your guide to office moves - amazon web services · your guide to office moves this ebook is...

Advice from expert facilities managers

YOUR GUIDE TO OFFICE MOVES

This Ebook is sponsored by Harrow Green

Introduction ............................................................................03

Refurbishment Vs Office Move ...............................................04

Planning and Communication ................................................08

Organisation & Management .................................................12

Fixed or Flexible Environments ...............................................15

Minimising Disruption for the Rest of the Business ..............16

Need More Advice? ................................................................19

Contents

1Facilities Show - Your Guide To Office Moves

Office moves are challenging – there’s no doubt about it – and reading some of the experiences mentioned in these Q&As reminds us of how stressful they can be. But they don’t have to be. At Harrow Green, we concentrate on taking the stress out of the move, and making it a positive experience for everyone. There are certain key points that anyone planning a move should consider, as you’ll see in the contributors’ comments that follow.

In the Q&As presented here, many of the same themes are emphasised. The importance of communication is mentioned by everyone. All staff and stakeholders involved in the move need to be kept informed, right from the start of the planning process.

At Harrow Green, our experienced team know that it’s crucial to give everyone the information they need. We give each of our customers a dedicated Move Co-Ordinator who takes personal responsibility for keeping them informed, so our customer knows exactly what they can expect in the lead-up to move day, on the day itself and in the days afterwards; what they need to do and when they need to do it; and who they can go to with any questions. We also make sure that this this is a two-way process – it’s important to remember that all staff involved in a move may have valuable information and ideas to contribute.

Of course, the logistics of moving IT and transferring phone lines etc. is a key risk to all relocation projects – even more so in business-critical environments. Meticulous planning, and the creation of a detailed move programme, is the key here – and allowing enough time for providers (such as phone companies) to do what they need to do (and then allowing a bit extra!). At Harrow Green, we provide a comprehensive move programme, covering absolutely everything, which we update as the project progresses, and keep flexible for any changes in our customer’s needs. This programme includes the key tasks required to deliver the move, and a detailed timeline of activity, showing, step by step, exactly how the move will be achieved. Through customer feedback, we know how much our customers appreciate our attention to detail and how we communicate with them at every stage.

When planned thoroughly and well, an office move can be very positive. It means fresh starts and new opportunities. It’s a chance to sort out problems that have been nagging at you for years – whether it’s a seating plan you don’t like, messy cabling, badly positioned floor boxes, or clutter (that pile of unwanted printer cartridges, perhaps!). At Harrow Green, we’ve expanded our services to meet customers’ needs, and we now offer many associated services so our customers can make the most of their move: technology relocation, cabling services, document management, document scanning and shredding, furniture re-use, IT equipment and printer cartridge recycling.

And as Antony Wiltshire reminds us, when everything is done, and the new office is up and running, it’s important to celebrate – don’t forget to get staff together and crack open the champagne.

Nigel Dews, Managing Director, Harrow Green

A word from Harrow Green


Managing DirectorHarrow Green

Nigel


Whether you are planning the next move, preparing your staff, dealing with teething issues of a new building or working through an over-flowing snag list every Facilities Manager can relate to the pressures of the job.

That is why Facilities Show have teamed up with a few FM experts to share their experiences and make sure you are ready for your next office move.

Antony Wiltshire, Head of Facilities UK & Ireland at Edelman, Bruce Shakespeare, Head of IT Estates at University of Oxford, Gail Charley, Corporate Services Director at Forrester Research and Richard Lloyd, Associate Director Facilities at AstraZeneca discuss challenges they faced, mistakes they have made and advice they would give.

Head of FacilitiesUK & Ireland

Edelman

Head of IT EstatesUniversity of Oxford

Corporate Services Director

Forrester Research

Associate Director Facilities

AstraZeneca

Office moves dominate the world of Facilities Management.

Antony Bruce Gail AntonyRichard


Refurbishment Vs Office MoveBefore making the decision to move office, all options must be considered, including whether to refurbish or not. Our experts discuss the pros and cons of both and what needs to be factored in to the decision making process.

Antony

Refurbishment tends to be cheaper but there are so many factors – is the location still right for you and your clients? Your floor may look good but is the rest of the building letting you down? Shared areas like lifts and a ground floor reception are the first impression for your visitors – are they good enough and do they reflect your brand? Are transport links improving? What is happening to the surrounding area? What’s the long-term plan for your building? Is there a lease break or end on the horizon?

