Tag: move planning

HR Communication During a Company Move

Posted on April 19, 2016 by - Commercial Relocation, Moving Preparation

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HR Can Help You Through a Company Move.

As the HR manager, during a move, your focus is on the staff. Your efforts will go toward giving the staff the right information for the move and making sure they maintain a positive mindset. Check out these tips to be an effective HR manager during your company’s move and ease the staff’s minds into the new office.

Know Why You are Moving

The initial news of the move will be shocking to your staff. Some of the employees may be anxious and some will be excited. Knowing why you are you moving and being able to illustrate this when people come to ask will be key. Conveying the vision behind the move will help ease minds.

Offer Support Channels

Be a part of the planning and communication from the start so you know what is going on and when it will be happening. Knowing each step of the plan will allow you to answer any questions that come your way from confused staff. Be sure to give staff multiple channels to voice their concerns and questions, whether it’s through social media, email, an online forum, or in person.

Map out the new office as part of your HR tasks. Map it Out

Providing maps to staff and clients will be essential to avoiding frustration after the move. Let them know visually and directionally where the new office is and how they can get there. Providing a map of the new office’s layout will also be helpful for staff.

Train Staff

New equipment may come with the new office and may require training to ensure proper use. Schedule out some training time for the new equipment.

Stay Positive

Rumors and bitter feelings may be swirling around the office due to the upcoming change. Staying positive with the vision of the new location and what it means will help dispel negativity. Keep staff updated on news so misinformation is not spread and the move is successful.

As the HR manager, you should plan a celebration after the move. Celebrate

Moving your office to a new location can be stressful so remember to celebrate after the successful move. Celebrating will get your office started with a positive attitude and help people get used to the new place.

Ask for Feedback

Including staff in the move so they know their opinion matters to the company is important. Get feedback from them after the move on what can make the new office more comfortable. In a new place, feeling comfortable can go a long way.

Communicating the right information during the move will benefit everyone and relieve loads of stress. As the HR manager, you can help be a positive influence during your company’s move into a new office.

 

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing a New Office

Posted on March 22, 2016 by - Commercial Relocation, Moving Preparation

Anyone who has ever moved knows and understands that a lot goes into choosing a new office. There are a lot of factors to consider in a certain time limit and because there is so much to do it’s easy to make mistakes. Below is a list of the most common ones that people make when choosing a new office and tips on how to avoid making them.

Underestimating Time

If your business doesn’t account for enough time when choosing an office space, you will be forced into choosing something that may not be best for you. Looking for a space and negotiating an office lease time can take a while. If you know you want to move to a new office you should begin the search 6-12 months in advance of your current lease’s expiration date, and maybe even more if your office is larger than 2500 sq. ft. as your space requirements are more likely harder to meet.

Not Considering Future Growth

Failing to factor in future growth of your company may result in your business outgrowing the office before the lease’s due expiration date. This results in staff feeling cramped and unmotivated, and not being able to get any work done. Future growth should be taken into consideration when choosing a new office. It never hurts to have a little extra space or a couple of extra rooms in your office because that space may come handy later on.

Paying the Stated Price and Not Negotiating

All lease terms are negotiable. Settling for the landlord’s initial negotiations will only ensure that they are getting the most bang for their buck, and it will prevent you from looking after your own needs and interests. Be sure to negotiate the terms that your landlord proposes to ensure you are getting what you need in the new office.

Not Having Legal Representation

A real estate lawyer reviews office spaces for their career. When reviewing the terms of your lease it’s beneficial to have a real estate lawyer on your side to review the lease with you. If you were to review the lease and make a mistake the consequences could come back and hurt you down the line. Make sure you have a real estate lawyer that is looking out for you and who will help prevent this from happening.

Choosing the right office space is imperative to ensuring your business is successful. Follow our tips above in order to avoid the most common mistakes made when choosing a new office space. Doing so will benefit you and your business.

What to Look for in a Commercial Mover

Posted on March 8, 2016 by - Commercial Relocation

After making the difficult decision to move your business to a new office, you have to find the best company to help get your there. There are a lot of moving companies out there, and not all offer the same services and provide the same quality of move. When you’re choosing your perfect moving company be sure to consider the following must haves in a moving company.

   Insurance

Finding a moving company that is insured is very important. You’ll want to make sure your moving company insures your equipment for a range of possible risks during transit or while in storage. This protection will give you peace of mind during relocation.

