Month: September 2015

Move without Really Moving? Here’s How:

We get it. Your business is in a prime location. Easily accessible to customers and clients, and you’ve been at this location for years. You’re not quite ready to part with your building, but you want a new, refreshed office. So, how do you get that without moving? Well, you’re in luck because we’ve got some answers.

img_paintingTo refresh your space, you can always paint, paint and paint again. Want to open up your space and make it look and feel bigger? Then, stick with lighter colors. Going darker encloses your space and makes it look and feel smaller. Believe it or not, colors can actually affect work productivity and evoke certain emotions. Want more productivity? Then try not to overload your office with white paint. Want to create an environment all of your guests will most likely love? Stick with a shade of blue because most people enjoy this color. The new paint color is sure to change things up and give your space a new and refreshed look.

The next thing you can do to revamp your current office is get new furniture, or rearrange current furniture. If you decide to go new, depending on the type of furniture you want, certain kinds allow you to better maximize space and offer storage capabilities. Research various types of furniture to see what type will help you make the most out of your offices’ space, and give you much-needed storage. If you want to rearrange your current furniture, map out what furniture would best fit in different places. Maybe you want to just move around your employee’s offices for a change of scenery. Whatever route you take, changing up your furniture will definitely help you refresh your office space and make it feel like new.

New flooring can also transform your space. Ripping out that old grungy carpet and replacing it with something more modern can do wonders. Choose a new carpet, or upgrade to tile, hardwood or laminate flooring. New flooring can open up your space and make it feel fresh and new. While you’re at it, you maimg_flooringy even want to revamp your baseboards. You might not think about it, or notice the baseboards, but when they’re new and freshly painted, you’ll be sure to notice them, and you’ll be surprised how your office transforms.

The next thing you could do to make your office feel like a completely different space is to check out the office building next to your current office. Does a business occupy that space? If not, would it be possible for you to make that space yours? If this looks at all possible, contact a contractor to see if they can put a door in to connect your current space with the adjacent one. This can be a great transformation for yourimg_upgradeicons space. You can take over a new office, while still occupying your current office. You can’t get much closer to moving without actually moving than this, huh?

Whatever upgrades you decide to do to your office, you’re going to need to get your furniture, computer equipment and everything else you have in your space out of your office so you can get it done. Our advice to you: don’t lose time moving your stuff out of your office yourselves; look into commercial movers who can help you out. At The Quality Group, we not only do moving from one location to another, we can also help you with retrofit. So, if you’re looking for that perfect office, without the move, we can move you.

Moving your office from one location to another can be a great thing for your business. But, it’s not the only option you have when you feel like you’ve outgrown your office or need a refreshed look. Whatever you decide to do to change up your look, make sure you explore your options so you can get on your way to make your office feel like new again.

 

Work with The Quality Group

At The Quality Group, we’re your commercial relocation specialists. Founded in 1987 in New Orleans, LA, The Quality Group serves the Gulf States with comprehensive commercial moving services from move planning to furniture installation. No other company puts in the time or preparation that we do to make your move stress and hassle-free.

 

How to Pick Your Go-To Employee for Your Office Move

A commercial move requires coordination from all employees. But, on moving day, and weeks before you move, you need to appoint someone in your office to coordinate with your commercial movers. You have a lot of options, but how do you know who will be best for the job? What are the responsibilities this person will have? Well, we have some tips so you can choose the right person to be your commercial movers’ “go-to” contact person. img_moving

At The Quality Group, we call our clients’ key contact person, the “Move Captain”. You can definitely have more than one contact person if you feel like you need to. But, one captain will definitely do the job. It’s all about what you prefer and feel comfortable with.

The person you appoint will be involved in all aspects of the move and will be involved in the planning, coordination and, of course, should be present at the time of the move. This person is helping to coordinate the entire move.

How do you know who to pick to lead the pack on moving day? We’ll make it easy for you. Here are some characteristics we think would be best for your key contact to have.

First, we suggest the person you choose to be your key contact for the move to be a leader. This person needs to know how to direct traffic, if traffic needs to be directed (hypothetically speaking, of course). They need to know what needs to happen, and convey that to your commeimg_clipboardrcial movers with confidence. If the movers have a question, the key contact needs to know how to answer it, or know who to contact in order to get the question answered.

Another quality this “go-to” employee should have is knowledge of all business operations. When the move is being planned, the key contact should be able to convey to the movers how the furniture needs to be set up in order for the office to be functional for its operations. Functionality is vital, and it’s important that your key contact can help plan out the best way for your new office to be set up so that your business operations will run smoothly. You don’t want someone who works in one department of your office, and has no idea what any of your other departments. If that’s the case, you may end up with a collaborative meeting room filled with computers and cubicles, when that’s not what your business operations need in that particular room.

Problem solving is another characteristic your key contact should have. If your movers have a question or concern, your “go-to” employee should be able to help solve the problem.

No matter what commercial relocation company you choose, you should always have a key contact for your business so your movers can easily coordinate and immediately ask any questionsimg_plan. You want your move to go smoothly, so appoint an employee who has great leadership skills, knows your business inside and out and who is a great problem solver.

Now that you know what it takes to be the key contact for moving day, go scope out your office and decide who will be your “go-to” for your office move!

