If you’re thinking of moving offices, this can be an incredibly daunting process. Not only are you moving dozens or potentially hundreds of your staff members to a new location, but you’re also moving countless boxes and valuable office equipment. The key to moving offices with ease is to use commercial office movers to simplify the process for you and your staff. Below, we have collated a checklist for office removals in Melbourne that covers everything you need to do for your big move to go off without a hitch.
Six Months Before Moving Day
- Check Your Lease
The very first thing you will need to do when considering moving offices is to check your lease. When does the lease on your current office run out? Once you determine whether you may end the lease early or have to wait for it to end, you can start planning when you will move. Double-check if you will have to pay a fee for breaking the lease and whether there may be any factors that could prevent you from getting your bond back, such as damage to the property.
- Choose Your Planning Team
Any office move is a massive undertaking, so consider who in your company is thorough and organised to put on the planning team. These people will be responsible for the office move going smoothly, including sourcing packing boxes, finding office movers, and the safe removal of expensive equipment.
- Contact Commercial Office Movers
It may seem too early to get the commercial office movers in, but with such a big job, it’s better to start planning as soon as you have a moving date. That way, you can take your time obtaining accurate quotes from companies that specialise in office removals in Melbourne.
Three Months Before Moving Day
- Notify Your Landlord
It’s time to let your landlord know about your plans to leave so that they can find new tenants for the property. Check the lease agreement and how much notice you have to give to ensure that you meet the requirements. However, in most cases, three months’ notice will be sufficient.
- Select A Date
If you haven’t already, it’s time to lock in the official date for your move. Having a date will give everyone a deadline to plan to, as, of course, work will be disrupted briefly when you move. Plus, you can now go ahead and confirm the date with your office movers to officially book them in.
- Tell Your Staff
Now, you need to inform your staff of the decision to move. Remember that there will be many factors that they may have questions about, such as how they will work when everything is packed up, whether the new office has enough parking, what sort of facilities it has. You need to be prepared for this barrage of questions so that you can allay any concerns your employees may have about moving offices.
- Inform Stakeholders
Will your office relocation affect anyone else? For example, your customers, suppliers, and other contacts? Ensure that you let these people know now, as although the move is three months away, they will appreciate the advance warning.
- Create a Detailed Plan
Next, you will need to create an in-depth plan, taking into account every factor. Most businesses will have heavy or awkward equipment that requires professional moving services. You will also need a suggested floor plan for the new office. The planning team you selected a few months ago should be the ones to create the plan, but they may require a reminder from you to do so.
One Month Before Moving Day
- Arrange for Phone and Internet at the New Office
Your staff need to be able to arrive at the new office with everything ready to go. The phone line and internet can take a while to get connected at a new property, so make sure that you arrange this well in advance. That way, when your staff arrive after the big move, they can connect up and get going on their work. At the same time, let your providers know the last day you need these services at your current office.
- Create an Inventory
Create an inventory of all the items that are currently in your office which need to be moved. This may sound like a time-intensive task, but it’s a necessary one. You will provide this list to your commercial office movers to let them know what needs to be shifted and where to put it at the new location. It will save you plenty of time communicating with the movers later on.
- Arrange Moving Supplies
When moving offices, you will need many boxes, a lot of packing tape, and other moving supplies. Go out and find or purchase these a month beforehand so that your staff can start packing up the items they won’t use between now and the move.
The Day Before Moving Day
- Make Sure Everything is Packed
Whether your staff are packing up their own belongings or you got your moving company to pack up the office, make sure everything is now stored in boxes. This will prevent a potential disaster on moving day, as if things are not ready, this can seriously delay the process.
Moving Day
- Set Up the New Office
On moving day, you should have no hassles with the move if you have hired commercial office movers. Meet them at your old office to go over anything they need to know, and then you will be free to go and set up the new office. Make sure the phone and internet are connected, everything is put in the right place, and IT systems are working. Get your staff to start unpacking boxes as they arrive so that everyone can get back to work as soon as possible.
EasyMove are the experts in office removals in Melbourne. We love helping business owners move offices and ensuring that it all goes smoothly. That’s why we offer additional services such as end of lease cleaning, packing services, and free packing boxes. Let us make this your easiest move yet; contact us today for a quote or to find out more.