Your Managing Director and Financial Director will have an opinion on this. Normally the decision is strategic and made at the board level. Once there’s agreement you can progress and start a cost analysis exercise but don’t forget the big price tag items – are you going to re-use your furniture, IT infrastructure, landline handsets etc.?

The decision whether to move or refurbish depends on various factors including the remaining term on your lease.

If you have a rent review, the landlord may contribute towards a refurb which helps with costs and may influence your decision to stay in the space.

However, if you have other relocation criteria, e.g. from London to Manchester, this would be a business rather than a cost based decision. The latter is a more level discussion rather than a straight forward move project.

Gail


Antony

Often a move is easier – because you can create a new space in parallel with the existing office. It’s always far harder if you’re taking the old furniture with you and makes the move weekend a logistical challenge. For refurbishment you have to create a safe area for staff, separate the contractors, avoid the challenges of sharing toilets with construction staff and be sympathetic of noise disruption

We did a refurbishment recently over two floors. It was more of a challenge because we couldn’t get everybody out of the space; we moved everyone from one floor to the other whilst we refurbished the space.

It is more of a challenge when it comes to people, it is helpful if you have a culture within your company that allows more flexible working because then if people do get grumpy they can work from home.

You aim to get your programme as tight as possible and people are accommodating because they know they will be moving to a nicer, fresh clean space. If you do have the luxury of moving everyone out whilst you do the refurbishment that is great but most don’t have the budget for that so you have to work through floor by floor. You have to work very closely with senior management to make sure they support the project which is half the battle won.

People management as well as managing the project coordinators who are doing the works is critical. In my opinion, an office move is easier than a refurbishment project.

Gail


The decision to move or refurb is dictated by a number of factors including finance, strategy, personnel and other third party concerns.

In general terms a refurbishment can involve an office move depending on the works involved. We recently had to refurbish offices which first involved the removal of the dreaded asbestos. Under no circumstances could we have had staff in as the stuff was removed around them!

Other recent works involved some major landscaping around one of our buildings. In this instance we were able to leave the staff in situ although the work involved was often noisy and the re-designating of access routes caused some frustration. To offset this to some extent we kept the staff informed so they could at least plan their day to avoid the worst of the noise and in some cases we did provide some temporary decant space.

Currently we are managing the replacement of all the windows in one of our office blocks. We have limited decant space outside of the building so we have planned the works so that our common spaces, such as the staff room, are completed first so we can use this as our temporary decant space. We have kept the staff informed with the project progress and sort out problems that we encounter as we go along. Some things you just can’t plan for but that doesn’t mean you can’t sort the problems out.

Once again a regular and reliable communications strategy has taken the heat out of many of the problems we have encountered and at the end of the day the staff are really pleased with the new windows.

So, the lesson here for us is that reliable & timely communication is the key to the success of any major building works.

It’s a selling job... so SELL it!”

Bruce


Office moves would seem an entirely different kettle of fish but, once again, we have found communication is our key to success.

In a major office move we involved the staff from the start in the form of various focus groups. This was important because we were moving from modern open plan offices to a refurbished office block which was an entirely different working environment.

We really needed to sell this big time so we set about listening to our staff concerns and building an action plan around that.

Now, some things we couldn’t do either because of financial constraints or the new building just wasn’t capable of solving that problem. One example of the latter was the provision of showers and changing rooms for our cyclists. The University has a policy of encouraging cycling to work so it would seem reasonable that we should provide these facilities. But we couldn’t, there just wasn’t the space. So we had to sell alternative solutions which included in this case using facilities in other University buildings within the same area. Far from ideal but it seems to have worked out.

So, the lesson learned here was the need to manage expectations. Don’t promise on un-deliverables, tell it how it is and come up with some work arounds. You won’t please all of the people all of the time but at least they won’t lynch you!

Refurbishment or Office Move? It’s a selling job whichever way you look at it so SELL it!


Gail

Planning and CommunicationOffices moves can be daunting and disruptive, so our expert discuss how to take the fear out of it.

Antony

Bruce

Communication is the key to success.

Make sure you engage stakeholders from all levels at the start of the process. You can avoid the post-move grumbles and ‘Why didn’t they think of…’ moments if you engage everyone from the get-go. This will also avoid last minute cost increases and an easy excuse for why the fit-out company didn’t hit the completion date.

