3 Ways to Maintain Order During a Big Office Move

by Stephanie Faris on Monday, April 06 6:00

A move can be extremely disruptive, leading to months of distraction as you pack items, move them, then try to figure out where they go when you arrive. As technology has become a greater part of the workplace, moves have only grown in complexity, forcing leaders to consider how they can maintain their current customer service levels if systems are down for days at a time.

Whether you re planning a server move, an office-only move, or a combination of both, you run the risk of prolonged outages and distracted employees. The best way to minimize this disruption is to contract with professional technology movers who can handle planning your move. This will give you the benefit of years of experience. Here are three things server movers recommend to make sure your business operations continue during even the largest move.

Appoint a Move Committee

Even without a move, your employees are likely being stretched beyond capacity throughout the day. Your relocation adds additional duties to each employee. This is especially true of your leadership, who will probably be asked numerous questions, many of which are repeats of what others have asked.

Server movers suggest setting up a move committee that is in charge of making sure those questions get answered. Your committee can meet monthly at first, increasing in frequency as the move date draws closer. Committee members can convey messages to different sections of the office, as well as answer any questions people have.

Test, Test, Test

Even if your move doesn t include your servers, you ll likely experience connectivity issues at the new location. As often as possible, test your systems to make sure they ll work in the new environment, even if it means going to the new location with a laptop loaded with your business s specialized software.

Many businesses find it s beneficial to move in stages, rather than all at once. This ensures you still have operations at your old location to handle things in case something isn t working at the new office. You also can test connectivity gradually, rather than scrambling to fix issues on a large-scale basis.

Communicate at Every Step

One piece of advice server movers stress to businesses is that communication is essential. If employees are kept out of the loop during the move planning and implementation cycles, they ll get frustrated and morale will drop. You should make sure your committee members are sharing information with employees, but that likely won t be enough. You should also hold company-wide meetings at least a couple of times during the months leading up to the move to answer questions and provide instruction.

In addition to verbal communication, you should also put in writing what employees need to know. If your business has a web portal or intranet, consider posting updates there. If you don t have an existing site, this might be a good time to set one up. You can post updates and set it to automatically notify employees when new information is posted. You can also use this online resource to provide any documents or questionnaires your server movers, computer movers, and furniture movers require.