Office Move Planning: The big decisions that need to be made early
The key to successful office move planning involves early strategic decisions that will drive your entire office move project. Find out what they are ...
If your company has just taken the decision that they need to relocate the business, it may tempting to dive straight in and begin to organise the more fun tasks like seating plans, colour schemes and change of address notices.'
But planning an office move involves following a more systematic process. If this is not taken at the outset it could lead to a delayed office move and worse still, expensive mistakes made because of poor, uncoordinated planning.
So before you do any office move planning, there are 3 crucial considerations that need to be agreed at the outset by Senior Management and key stakeholders:
1. What are your reasons for moving office?
Make sure that everyone is agreed on the key strategic and operational reason (s) for relocating the business. Some possible reasons include:
- Lease event (lease expiry / break option)
- Expansion /contraction /merger /acquisition
- Change of business location
- Business requirement to reduce overheads
- Desire to be nearer to your customers
- Change in working practices / increase in productivity
If you know what they are, you are more likely to find office space that is better suited to your business needs, and there is less likely to be any negative vibes surrounding the office move because everyone is clear of the reasons behind it.
2. What is your office lease exit strategy?
It might be more practical and cheaper for you to move office, but have you checked the conditions of your existing office lease to see whether contractually you can exit your current property within the timeframe?
The Key things in your office lease to check are:
- When does your current office lease expire?
- Is there a break clause?
- What notice period do you have to give?
- How do you need to serve notice?
Failure to exit your current office lease correctly could lead to punitive financial penalties which are really not worth the hassle.
3. What are the key dates which will dictate your office move?
Make sure you are aware of certain key dates which will ultimately drive your office move. It’s important everyone within your Office Move Team is aware of these dates and they stick to them. These include the end date of your current lease, the date by which termination needs to be given and the target date to be in your new office.
If you can make sure that key decisions within your company are clear and in full agreement with the considerations above, it will help you to create a well-considered and solid Office Move Plan.
If you’re confident that you have considered all the above, you may be ready to start creating an Office Move Plan.
Download the Office Move Plan Template to help you through the process.