Estimate Cost

Hidden fees and tacked on costs are common occurrences when dealing with some moving companies. Find a company that lists all costs and be sure to inquire if packing, cleaning, and supplies are included in the estimate. Some companies like The Quality Group operate on a not-to-exceed pricing basis and build every step into their move plan when estimating a relocation. This prevents you from incurring unexpected costs and going over your budget.

Employees

The employees at a moving company will be the key to a good or bad move. Hire a moving company that staffs in-house personnel. In-house employees are more invested in their job than subcontracted employees and will take more care of your furniture and equipment when packing and moving it on and off the truck. Hiring a company that invests in their employees will result in a better moving experience for you.

 

Equipment Care

The proper care of your computer equipment, electronic devices, and data wiring structure is essential during a move. These items are often easily broken and damaged due to their make-up. Finding a moving company that has experience moving sensitive equipment is essential, as it requires extra attention. Look for a company with the necessary experience and packaging supplies to safely relocate your equipment. If you have specific instructions for the care of certain equipment, call a moving company like The Quality Group who listens and adheres to special requests.

Service 

If you are looking for a minimal-involvement moving experience then you’ll need to find a moving company that offers a full-service move. The Quality Group offers a start to finish moving experience that includes the planning, managing, and execution of your move so the only thing you have to focus on is your business. Find a company that helps you through every step of the moving process, even the cleanup of your old office.

 

Picking the right relocation company for you and your office doesn’t have to be a hard decision when you know what to look for. One that is worth their salt will help you through every step of the moving process to ensure your move is worry free. Your new office is not far off so consider each must have and choose your perfect moving company.

Data Backup During a Move or Company Relocation

Posted on February 23, 2016 by - Commercial Relocation

For any modern company, an important part of office relocation is ensuring that you have secure and up-to-date backup for your data. Studies have shown that 60 percent of companies that lose their data are out of business within 6 months and a full 90 percent are out of business within two years of a total data loss.  It’s easy for data to suffer loss or damage during a move, so it’s important to take preventative measures by having a data backup in place to minimize risk, and ensure that your data is protected during the moving process.

There are different options for you to consider when deciding on how to keep a backup of your data. Consider both options and choose the best for your company, or use both for extra protection.

Having your crucial data backed up before a move or relocation is a must.

Quality Group can store your data off site.

Storing Your Data Off Site

Keeping it away from the move is a great option. You should ask your internet service provider if they can recommend a good data storage center.

 

 

 

Using the Cloud to Store Data Store your data in the cloud.

The Cloud is a popular and inexpensive storage facility often used by companies. It’s also easy to restore, and can be automatically updated from any location with internet access.

After you choose how you will back up your data, you will need to plan further. These plans will likely feature an IT Test, and planning for any accidents.

IT Test

When you are organizing your relocation, include a test plan to make sure all your critical equipment is working correctly and to check that nothing has been damaged in the move. This needs to be done when everything is on site, and before your staff arrives, to minimize disruption.

Planning for Accidents

Having a plan set in case of disaster is important as well. Any modern business is extremely dependent on equipment and phones so it is important that they’re working. Failing to have a workable backup plan could cause your business to suffer.

Planning and executing these different steps will take different amounts of time, depending on individual business. Taking these essential steps allows you to make your move much smoother.

Pick a moving company with experience in moving data infrastructure.

Whether you have a back up plan in place or not, it is vitally important that you chose a company who has vast experience in moving data infrastructure. This doesn’t just mean a company like the Quality Group, who is insured but also one who can minimize down time in addition to data loss. When you are ready to move into your new office it’s important that data is not only kept safe but also that you have no operational down time.

If you would like to find out more about how the Quality Group goes above and beyond to protect your data, please give us a call today.

The Last Day in Your Old Office After Moving

Posted on February 16, 2016 by - Commercial Relocation, Moving Preparation

The movers have come and packed all the office equipment up, moved it to the new location and arranged it all in the new building. All your employees are hard at work in the new place and you are eager to be in the new building hard at work as well. The problem is you still need to finish up a few more things at the old place before you can be officially moved into your new office.

To cut ties with your old office building forever, there are a few requirements you’ll need to complete.

