Managing an office relocation project without overspending can be a real challenge. Due to their complexity, office moves can be a nightmare to project manage and even harder to accurately budget for, especially given the hidden costs that can arise out of the blue.<\/p>\n
Every stage of relocation can pose problems \u2013 even for the most experienced of facilities managers. Despite that, there are great opportunities to cleverly reduce your spend whilst still delivering a high-quality work environment for your colleagues. Here are a few tips you can use to deliver a seamless office move for less.<\/p>\n
Budgeting the move<\/strong><\/p>\n Accurately budgeting an office relocation is really challenging. Without a wealth of experience or knowledge, it can be hard to put together a budget without help. Gaining holistic knowledge of every activity involved in the move provides a firm basis to put together a more accurate budget. How many staff are moving?<\/em><\/p>\n What operations need to be maintained during the move?<\/p>\n What equipment, files and furniture need relocating?<\/p>\n What will you do with what\u2019s left behind?<\/p>\n Are there any restrictions that will influence the move programme?<\/p>\n When does each moving phase need to be completed?<\/p>\n What will you need to do to clear and reinstate the old office?<\/p>\n Can you comfortably manage the project yourself?<\/p>\n Addressing these questions will allow you to think through each facet of your project, this serves as the basis for a formal office relocation project plan. A comprehensive plan may be the difference between hitting your budget and wildly overspending.<\/p>\n Move planning<\/strong><\/p>\n Planning is an essential component of a successful office relocation project. Not only does it enable you to forecast your costs accurately, but it also allows you to consider potential cost-saving activities and minimizes any costly disruptions. The earlier you begin activity planning, the better. You should also seek to involve any office relocation services vendors at the earliest possible stage to ensure your move is delivered on time and within budget. List all stakeholders involved \u2013 reviewing their needs and conditions of the project will play a pivotal role in the running of the project<\/p>\n Note the constraints \u2013 anything that impacts any phase of your move should be formally noted<\/p>\n Plan for contingencies \u2013 disruptions to a commercial relocation project are inevitable, so noting several options should these arise will be highly beneficial<\/p>\n Phase activities in your project timeline \u2013 phasing allows you to create a \u2018buffer\u2019 for overrunning activities, reducing the dependencies on activities to be completed on time<\/p>\n It may be helpful to talk to your relocation services partner about the move management services they provide to support your move management process.<\/p>\n Resell redundant equipment<\/strong><\/p>\n If you opt for new furniture, there are ways to recover some funds from your redundant furniture leftover whilst avoiding the cost and environmental impact of sending it to landfill. If it\u2019s still in good condition, with some sales and marketing assistance, you can sell it and recover some of your outlay. This can be a time-consuming process which is why many facilities managers avoid reselling redundant IT equipment altogether. However, some integrated services providers can provide the marketing and sales support needed to resell unwanted office furniture and IT equipment without it affecting your relocation timeframes or creating additional workload for you and your team.<\/p>\n
\nTo start, you should ask yourself:<\/p>\n
\nTo construct a comprehensive office relocation project plan, you should:<\/p>\n