Relocating an office is no easy feat especially when you have a lot of employees that’ll be a part of the relocation. However, proper planning can ensure that the process of relocation goes smoothly, even if there are more than 100 staff members who need to relocate.
Here are some of the tips that will help you out:
1. Inform the staff in advance
You need to tell employees in advance when and where they’ll be moving as well as the change in work routine that’s expected from the relocation. It’s important to be honest with them about the relocation so they can mentally prepare for the move or find employment in another company (Of course you can offer them a raise or fringe benefits to keep them).
Try to offer your assistance. Some of the things you can grant employees if their family life and budget will be affected are travel allowance, more holidays and parking space in the new location.
2. Plan moving the necessary equipment
Your employees may have adapted to workspace furniture, especially if they had the ergonomics advantage. They may hesitate to move to a new location if they won’t get the same physical environment as they did in the current workplace.
If there’s large amounts of furniture and other items that need to be moved, you’ll have several options for getting this moving chore done because there are a lot of logistics companies that specialize in this. Luckily, they have the expertise and manpower to handle moving large and heavy items that I know I for one wouldn’t want to deal with.
3. Reduce their stress
Moving to a new office isn’t convenient, and it’s likely that some employees will feel stressed when they hear the news. In order to reduce their stress, you can take them to the location for a few days so they can get to know about the area.
Another thing you can do is to show them the new office environment setting plan in a presentation or a chart. This will allow you to answer their queries and employees themselves will tell you how to optimize the office space and setting.
4. Arrange staff training in the new office
If there’s some new technology being implemented in the new location, it’s a good idea to arrange staff training sessions before the complete move so they can get to work immediately upon the move.
Training sessions would also allow you to get employee opinions on whether more functioning or non-functioning equipment is needed or otherwise.
5. Make them ready for the move
Prepare your employees for the actual moving day by providing packing supplies and enough time to get everything sorted out. They may also rely on you for instructions, so you need to tell them how to pack the electronic items, the importance of labeling boxes and where to place the packed items.
A good option to convey the instructions is to arrange a meeting with employees and presenting them the tasks to be carried out in the form of a list. You can also make leaders among different positions during the move, which will promote teamwork and increase productivity during the process or relocation.
6. Designate someone for the floors
Employees may worry what happens if they forget anything while packing. You can designate someone for the floors while moving and keep the same person designated for a month of two after the move.
You can tell the employees to contact the designator of floors if something goes missing or gets damaged.
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