They say that moving house is in the top ten most stressful things to do in your life. If that’s the case, moving office must be off the scale stressful. This morning I received a marketing email from a free independent resource called HelpMovingOffice. I’m not altogether sure how I ended up on their email list but never mind – it intrigued me enough to take a look.
The website bills the service as “everything you need to know about moving office” and has checklists, lists of tips and how tos, cost calculators, office move timetables etc. You can even connect with independently sourced experts in your area to help the various stages of moving office from property consultants to solicitors to office design, IT and Telecoms and office removals.
All in all, it sounds like a great service with one key element missing. Yes, you can physically move and relocate offices. Yes, it’s essential that you find the right property, plan the layout to make the best use of space and have your IT and phones up and running when you get there. However, what about the people? Assuming of course you employ people, those people need to be considered when it comes to moving offices.
Maybe you’re a caring employer who consults regularly with your staff, asks their opinions and keeps them informed at every opportunity. If you are then you, my friend, are in the minority. Most people are too busy running the business, expanding to a point where desks are uncomfortably close together and desk sharing is rapidly becoming necessary. Surely it’s obvious that space is at a premium so an office move is the next step? Who needs to have that explained to them?
Moving house is traumatic and stressful, even when people have chosen to move and are mentally prepared for the upheaval. The stress caused to your staff when moving office should not be underestimated. After all, many people view their workspace as an extension of their homes! Personal photos, cuddly toys, plants and nick nacks of varying sizes on display. Drawers full of personal items like make-up, spare tights, and headache tablets. Huge rows over “who used MY mug?” When I left my previous place of work, removing the personal items was one of the hardest parts.
Consulting employees and encouraging them to be involved in your office move shouldn’t take much effort on your part. Communication is important at the best of times but during times of uncertainty and change, it’s essential.
If you’re moving office and need advice on talking to your staff, get in touch.
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written by Neil, May 25, 2011
So people are important, very important and there are many ways you can support your staff to make an office move smoother. You could always outsource your archive and I'm sure Katherine coulg give a reccomendation.
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written by Simon Wheeler, May 26, 2011
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We at www.ktscomputersltd.co.uk have just been involved in the IT part of moving a comnpany (second one this year) and keeping the staff not only informed, but getting them to help with the move as always is key. Even if suppliers don't do what they say they will do (in this case, arrived and internet service provider didn't provide!) stress is reduced because people know what is happening and they can see that problem is currently being sorted (in this case I was on phone to their ISP).
In the first move, suppliers did what promised and all that happened to outside world is the server went off line for a couple of hours (while server dismantled, put in my van and then reassembled in rack at new site, quick re-configure and all running).
But the key part and the art of any large or small scale job, is the people, so keep up these reminders Katherine. Well done.