Pre-planning Your Office Move... Your Key to Success!

A successful office move starts by selecting your relocation partner- the moving company. This process starts before any meetings or vendor interviews. Your relocation team needs to define a clear scope of work that you will ask the moving company to provide. Input is required from IT, human resources, finance, and other key managers, before a clear understanding of your relocation requirements can be established. There are many questions to ask yourself self before defining the scope of work you expect to be done during the physical move:

• Are you moving the current furniture or buying new? If you are doing a little of both, create a list of the existing furniture that you are planning on reusing.
• Who is going to pack the offices and work stations?
• Who is going to pack the common area files, storage rooms, conference rooms, break rooms, and libraries?
• Who is doing the unpacking?
• Do your current and new buildings have a relocation policy or any restrictions on hours of access?
• Are there any items of exceptionally high value, such as artwork, antiques, or specialized electronic equipment, that your company will be moving?
• What electronic equipment needs to be prepped by your service vendor prior to moving (copiers, network printers, etc)?
• What impact will your current service agreements have on your relocation?
• What special timing requirements will your IT and Data team have during your relocation?
• Who is going to do the tagging of the items being moved?
• Who is going to assign file space in the new location?
• What time of day and which days of the week do you want the movers to be on site?

Once you have defined the scope of work you can begin the vendor selection process. During this selection process you want to know who will be the on-site supervisor for your move. What kind of experience do they have and what are their responsibilities during your move? Learning how the labor force is created and the relationship to the moving company is also important (contractor, third party temp agency, or company employee). The last key ingredient is what kind, and how many of the required physical assets does the mover own (not rent). Assets such as air-ride trucks, dollies, computer bins, building protection, library carriers, and communication devices.

The J. D. Carton Metro team will cover all of the bases to make sure your relocation is a great success!