Clean

Clean your office when moving will prevent extra chargesWhether you are renting or selling your old office building, cleaning after you move is a must. This means, vacuuming, wiping down the walls, cleaning the restrooms and fixing any damage. Cleaning up will prevent the landlord from having to charge you to purchase the services after you leave. Or if you own the building, it will prevent the new owners from reducing the buying price due to the condition of the office. You can opt to clean the office yourself or hire a professional cleaning service that will clean for you. With proper planning, The Quality Group can offer this service to you as part of their moving services.

Stop Utilities

Another step to complete before you are officially done with the old office is to stop all utilities flowing to that building. Sometimes this will mean talking to your landlord to make sure you are no longer being billed for the utilities, and other times it means contacting your utility provider and switching it to the new location. In either case, you need to make sure you won’t be paying for utilities you aren’t using.

Turn in Your Key

Turn your key in after you move everything out of your officeAfter you clean everything and make sure you aren’t paying for utilities for the old office, you’ll need to turn in your key. Holding on to the old office key after you move will benefit no one, so when all tasks are complete, turn it over to the landlord or new owners. This will help you avoid further rent charges or allow the new owners to start moving into their new office.

Moving is a big process, but you need to make sure everything is taken care of, and that includes your old office building. Making sure it is ready for the next tenants is important in avoiding further complications. After everything is complete however, you’ll be ready to enjoy your new office worry free.

Get a Quick Easy Office Moving Checklist

Posted on February 9, 2016 by - Moving Preparation

During a move, ask your employees to label their itemsWhen you’re faced with the stress of moving your office, it can be easy to forget some of the simpler details. Having an office moving checklist will prevent this from happening. It will also ensure that everything is done in the correct order.

Take the time before your move to make sure the following commonly forgotten steps are completed:

  • Drain out all equipment that holds liquids to avoid leakage. For items such as copiers and faxes that use liquid ink, be sure to take extra precautions to safely transport them and any open cartridges.
  • Empty out all of your desks before moving. Arrange for your staff members to pack and label their belongings.
  • Ask your professional moving company to pack paintings, pictures, bulletin boards, etc., with their fixtures so you can easily hang them up in your new office.
  • When you move, alert your cleaning companyGet rid of any old stationary that is labeled with the old office address.
  • Clear out filing cabinets, or if the contents must stay in cabinet and are private, be sure that the cabinets are locked, and the keys to open them are labelled properly.
  • If your new office is separated across floors, it’s a good idea to color-code each floor’s belongings. That way, identical furniture won’t get mixed up.
  • Make sure you notify your office cleaning company of your move. You should also arrange to receive quotes from 3 office cleaning companies, for your new office cleaning contract.

Making a checklist with these steps beforehand will potentially save you some trouble and headaches later on.

Keeping Your Business Going During a Move

Posted on February 2, 2016 by - Commercial Relocation, Moving Preparation

Moving is a hectic and stressful time for your business. On top of everything being shifted, packed and moved, you have to keep your clients happy and operations running. It can be hard to keep everything going normally when such a big disrupter is in your midst. It is possible however, to keep your business functioning during a move with some due diligence and some helpful tips.

Plan

Planning is the most important thing for your move. Research on what you’ll need to do leading up to the move, during the move, and right after the move to get settled is a must. While planning won’t cover everything, it will help things run a lot smoother. Start planning as early as possible so you and your employees can organize the work that needs doing with the move in mind. Stay on track and try to get as much work done as you can before the move so you have less to worry about.

Assign Responsibilities and Communicate

Moving is a hectic time so it’s a good idea to assign defined responsibilities to each employee so everything is covered. Assigning who does what will ensure the tasks that aren’t a part of the everyday schedule get done. With the chaos of a move, it’s also important to keep in touch and communicate more frequently. Moving is a stressful situation so having regular meetings will help ease concerns and keep everyone in the know so they can make informed decisions.

Schedule for the Weekend or Slow Days

There is no avoiding a little bit of disruption in the workflow during a move, but you can minimize it by moving in your off season. Also, try to move either on the weekend or on a typically slow day. Moving during a time when you’re not busy will prevent your employees from having to disrupt a big project. It will also keep their stress level down and lessen the impact for clients.

Hire Professional Movers

Professional movers will reduce your stress by making sure everything is moved correctlyThe best thing to keep your business moving as it should during relocation, is to hire a professional moving company. Hiring a moving company will allow your employees to focus on what is most important: their work. Professional movers will take the stress of moving off of you and your employees and move everything for you. If you hire a moving company like The Quality Group, then they’ll set up everything in your new office as well, so you can jump right back into work. Professional movers will take the stress of moving off of your business so you can focus on just your business.