Checklists help me a lot. Office moves are a great opportunity to clean out your space and it’s fantastic for anyone who is a control neat freak. You have to have a comprehensive checklist with lead times from a few months to the day of the move. Everything has to align otherwise you end up skipping important pieces.

See Gail’s Checklist >

Keep the staff informed every step of the way. Don’t keep any secrets, tell them the truth, even if it is bad news! Keep them involved, tell it how it is and what you’re going to do about it.

Tell it how it is, get a solution and action it fast!

The nightmare of managing old buildings is the dreaded Asbestos and its necessary removal. When this happens, and it does frequently in my world, tell all quickly. Fortunately, the University has a well-oiled machine for dealing with this problem so we press the button and we get access to the best qualified advice.


It’s important to talk to people, let them see the space or provide a mock-up of the space, so people get a good sense of where it is they are going – the fear of theunknown goes away because they have seen it and felt it.

The other element is engaging – getting someone to be appointed as lead representative for the group of people being moved, and taking them through our standard processes, help them understand what information we will need for them. We will say if you going to move in 6 weeks’ time, then this is what you should be doing. i.e. getting rid of rubbish, getting yourself ready.

When the move is complete, don’t just abandon it, make sure there are people in place for the first couple of hours/days who can help with any questions etc.

Standard processes: Have a look at where you’re going, see what layout is going to be and then describing the processes from beginning to end for continuous/intense engagement.

AntonyRichard


The biggest challenges facilities managers face

Antony

The biggest challenge is in managing expectations and keeping downtime to a minimum. And dealing with BT/Virgin Media/etc.!

Staff Cooperation – that’s always the challenge with these things. People resent change and they hate moving so start early and get them to work with you on this.

Remember, you have one mouth and two ears, so listen twice as much as you speak. It’s important to build goodwill with the staff at every opportunity, you never know when will need it next. So LISTEN!

One of the things we had to deal with was having a lot of people in cellular offices with unallocated desking. We had to demystify that process and help them understand what it was and what it looked like.

Part of that moves process was a little handbook with rules of engagement/etiquette of how open plan offices are. AntonyRichard

Bruce


Whilst sometimes everything will fall into place perfectly, with so many moving parts things don’t always go to plan. Our experts give us examples of what’s worked well for them, and what’s not.

Antony

WHEN IT’S GONE WELL: For me, employee engagement is essential and the top priority to ensure a successful move. You also need to be mindful of IT and telephone lead times. A seamless move with minimal disruption and few surprises is the result of meticulous planning and lots of talking at the start, and that continues throughout the process WHEN IT’S GONE WRONG: Our closest shave was when BT delivered a data circuit the afternoon before we were due to move. They were three weeks late and it was incredibly tight. We chose not to alert staff that the move may be delayed, as we’d have lost the momentum of packing crates and throwing away rubbish. The signs were good and we held our nerve. It was too close a call and relied on a lot of finger crossing!

WHEN IT’S GONE WELL: You need a reliable move company. It is really important they arrive when they way they will and bring the right number of people to do their move, their team is organised and they have efficient supervisors to manage the process.WHEN IT’S GONE WRONG: I had an office move where the move company was due at 09h00, arrived at 11h30 and then had a tea break until 12h30. Nobody could speak English, there was no supervisor and we spent a lot of time having to manage the move team as well as everything else. Some other challenges have been around IT and AV because they are often behind schedule which is very frustrating.

Gail

WHEN IT’S GONE WELL: We’ve just completed a major relocation from one side of Oxford to the other. From modern air-conditioned, open plan offices to something quite different. The new building us an eclectic mix of open plan, multiple and single office space, all newly refurbished but without some of the luxuries of the old place. Many of our staff thought we were moving from a superior office block to inferior offices so the challenge was to involve the staff and ask them what they wanted from their new office, how they would like to move and when – over the weekend or during the week? It was all about communication and involvement and that was why it was a success, we had very few complaints with the actual move and the staff have settled in well into their new office environment.WHEN IT’S GONE WRONG: I have to admit that some of our very first moves were nothing short of a disaster! Mainly because we didn’t do the above. We didn’t listen to the staff’s concerns and most of all our planning was flawed because of it.It was a lesson we learnt well – listen, plan, action!

