Office Moving Checklist

If you’re preparing for commercial relocation, you want to aim for minimal disruption during the move. Whether you’ll be relocating to a serviced office or a coworking space with shared facilities, planning, preparation, and communication for the upcoming move are key. Although a long and detailed office moving checklist can be a challenging task, commercial movers Columbus Ohio are here to help you. We are sharing all the essential steps you should take to keep things running as smoothly as possible. Here’s our practical guide to help you make the move without unnecessary stress.

Let’s dive right in!

Once you’ve decided to take the plunge, start taking care of the first steps immediately. Ideally, you should be hiring your long-distance movers Columbus Ohio and begin preparing your office moving checklist 3 to 6 months before your moving date.

Step One – Review your commercial property lease.

If you are planning to leave early, the timing may cost you your deposit. You may also be responsible for any breakages or damage to the office that might occur during the move. Make sure you’re in control. Put together a planning team, who can delegate tasks and be responsible for the moving process. Start getting quotes from a variety of moving companies, to find the best available service and value for money. Find out whether you need moving insurance for your bigger pieces of equipment and machinery. Decide what your moving budget is, and stick to it to help prevent overspending.

Step two of our office moving checklist – Clear and open communication

• Once you’ve completed making your own moving checklist, you can confirm your moving date. Now it’s time to let internal and external parties know about your upcoming relocation.
• Notify your current landlord and/or property manager, and give official notice.
• Let all your team members know what the moving date is and where the new office address will be.
• Start a master list of people you need to send a change of address to.
• Ensure that your employee list is up to date just like your office moving checklist is.
• Make sure that your client list and service provider list is up to date.
• Let all team members know what their responsibilities will be ahead of time.
• Make a reservation with Zippy Shell Columbus moving company.
• Gather your IT department and explain to them about the move and discuss what tech is needed for the day.
• Last but not least, notify local partners, affiliates, and suppliers about the upcoming move. Especially those who will be affected by your change of address and contact information.

Who to send a change of address notice to:

1. Clients and partners;
2. Any professional organizations you belong to;
3. Stationery services;
4. Banks and financial institutions;
5. Any food service companies;
6. Bottled water company;
7. Telephone company;
8. Service companies for photocopiers or printers;
9. Insurance companies;
10. Any accounts departments;
11. Your internet service provider;
12. Any additional services your company makes use of.

Step three of our professional office moving checklist – Preparation

Now it’s time to consider the logistics that form part of your commercial moving checklist. The main part of the course is moving all your office equipment from one space to another.

• Obtain a detailed floor plan of your new space.
• Measure the new office space and plan how you are going to lay things out.
• Write down an inventory of existing office furniture.
• Make a note of any new furniture you might need.
• Place orders for new furniture and stationery if needed.
• Arrange external storage facilities if you have a gap between your move-out and your move-in date.
• Sign any official paperwork, permits, and licenses.
• Book parking space and elevators for the moving day.
• Set up a date for cleaning services to come to both your current office and the new premises.
• Finalize access codes and security for the new premises.
• Send a detailed floor plan to your movers, and even arrange a meeting at the new premises if needed.
• Create a detailed moving day plan for your staff to follow.

What should your planning team be discussing at this stage?

• Firstly, assigning a member of each team to oversee their department’s packing responsibilities.
• Secondly, deciding on packing procedures and layout.
• Drafting directions to the new location, including instructions on parking, public transport, etc.
• Putting together a “moving pack” for each staff member, including their allocated desk number, color code, and information about the new location.
• Determining a standardized way to label laptops, screens, hard drives, keyboards, etc. and making sure all staff are informed.
• Ensuring that everyone takes home personal belongings and devices.
• Additionally, you should decide which representatives will stay at the current location until the last moving truck has left, and who will be going to the new location to supervise.
• Arranging for each department to empty and pack or seal their filing cabinets etc.
• Ensuring that color-coded signs and desk numbers are clearly laid out and marked in the new space.
• Finally, ensuring that keys, access codes or tags, and security information is all available.

Step Four – Now you are ready to make the move

Once the moving day arrives, you should not be feeling stressed. With the help of our thorough commercial moving guide, you will be well-prepared. But here are some additional ways to ensure everything goes smoothly on the big day.

• Keep your emergency numbers list close at hand.
• Separate a sum from your moving budget for refreshments for the moving team and internal representatives.
• You need to move all the office equipment, computers, phones, etc. first.
• Ensure that representatives are available at all times. They will make sure all the color-coded items are in the rightful locations, and all desks are in the right places along with their numbered boxes
• Book a date for telephone lines and systems to become operational at your new office address.
• Congratulations, you did it!