Moving Your Office And Staying Productive
“Leaving the office entirely is, of course, the best way of handling any relocation. Step aside and let the movers do their thing. But how do you keep your business productive even when your office is in pieces?” ~Christopher Elliott
- Moving your office can be one of the most stressful of life’s experiences. These great ideas form Christopher Elliott can make things go way more smoothly and help you keep your business running while your move is taking place. By following the ideas of the experts your life and your business will be much less likely to get turned upside down like your office will be for a brief period of time.
1. It’s impossible to plan too far ahead.
“If it’s a minor move, then you should know in advance where the cubicles will get set up and where the Ethernet connections will get wired through. Leave nothing to chance. Relocating an entire business—and don’t think it can’t happen to you, because small businesses do grow—can also mean moving a local-area network or a wireless network, numerous PCs, and printers. It can mean shipping equipment and inventory. Line up your proverbial ducks well in advance of the big day. Tip: With careful planning, and depending on the size of your business, you can ensure that the actual move happens over a weekend. That gives you enough time to install and troubleshoot any technology that has migrated. If there’s any down time, it will be on Sunday and Monday, minimizing the impact to your clients and customers.”
- I love planning, it is just my nature, if it isn’t yours this is the perfect opportunity to get the help of your staff. Put someone in charge who you know will plan carefully and keep you up to date on what is happening. You may want to make this extra job more appealing to this valuable employee with some double time or a vacation when the job is done. Never underestimate the power of delegation.
2. Be prepared for the unexpected.
“A move of any kind forces you to think on your feet, to be ready for anything. If you travel frequently, you probably already know how to do that. For example: Where do you go to buy a box of RJ-11 wire at 1 a.m. What if you need to make copies, but don’t have any of your machines set up? It forces you to take nothing for granted, even little things like power and phone service.”
- Isn’t it wonderful how many great resources we have available these days. We can make copies, shop, even get online, usually without going too far off our usual trail. Take advantage of these resources during your office in pieces time. Just plan on it.
3. Use the move as an excuse to upgrade.
“For example, if your office is using bulky CRT monitors, here’s the perfect reason to donate those clunkers to your favorite charity and buy flat-panel monitors. It’s also a good opportunity to take a hard look at the software you’re using to see if it needs updating. Basically, you want to arrive at your new office location in even better shape to do business than you were when you left. Tip: Use your laptop computers as “interim” office machines while you’re in transit. In other words, make sure they’re all synched up and have the latest software before you begin your move. Then, use them as your primary PCs while your new office gets situated.”
- This is also a great time to get organized and throw or give away old or unused office items from furniture to those need to be recycled computers. Call around many times you can find someone to pick things up that you no longer need or use.
4. Anticipate down time, even if you expect none.
“Moving can be unpredictable. Trust me. For instance, I thought I would close on a property this morning, but because of some unexpected financing issues, the paperwork won’t go through until the end of this week. Delays happen. “I notify clients, editors, associates, and friends in advance, via e-mail or phone, that my availability will be somewhat limited for a day or two,” says Sharon Adcock, a communications consultant in Manhattan Beach, Calif. Tip: If it’s a long-distance move, and you have to stay in a hotel for a prolonged period of time, make sure it can double as an office. Case in point: I’m writing this article from my room at the Hampton Inn at the Orlando Convention Center. It features free meeting areas and high-speed and wireless Internet access. So even though I’m out of the office, I can still get work done.”
- Communication, communication, communication, this is so important for any business and even more so while you are moving your office. Clients don’t like surprises, so letting them know in advance what is going on and keeping important clients in the loop during the move will create good will and keep down problems for everybody.
5. Let your applications help you “move.”
“If your relocation also involves an upgrade or migrating to new hardware (and as I just mentioned, this is an excellent opportunity to upgrade), make sure your programs do the heavy lifting. Save all of your old user options and migrate them to the new hardware or software, so that once you arrive in your new digs, you’ll be able to get to work right away. Tip: The trickiest of the migrations tends to be moving e-mail from one PC to the next. Microsoft Outlook automatically imports your preferences and e-mail when you upgrade from a previous version on the same computer. When you’re switching PCs, go to File, Import and Export, and pick the option for the application you’re using.”
- This sounds like an awesome idea, you will need to get your technical staff to help you to brainstorm ways to implement this one. And you’ll want to do it well before the actual move begins. That way anything that needs to be done before you take your office apart can be taken care of early. Your staff will be happy that you prepared in this way as much as you could.
“With a little planning and shrewd use of your existing technology, you can make sure that your next move will be as painless—and productive—as possible. But I can’t lie to you: Moving is still stressful. Yet hopefully, with these tips, it’ll be a little less so.”
Don’t forget, when you are ready, we would love to help you with your office or home move. Get a free online quote today.
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