Bruce


Organisation & ManagementBeing organisied is key to a smooth transition, our experts share their checklists to help you stay on top of your next office move.

Antony

Data and telephony

Keeping existing furniture or purchasing new?

Retaining IT infrastructure (switches, servers, phone system etc.) or replacing it?

Employee engagement – sharing floor plans, understanding team sizes, tours as the project nears completion, and don’t forget to plan for expected growth

Agree with IT on who has responsibility for what – data cabling, desk presentation, etc.

Is postal redirection needed?

Make sure you clear the office BEFORE you move – only move the things you’ll need to the new location

Keep on top of the data and telephony supplier

Watch out for way leaves and council permission

Is the air conditioning going to be sufficient?

Make sure your server room is adequate

Check your mobile phone signal

Pick a good removal contractor

Don’t forget your dilapidations!

Sometimes there’s a time pressure – a lease end, for example. You need to allocate a realistic time for data and telephone installation (around 12 weeks). Sometimes your fit-out contractor can create a safe area ahead of go live so you can early occupy.


Gail’s office move checklistTO DO LIST: LEAD TIME (DAYS) Vendors to be informed of change of address:

Cleaning company 60

(Where no vendors are in place, research and set up vendor services):

Catering supplies and vendors 30

Stationery suppliers 30

Corporate Stationery suppliers 30

Vending machines 30

Franking machine 30

Mail collection and delivery service 30

Courier services 30

Plants 30

Business rates 30

Newspaper subscription 14

Milk deliveries 14

Taxi company 14

Corporate Hotels 14

Review items to be removed and items to be disposed 60

Review new building procedures for move 60

Appoint Removal company 60

Confirm disposal process for old furniture 30

Schedule move and review procedures at new building 30

Understand security process at new building and outline to staff 30

Plant numbers, placement and move process 21

Order new corporate stationery with new address 21

Order new business cards with new address 21

Order stationery items for delivery to new address 14

Order catering items for delivery to new address 21

Seating plan with Manager input 21

Communication to staff about move planning 14

Guide booklet for new location 14

Signage erected in new space 7

Crate delivery 7

Website and Intranet site documentation updated 7

Photographs for new security cards 7

Set up new desks with name ovals, business cards, waste bins Move weekend

Set up print and stationery points Move weekend

Set up meeting rooms with whiteboard pens and dusters Move weekend

Meeting room names and pictures put up Move weekend

Set up kitchens and teapoints Move weekend

Vending machines installed and stocked Move weekend

Arrange final clean pre move of new space to hoover, binliners and recycling bins Move weekend

Issue new security cards on first day in new space Arrival day

Post move clear out and clean at old space Post move

Signage removed from old space and put up in new space Post move

Crate collection 1 week post move

Gail


Gail

Balancing the added workload with day-to-day duties, it is hard, but not impossible. Hear how our experts manage it.

Antony

Bruce

Most moves follow the same pattern of staff engagement, planning, reviewing those plans and proposals, agreeing costs then overseeing the works. Inevitably, your workload increases as the project nears fruition but it’s all in the planning. It’s important to fully engage with your fit-out contractors – don’t leave the decision-making to them as profit is their priority.

Try to avoid too many changes as the programme starts, this will give contractors an easy excuse for missing deadlines and always pushes your costs up.

This is why engagement is so essential right at the start. You don’t want to start building partitions late in the day.

You have to have a good team around you. I am very fortunate so I am able to step out of the day-to-day and trust my team to do that whilst I focus on the move project.

It is a challenge and a busy time but not unmanageable.

How to balance the workload? You just have to do it!

There’s always stuff going on that needs my attention and organising moves is just part of that. The art of good management is delegation and the sign of a good manager is the efficiency of the team. In a previous life working for international companies I was judged on how well I employed a team and how well I motivated them.

Good teams give good results…so get one around you!


Fixed or Flexible Environments

If we moved to flexible working environments I know it would be a complete change of culture which people would need familiarising with. The change would very much depend on how the business were angling it. You would probably need to get HR involved because it would be a change of culture.

I spoke to someone recently and they had just moved from fixed to flexible and I asked her how they had done that and they said the sweetener was flexible working allowed people to work from home.

I would also need a really good communal area and on day one I’d do something like free breakfast or free lunch as a sweetener, because it’s a bit of a hearts and mind thing.