 

 

Work with The Quality Group

At The Quality Group, we’re your commercial relocation specialists. Founded in 1987 in New Orleans, LA, The Quality Group serves the Gulf States with comprehensive commercial moving services from move planning to furniture installation. No other company puts in the time or preparation that we do to make your move stress and hassle-free.

 

 

Furniture Installation Made Easy

You’re a business owner. You’ve got a lot of things to worry about and deal with, but, there are some things you just shouldn’t have to do.

When you order new furniture for your office, you shouldn’t be worried about how to install it. You need to focus on what you do best, and that’s running your business. So, we’re going to tell you how The Quality Group does furniture installation to make your life easier.

To begin the furniture installation process, we schedule a meeting with you. We want to know about what you want when it comes to office furniture. We’ll boil down what furniture best fits for your business’ functionality, and what pieces will look great in your office as well. After we decide what you want, we map out some pricing and the proposed installation services.img_furniture

After we finalize everything in a contract, we meet with you and our furniture dealer to schedule proposed dates of meetings with the construction contractor. We want you to be in the loop on every part of this process so that we get everything done just how you want it. Open lines of communication between all parties is so important, so we do our best to stay in constant contact with everyone involved.

We believe in doing things right every time for you, so we carefully review the specifications for the furniture install and review the plans to ensure accuracy.

Next, we have a crew go to your office to verify critical measurements and check for electrical and communication entries. Then, we attend the contractor’s meetings so that we make sure we’re doing everything according to your timeline. We want to limit the hours spent on furniture installation so that you can get back to business as soon as possible.

After we coordinate the furniture delivery times and receive the furniture at your office, we inspect the furniture for all necessary pieces and any damage. If needed, we’ll file a damage report.

When we have everything we need, we begin installing your furniture. We visually inspect each workstation and private office to ensure we accurately installed the furniture. We make sure the level, trim and all other aspects of your furniture are perfect and functional.

After this whole process is complete, we sign off with you; we contact the furniture dealer for the final punch list and make sure you’re satisfied with all services.img_furnitureinstall

Furniture installation is a process, and we make that process easy by installing it for you. You shouldn’t have to worry about missing furniture pieces, how to put together a desk or filing damage reports. So, relax, The Quality Group has you covered.

 

Work with The Quality Group

At The Quality Group, we’re your commercial relocation specialists. Founded in 1987 in New Orleans, LA, The Quality Group serves the Gulf States with comprehensive commercial moving services from move planning to furniture installation. No other company puts in the time or preparation that we do to make your move stress and hassle-free.

How Your Offices’ Wall Color Gives Your Business a Competitive Advantage

You never really gave it much thought. A wall is a wall. What color they are shouldn’t affect the productivity of your employees and the success of your company, right? Think again.

In an article by Forbes, Amy Morin interviewed Sally Augustin, Ph.D., to find out about color psychology and how certain colors can give businesses a competitive advantage. We’re going to give you a few of those tips so that when you decide your office needs to be refreshed with a new look, you can take them into consideration.

First, wall colors have the ability to make people perceive temperature differently. As you might guess, warmer colors like red, yellow and oranges tend to make people believe it’s warmer than it actually is in the office. Contrarily, cooler colors like greens, light purples and blues make people feel as though it’s colder in the building than it actually is.

How can you use that to your advantage? Well, it all depends on where you live. If you live in a generally cooler environment, think about painting the entry way of your office warmer colors to save on heating costs. The opposite is true for img_orangewallsthose who live in warmer environments. This is a pretty easy way to save on that costly electric bill.

Want to evoke more creativity in your workplace? Go get some green paint swatches. Research shows that the color green stimulates productivity and broad and creative thinking. But, why green? “There seems to be a positive association between nature and regrowth,” said Augustin.

If you’re looking to please most people, then go for blues. According to Forbes, “when asked what their favorite color is, the most common answer around the world is blue.” It could be because of associations with blue skies or the ocean. If you want to know what to paint the waiting area in your office, you should go with blue since it pleases majority of people.img_bluepaint

So, what colors should you stay away from? For starters, stay away from red in areas of your office where you want to stimulate productivity. The color red evokes forceful and fast reactions and reduces analytical thinking.

Yellow. That’s another color you should stray away from when deciding what to paint your offices’ common area. This is because there are few people who like the color, but those who do, tend to really like it. So, to be safe, Augustin suggests sticking with the good ol’ blues.

If you want to increase productivity in your work environment then stay far, far away from the color white. According to Augustin, “too much of a monochromatic look can cause people to reflect on their own thoughts.” Because of the lack of stimulation in the color white, employees may become distracted. And, you don’t want employees distracted all day thinking about things other than what they’re supposed to be thinking about, right?

Pink is said to be a calming color. Unless you work in an intense field where tensions can run high and meetings can turn into heated arguments, then we suggest staying away from this color. Pink is also known for draining people’s energy, so be mindful about choosing this color.

We gave you a crash course on Augustin’s psychology of color so that you can choose the best paint for your business’ walls. You can save money, stimulate creativity and make employees and your business more successful just because of a paint color. So what are you waiting for? Go out and get some swatches!

 

 

Work with The Quality Group

At The Quality Group, we’re your commercial relocation specialists. Founded in 1987 in New Orleans, LA, The Quality Group serves the Gulf States with comprehensive commercial moving services from move planning to furniture installation. No other company puts in the time or preparation that we do to make your move stress and hassle-free.