Moving is never pretty. It's tedious and often involves yelling and last-minute packing. (Or is that just me?) And that's just when you're moving your own stuff from one house to another. Imagine how unmotivated your employees will be about moving their office.
While hiring a mover can be stress reducing, there are a slew of details that need to be addressed to make the move pain free. Finding the right moving company is the first priority. Edward Smith, president of College Bound Movers in Amherst, recommends businesses do thorough research when bidding a move. The lowest price isn't always the best decision, but it is a factor, Smith says.
He suggests meeting with moving companies to learn about their policies and services, calling the Better Business Bureau and checking references from other commercial moves.
Smith says moving companies should assign a project manager to coordinate your move. The client should also designate one person to coordinate with that project manager. That person needs to be organized, detail-oriented and be someone who can take charge of the staff.
Picking the right project manager [within your office] is the second biggest decision beyond picking the mover, Smith says. Communication and preparation are vital for a successful move and can save companies thousands of dollars. Conversely, Smith says, procrastination, disorganization and a lack of communication can add thousands to a moving bill. Without it, a six-person office can take just as long to move as a 30-person office. It depends on who is running the move, he says.
According to Smith, it is essential that the move coordinator have a pre-move meeting with the moving company's project manager to discuss ground rules, parameters, a schedule for when moving supplies need to be delivered and for the move itself, and to discuss whether special equipment will be required.
How are electronics being handled? Are you moving file cabinets or just files? When are we allowed in the building? Is there an elevator? Do you need a certificate of insurance? Do you need protective material to be put down on the floor? Will there be other workers or contractors in there at the same time? are some of the questions that need to be addressed in that meeting, says John Pantalone, field operations manager for College Bound Movers.
Smith recommends companies contact movers to accept bids at least six weeks prior to the move. At five weeks from the move, have a company selected and a meeting with the project manager.
Here are several moving tips to consider:
If downsizing space, decide whether you will require additional storage and whether the moving company will move things to the storage facility.
If your business is building a new facility, track the construction timeline to ensure you have set a realistic move-in date. Keep everyone apprised of schedule changes.
Carefully coordinate when contractors will be in the building, such as electricians or the phone company. One way that companies can save money is to limit the amount of tradespeople in the building at the time of the move.
Pack and label everything in boxes and have a detailed map of where those boxes go in the new building. Provide the mover with a detailed map of both buildings.
Use color labels that coordinate with the map.
If there is only one hallway or entrance, keep in mind movers will need to move items starting from the back of the facility and moving forward.
Limit what you will move yourself prior to the official move as those items will only be in the way of the movers, who will have to take additional time moving them out of the way.
Decide who will move computers. Discuss how the moving company will protect computers during the move.
Immediately pack anything that is not essential to the daily operations of the business.
Moving cubicles can get expensive as they take time to break down, particularly when companies forget to remove electrical and IT lines that run through them. To save time and money, have an electrician or IT person disassemble lines prior to the move.
The number one rule of moving a commercial property is communication and planning, Smith says. Don't delay; don't procrastinate.
-Business NH Magazine
Current Issue - April 2024