COMMERCIAL, OFFICE MOVING TIPS
Whether you are getting new furniture/appliances for your move, or simply decluttering, it can be daunting to know how to dispose of large, unwanted furniture. Thankfully, finding a good way to dispose of old office furniture and equipment doesn’t have to be such a problem. In fact, there are some pretty good ways to make disposal work to be beneficial to you and the company.
When it is time to relocate your office, one of the biggest logistical headaches can often be what to do with your old office furniture and equipment. That can be especially true if you don’t want to pay to have your old stuffs moved or are going to be getting new furniture delivery and installation at your new location.
Make a Complete Inventory of Furniture
The first step in disposing of old office furniture prior to a commercial move is making a detailed inventory of what you’ve got and what you don’t want to take with you. Include everything: desks, chairs, lamps, tables, cubicles, cabinets, and so on.
To create and record the inventory, assign one person in charge of collecting the information. However, for larger companies, put one person in charge for each floor in your building and have another person combine all of the lists together in a spreadsheet or database in other to avoid missing out any part of the process.
Sell to Your Employees First
Don’t overlook your employees when it comes to disposing your company’s old office furniture. Before you move your office, consider selling your old furniture to your employees at a good discount.
ULTIMATE OFFICE MOVING CHECKLIST
Like any other kind of relocation, office moving has its specific issues, and it can be a stressful affair if not planned in detail.
There may be valuable electronic items and lots of bulky items to pack with care. You may also not have sufficient time to do it systematically since offices do not usually shut down for packing and keep running till the last minute
These tips will guide you to make a smooth, hassle-free move. You also need to prepare an office moving checklist to ensure that you pack precious items appropriately and also remember to pack all items essential for the smooth functioning of your office.
Plan the initial steps to take: A detailed plan with the priorities should be made months before the actual day of moving to ensure there are no hiccups on a moving day.
It should include the following:
Make teams, assign tasks to each member, and choose who will lead each team for a smooth transit
Check the expiry period of your current office’s lease. See if you may need to move early to the new location and figure out the losses that may incur because of that
Shortlist the best office removalists, get quotes from them, and opt for one who will provide the best services for your money
Check if you have insured valuable furniture and other equipment
Make a detailed budget that will cover all possible costs and also allow for contingencies. This will help you to put a limit to your expenses and prevent any excess spending
Tips for Moving Office Furniture
If you have an upcoming office move, keep in mind that moving office furniture is not a task for your employees. Even if a person knows how to safely lift and move heavy objects, attempting to move your office furniture could result in a strained muscle or back injury. Professional movers have the training and equipment needed to safely move heavy office furniture without injuring themselves or others, and without damaging the furniture, offices and entryways.
In addition to eliminating the risk of (and liability for) an injury to one of your employees, hiring a professional to move your office furniture helps protect your investment and ensures your furniture will look and function as well in the new location as it does in your current one. Office movers employ highly-trained technicians who can disassemble and reassemble modular furniture systems to manufacturer recommendations.
The professional movers also know the importance of careful planning in an office move. For instance, reconfiguration of cubicles and office furniture systems will likely be required, depending on the space and layout of your current and new office as well as the location of existing electrical, network and phone outlets. Discuss this with the mover you hire
Make safety a priority and avoid the risk of added costs and lost production by hiring professional office furniture movers. Even when hiring professionals, you and your employees will still have lots to do in preparation of and after the move.
The following tips will help with that:
A day or two before moving day, provide each employee with a carton to pack his or her desk or cubicle contents. Your employees should remove all contents from their desks and pack them in the moving cartons, carefully wrapping any fragile items. If possible, they can consolidate office belongings with those of other employees being relocated in the immediate area at the new location to conserve carton space. Place small items such as pens and paper clips in envelops and put the envelopes in the carton. Tell your employees to take any personal possessions with them rather than include them in the office move.
In most cases, upright file cabinets can be moved with contents intact, but someone should remove contents of lateral cabinets and pack in cartons designed for files. Unbolt any file cabinets that are gang bolted together. Files will be moved in an upright position and can be locked if unbolting is completed.
Remove and pack all contents from supply cabinets. Lock, tape, or tie cabinet doors closed.
Remove all books from bookcases and pack the books in a carton, standing on their ends.
Complete all packing before moving day. Only personnel directly involved with the move should be present on moving day
Tips for making your office relocation go faster
Making your office relocation go faster – some things you can do
So, if you want to make your office relocation go faster, you can do several things. Moreover, if you do them on time, you will avoid some common obstacles with last-minute relocation
Call a moving company to help you. There is no shame in calling a moving company to do your relocation for you. Moreover, moving companies employ professionals in the fields of logistics and relocation, thus, they can take good care of your move.
Do the move on your own. Now, this can get really hard. Moving on your own is hard enough, but relocating an office alone is even more. Offices are usually packed with important machines, laptops, computers, documents, et cetera. Thus, you need to be extra careful when you are trying to move your office. Ask your colleagues for help (if you are working with any), or call some friends to help as well.
Never forget the following
There are some things you should not keep out of your mind. For example, it does not matter where you move – it matters that you do your relocation in the best possible manner
Yet another thing you should not forget is cleaning. Once you have packed and loaded everything from the office, you will need to clean it. Moving can be dirty work – start by dusting everything before washing the floors. In case you do not have any time for that process, make sure to call professional cleaning services.
Download your free office move budget calculator
If you think moving home is stressful, imagine what it’s like planning an office move. Making sure that all your colleagues, documents and furniture are rearranged into their new homes to everyone’s satisfaction, and doing all of that on a strict budget and within a tight timeframe! That’s why we’ve created this office move budget calculator to help you tot up all the costs of moving offices.
Moving offices can be hard and there’s no chance of a practice run. Your office move simply has to go smoothly the first time around.
Based on our extensive experience helping others move office, this office move budget calculator will take you through the important steps, help to calculate costs and make sure you’re planning everything necessary for such a huge undertaking.
Our office move budget calculator is a spreadsheet enabling you to enter the quantities of furniture, accessories, and fixtures required. It then works out what the cost would be in your choice of three price brackets (entry-level, mid-market, top-end). The calculator even estimates installation costs, legal fees and interior design prices meaning you won’t be too caught out by any cost that you weren’t expecting.
The calculator also contains a useful “things to remember” section at the end which acts as an office move checklist for you to follow and make sure you don’t miss anything vital.
Put together a dedicated project team: It’s really stressful for just one person to try and organise everything, make sure they’ve got support. When building your project team, make sure you get the right people on board. Make sure that the means of communicating with all stakeholders is determined in advance to avoid confusion. Make it clear who the project leader is and what everyone else’s role is. And make sure the people involved have the relevant authority to make potentially speedy decisions without waiting days for a signature.
Getting staff onside: An office move can build morale by showing staff that you are investing in their environment. Make the reason for the office move clear to all members of staff to get them on board and keep communication open and frequent. Change can be unsettling and the company has to function whilst the move is happening so it’s imperative to have your people on board. Explain the move in terms of business objectives so that they can see the value to the business. Bill it as a nice opportunity to clear out their desks of unwanted paperwork, equipment and furniture, and scan any items of paperwork you think you might need to save cluttering up valuable space.