systems at the new office

• Decide whether you are taking your existing phone system or switching

• Consider whether you want to take your existing landline number with you

• Create a business continuity plan

• Ensure that you consult your internal IT department on all aspects so that they are aware or have the ability to manage

Business continuity planning is vital, you cannot afford for something to go wrong and your business be offline for two days whilst a fix is put in place.

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Y O U R C O M M S P L A NThere are going to be a huge number of people interested in your move that must be kept informed at every stage throughout the relocation process.

• Make a note of everyone that needs to know about your change of address and inform them

• When it comes to your customers, outline the positive reasons for the move (e.g. expansion)

• If there are key clients, you can think about contacting them personally on the phone as a reassurance of BAU and invite them in for a tour of your new office

• You should use your move as a strong piece of news in your marketing and PR work. Especially in the local area that you are moving to

• Ensure that your staff are aware the move is for positive reasons and allow them to communicate that to the public

• Check with your utility providers and ensure you inform them enough in advance, so that vital infrastructure changes can be delivered

As with any change within an organisation, it can unsettle some people. Be sure to constantly communicate with your staff and let them know of all the positive things happening and when.

P H Y S I C A L LY M O V I N G

It might sound obvious but, use professionals. They will ensure that the morning or weekend of your move, everything is there and you are ready to

work on your first day. You may decide to phase the move so that it causes less disruption to daily operations.

As with any external supplier, speak to a few companies and find out how much it’s going to cost to move everything. Meet them at your new office so

that they can see where they’re going to be moving everything to. When you’ve chosen your company, get them to come back to your existing office

so that they’ve seen where they’re moving from (and what they’re moving) and where they’re moving it to.

• Make sure they know items of value so that if necessary they can arrange special delivery

• Create a floor plan for your new office so that they know where everything is going and they can put it there without having to constantly ask you

• Label all your furniture and equipment to match the floor plan

• Use this as an opportunity to clear out any unnecessary equipment or furniture that has been lingering

• If you need to keep things that you don’t want to move to the new office straight away, consider your paid storage options in the budget

• If there is a period of overlap make sure that you have communicated who is going to be at which office and when

• If you have any damages in your existing office, make sure they are repaired and you leave with it in good condition

Your removals company are going to be key, make sure you are satisfied that they are professional and will get the job done. Well.

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W H E N Y O U A R R I V E

It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of moving into your new offices but there are things that need to be done before you can start to settle in. They

might seem trivial at the time but will save you hassle further down the line.

• Create a test plan for all the new equipment

• Make sure you assess the condition of the office straight away and if something isn’t right, take photographs to send to your landlord

• If your departments are spread out, make sure you have a representative from each one walking the floor, ensuring everything is in the right place

and the staff are happy

• Set up some form of lost and found at both locations. Staff will get annoyed if their belongings get lost and will sour the overall excitement of the move

• Make sure that your staff have the usual refreshments available at both sites

• If people are supposed to be working from the new office, make sure they have their access cards / keys. You don’t want half your staff at the front

door ringing the buzzer all day.

Make sure you do the initial health and safety tasks when you’re there. Make sure everyone on the premises is aware of fire exits and what to do if there is

a fire or emergency. Also be sure to work with your IT team. They are vital in the success of the move in getting everything working so make sure you treat

them that way. Be prepared to offer extra incentives for them, it is likely that they will be working at the weekend when they can guarantee nobody will

need access to systems.

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O N C E Y O U ’ R E I N

The stress of ‘moving in day’ is over. It would be easy to crack open the bubbly and celebrate but there’s just a few things still to do.

• Make sure you have carried out a full and thorough site inspection on the new office

• If you have any issues that need working out, get them done quickly

• If you have outstanding utility bills at your previous office, settle them

• If there are new phone or IT systems, put a plan together for training the staff

• Make sure that staff have all the equipment and resources that they need to complete their work

• Remove any rubbish

Lastly, have a party! You’ve worked extremely hard and deserve to celebrate. Make sure you hold both an internal party and an

external one to give you an opportunity to show off your new offices to clients. You should include this in your budget at the beginning

so everyone involved has something to look forward to as reward.

Down the line you can schedule meetings with department heads to make sure everyone is happy in their new environment. But for

now, enjoy!

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C O N C L U S I O NMoving offices is complex and it does require a vast amount of work but if you follow these guidelines by planning well and communicating with your staff, it will ensure everything goes smoothly.

Use the time to assess your current situation and see if any improvements or cost savings can be made on areas such as utility bills and service providers.

Ultimately, your workplace is where your staff spend the majority of their lives. Involve them in the process and let them have their say. Questionnaires are a good way to uncover anything that your staff desperately need and allow you reveal any patterns.

We hope you found this useful, if you would like to get in touch regarding office relocation please get in touch with us at Info@GreenlightCI.com.