Moving your Office or Business can be more complex (and stressful!) than moving your home and family. A comprehensive plan is essential, and one important part of that plan is a thorough checklist. Each business will be able to make use of different parts of the checklist to suit their needs, and revise it over time as tasks are discovered or situations arise. Based on 45 years of experience helping families and businesses relocate, Jay’s Moving is confident you will find this checklist a good starting point!

• Build a team – Expecting one person to bear all responsibility for planning the move is unwise. Assemble a team of key employees, relative to the size of your business, to expedite the process.
• Create a BCP - A Business Continuity Plan will help you reduce disruption of your day to day operations. Without this plan you may encounter costly interruptions, possibly failing to meet your service commitments to your valuable clients.
• Assess the new site – Familiarize yourself with your future location thoroughly, measure all the rooms to determine if your furniture and equipment will fit. Make a floor plan and decide where everything is going. You can make copies of this for your employees and for the movers so everything goes smoothly on move day. It may be a good idea to hire a professional planner/designer for this task.
• Take Inventory – Use this opportunity to get rid of old records and material! Every business accumulates things; old equipment, broken items, and unnecessary papers. Why drag it with you to put it back into storage? Sell anything valuable, recycle what you can, and dispose of the rest. The inventory list you create will be useful after the move to be sure everything has arrived. Don’t forget to clearly mark those items which are to stay, so the movers don’t pack away any furniture or fixtures which belong in the old facility.
• Consult with your technical staff – To reduce costly down time you need to ensure you have your phones, computers and other communications equipment up and running swiftly. Meet frequently with your technical staff and have them tour the new site to assess what they will need and where they are going to put it.
• Contact Utilities – Provide stop and start dates so you will have all utilities functioning before moving day. Schedule any appointments for which your presence is required.
• Remember the details – Don’t forget to change your stationary, business cards, mailing labels, web site address, ….
• Communicate with your clients – Tell the story of the business reasons for relocation - your clients have to know that you are moving, and be alerted to the risk (however small!) of a business disruption. You’ll also have a chance to be creative about how you notify contacts of your change-of-address. For the critical few who visit your office frequently, a personal communication is likely advisable!
• Provide employee orientation – Meet with staff before, during and after the move to update them on new services, the location of equipment, and security procedures. Establish parking protocols and make sure to cut keys for those who need them!
• Meet with the movers – Stay in touch as move day approaches and review plans with your movers as things change to avoid confusion. Waiting until the last moment will only result in frustration – yours, your employee’s, and the mover’s!
• Plan a walk through – On the day, or just before, do a walk through at the facility with staff, showing them where their work spaces are, and where the equipment and supplies they need will be kept. This will help facilitate a swift resumption of business, as employees will be able to get down to work without struggling finding their way around.
• Throw a party – To welcome the staff and reward them for a successful move. Celebrate the move, congratulate everyone and thank them for their contributions!

Moving an office or business requires effective planning, clear communication and tolerance of a little chaos. Contact Jay’s Moving we can help.

Moving your Office or Business can be more complex (and stressful!) than moving your home and family. A comprehensive plan is essential, and one important part of that plan is a thorough checklist. Each business will be able to make use of different parts of the checklist to suit their needs, and revise it over time as tasks are discovered or situations arise. Based on 45 years of experience helping families and businesses relocate, Jay’s Moving is confident you will find this checklist a good starting point!

• Build a team – Expecting one person to bear all responsibility for planning the move is unwise. Assemble a team of key employees, relative to the size of your business, to expedite the process.
• Create a BCP - A Business Continuity Plan will help you reduce disruption of your day to day operations. Without this plan you may encounter costly interruptions, possibly failing to meet your service commitments to your valuable clients.
• Assess the new site – Familiarize yourself with your future location thoroughly, measure all the rooms to determine if your furniture and equipment will fit. Make a floor plan and decide where everything is going. You can make copies of this for your employees and for the movers so everything goes smoothly on move day. It may be a good idea to hire a professional planner/designer for this task.
• Take Inventory – Use this opportunity to get rid of old records and material! Every business accumulates things; old equipment, broken items, and unnecessary papers. Why drag it with you to put it back into storage? Sell anything valuable, recycle what you can, and dispose of the rest. The inventory list you create will be useful after the move to be sure everything has arrived. Don’t forget to clearly mark those items which are to stay, so the movers don’t pack away any furniture or fixtures which belong in the old facility.
• Consult with your technical staff – To reduce costly down time you need to ensure you have your phones, computers and other communications equipment up and running swiftly. Meet frequently with your technical staff and have them tour the new site to assess what they will need and where they are going to put it.
• Contact Utilities – Provide stop and start dates so you will have all utilities functioning before moving day. Schedule any appointments for which your presence is required.
• Remember the details – Don’t forget to change your stationary, business cards, mailing labels, web site address, ….
• Communicate with your clients – Tell the story of the business reasons for relocation - your clients have to know that you are moving, and be alerted to the risk (however small!) of a business disruption. You’ll also have a chance to be creative about how you notify contacts of your change-of-address. For the critical few who visit your office frequently, a personal communication is likely advisable!
• Provide employee orientation – Meet with staff before, during and after the move to update them on new services, the location of equipment, and security procedures. Establish parking protocols and make sure to cut keys for those who need them!
• Meet with the movers – Stay in touch as move day approaches and review plans with your movers as things change to avoid confusion. Waiting until the last moment will only result in frustration – yours, your employee’s, and the mover’s!
• Plan a walk through – On the day, or just before, do a walk through at the facility with staff, showing them where their work spaces are, and where the equipment and supplies they need will be kept. This will help facilitate a swift resumption of business, as employees will be able to get down to work without struggling finding their way around.
• Throw a party – To welcome the staff and reward them for a successful move. Celebrate the move, congratulate everyone and thank them for their contributions!

Moving an office or business requires effective planning, clear communication and tolerance of a little chaos. Contact Jay’s Moving we can help.