Maintaining your workflow during a move can be a challenge but it’s definitely not impossible. Remember to plan, communicate and schedule for slow times when moving and to make it a seamless transition, call The Quality Group. We’d love to help you move with no noticeable down time.

Five Tips to Plan Your Commercial Move

Posted on October 13, 2015 by - Commercial Relocation, Moving Preparation

You don’t know where to start. Your office is moving in a few months, and there’s a bunch of things you need to get lined up. Where should you begin first?

Office moves can be complicated, and may seem like a full-time job. But, we’re going to make this process easy so that you know exactly what you need to do. Here are five things you should do to get organized for your commercial move:

  1. 1GetATimeline
    Get a timeline.     The first thing you want to ask yourself and your co-workers is when the best time to move would be. Is there a particular time when business is hectic? Or, do you need to be out of your current office at a particular time? Whatever the answers to those questions may be, you need to nail down a time when your business would feel most comfortable moving.
  2. Research Commercial Movers
    Research commercial movers.     Whatever you do, do not try to move your whole office yourself. It may seem like a good idea, but it’s not. Your office and your employees specialize in your business’ practices, not in commercial moving. There’s a high risk involved when you decide to have your employees move things like computers, scanners, printers, etc. Research professional moving companies in your surrounding area. We also suggest talking to other business owners who have moved and looking at reviews of various commercial moving companies before making your decision. Your business’ stuff is important. It’s your lifeline, so don’t trust it to just anyone. Do your homework.
  3. Contact Vendors
    Contact vendors.     After you nail down a timeline, and get a commercial mover to move your business during that time frame, it’s time to think about everyone you need to contact to let know that you’re moving. You don’t want your promotional materials to have your old address on them, or have important business materials being shipped to the wrong location. So contacting your vendors is a necessity.
  4. Delegate tasks to employees
    Delegate tasks to employees.     When we said you should leave the moving to the commercial movers, we meant it. But, that doesn’t mean that you can’t delegate certain tasks to employees. Chances are you don’t want to take everything with you to your new location. You might want to ditch your old furniture, and look for new furniture. Or, you may want to clean out and shred some old paperwork that’s taking up space. Delegate these tasks and any others you might think of to your employees so that your load won’t be so heavy.
  5. Relax during your move
    Relax.     This is going to be the hardest thing to do because moving takes a lot of coordination, and stress. But, if you pick the right commercial mover that plans in advance, meets with you about timelines and helps you with all of the coordinating so you don’t lose any business hours, then you have nothing to stress about.

Take these small tips to get you started and to get your thoughts organized. So, get out a pen and paper, make a list and get ready to get things moving.

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.

Commercial Moving Insurance 101

Posted on February 16, 2015 by - Facility Installation, Moving Preparation

Let’s say you talk to a moving company about relocating your office. They give you an estimate. If you ask them if this estimate includes insurance, most companies will say yes. But that shouldn’t be the end of the conversation.

Next, ask your moving company what kind of insurance they offer. This is an important question for a few reasons:

  1. What many moving companies refer to as “insurance” is technically called “valuation”. Valuation is based in transportation law, and is calculated on a per pound basis. This is different than insurance, which replaces the value of damaged goods as calculated by an insurance company.
  2. The most common moving valuation included in your quote guarantees you only $.60 per pound of goods damaged while in the mover’s possession.

If $.60 per pound doesn’t seem like the right valuation of your company’s assets, you need to know more about the insurance your moving company provides. Some questions you can ask your mover include:

  1. Do you offer insurance through an insurance company?
  2. Will I have to pay a deductible to file my claim?
  3. What exactly does your moving insurance cover?

When it comes to moving insurance, you need to know everything you can about the protection of your business’s property.  A moving company’s insurance policy can also tell you a lot about the company itself. If you’re dealing with commercial movers who offer bare minimum coverage, that might say something about the standard of work they hold themselves to. So don’t be afraid to ask questions! You deserve honest answers. And once you have all the facts, you can make an informed decision, knowing it’s the right one.

 

Want to Learn More about Commercial Moving Insurance? Here are some great resources:

Moving insurance vs. movers valuation – It pays to know the difference

The ABC’s of Moving Insurance

Frequently Asked Moving Insurance Questions

 

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.