Office relocation presents the perfect opportunity for a fresh start, both for your company and your employees. This usually happens for a number of reasons, most of them positive. You may need to move offices because your company has grown or because another city presents better opportunities.
But moving is a serious undertaking. It requires significant resources, especially time and money. And along the way, you’re likely to face challenges especially if you’re not well-prepared.
Below, we list down some of the most common problems businesses face when moving and what you can do to solve or avoid them altogether.
1. Moving your business causes downtime
One of the biggest resources moving your business eats up is time. A significant portion of your employees may need to be highly involved in the moving process to ensure everything goes according to plan. But this also means that the move is taking time away from their regular tasks.
While a little downtime might be inevitable, you can work around this challenge by scheduling all moving activities on the weekends. This way, the everyday workflow will not be interrupted and you can give all your focus to moving on designated days.
2. You may lose track of some company resources
It’s easy to lose track of company resources when you’re moving. You may pack up 50 desktop units and only notice that five are missing once they get to your new office space.
Whether you’re moving them directly from your old office or you need to stash them at a safe storage facility while your new space is being prepared, creating an inventory of your office equipment is the best way to keep track of them. Use this inventory to make sure every item is accounted for at every stop. This makes it easier to ensure they all arrive or see where a missing item might have been lost.
3. Communication breakdown is likely to happen
With so many moving parts during an office relocation, it’s easy to miss messages from your employees and customers. You may even completely forget to notify clients about your move, especially if your business is not in retail or does not require a physical location for customers.
To ensure that accurate and timely information is being sent, create a solid communication plan even before you start the move. From automated e-mails to scheduled social media posts, technology can help you ensure your communication lines aren’t broken.
4. You might lose essential employees
No matter the opportunities your planned relocation may bring, some of your current employees might not be willing to move. They could have families and other obligations that will prevent them from moving with your company. This is especially challenging if the employee is someone with a vital role in your company.
There are two ways to go about this: convince your employee or hire a replacement.
The former will likely be more difficult to accomplish, especially if there is a significant reason that employees cannot move. But you may be able to persuade them if you’re willing to offer a competitive employee relocation package.
The second option, hiring for the soon-to-be-vacant position, might be easier and more cost-effective. For one, you can pay the same rates to the new employee instead of splurging on compensation to convince the former one. The only challenge here is if new employees can live up to the competency of your former, trusted ones.
Like all major decisions, moving from one workspace to another, whether it’s three blocks or three states over, brings certain challenges. But if you’re aware of the difficulties you’re likely to face, you can prepare for and avoid them altogether.