Nothing on my checklist would change, the only change would be people packing their craters, and they may pack a box and take their stuff home, if they’re not going to have a fixed desk as opposed to having it moved by the moving company. There would probably be some guidelines about space they are going to be able to call their own if any and take their box home instead of us moving – apart from that everything would be same. Business cards wouldn’t t go on a desk they could collect them from reception or mail room, other than that I would stick to my checklist.

Gail


Minimising disruption for the rest of the businessEnsuring the business and workers aren’t negatively impacted by the move is essential, discover how to minimise the risk of negative business implications.

Antony

Provide lots of information and keep everyone involved. A regular newsletter and stepping up the frequency of comms can really start building the excitement as the project develops.

Floorplans are good in the final weeks but remember that not everyone understands them. Keep them simple and perhaps colour-code areas so teams know where they’re going. Number desks on the plans.

It’s a nice touch to arrange staff visits in the final couple of weeks so expectations are managed and potential frustrations can be anticipated before you move in.

Be mindful of noise and dust if it’s a refurbishment. Also consider your neighbours if it’s a multi-tenant building. There may be rules on noisy works, so check with building management and don’t forget your contractors should provide RAMs.

Office moves cost money so we have to get the planning spot on. Plan ahead and hedge your bets, things can and will go wrong so think about solutions.

You won’t get it right all of the time but at least you will be in the mind set.

Bruce


Everyone knew we were moving and about a month before, the removal company came in and explained to staff about what and how to pack and how to label their crates.

People are understandably protective of their personal belongings and want to know they are going to be safe and not tampered with.

People do recognise that a move is a big deal and there will be disruption. We let everybody pack and go home early on the Friday afternoon so we could take down connections. No-one was expected near the workplace over the weekend and we asked everyone to arrive at 09h00 on Monday morning. They were issued their security card, given a floor plan with their desk location on it where they found their crate and new business cards. They can unpack their crates, plug in and work – very little disruption other than losing the Friday afternoon and an hour or so on Monday morning.

Gail


Bruce

Checklist, Checklist, Checklist and don’t panic! See the opportunity in the move rather than the monster!

It is a lot of work, very stressful and exhausting but it is rewarding once it’s all done, everyone is in the space and you start getting complimentary feedback on the new office. The whole exercise is built to enhance your internal customer’s experience, which makes it all worth while.

Antony

All too often, IT and Facilities work independently and this is a recipe for disaster. Agree who does what right from the start – who’s getting the data cabling installed? Who’s bringing patch leads to the desks? What do you want in floor boxes? How do you want your desk presentation?

Backtrack your planned move date when speaking to suppliers so you build at least 3 weeks of contingency into the plan.

Agree with IT who is going to manage the contractor and keep the pressure on. Have regular updates and get a named project manager at the data end.

Gail

We run a 24/7 service so if any part of IT goes down we’re in trouble. I would say that this is the most crucial part of any planning – we have to keep the staff productive and able to work.

This is why we plan for weekend moves so that they’re only down Friday afternoon and by Monday morning they’re ready to come into the new building and get straight to work.

It’s out unplug…move…plug in solution! It works well but, boy, does it take some planning.

Collaboration with IT


Need more advice?Our experts share their top tips for someone planning an office move

Antony

Bruce

Good housekeeping. Make sure everyone throws away their rubbish before you move them.

You can save on crates and won’t have the frustrating sight of people throwing away their belongings as they unpack in their new office!

Get a plan together, it’s essential!

A pictorial plan is quite good. It can help you with knowing where you are going in the given timeframe.

From this we can prepare a checklist of what we have to do when. This can then be shared with staff so they also know where we are with the project.

Typically, the questions we like to address are: ▸ What do we need to do to get building ready? ▸ How are we going to do that with the least disruption? We run a 24/7

service we can’t afford to have any downtime. ▸ Timescales, what’s best the best time to move? In our latest office move

we packed up on Friday afternoon and by Monday morning all the staff had to do was turn on their computers.

This sets the standard now for all our moves and our staff know that when another move comes along at least we’ll take the least painful option wherever we can.


Don’t stress

You have to take everything in your stride. If you have a plan, ,don’t deviate from it. It is well thought out and you put it together with lead times for a reason. You can be gracious in accepting advice from many different corners of the organisation but stick to the plan!

Clarity and vision and early engagement with staff and people being moved once we have a strategy.

Go to everyone who will be moved and always keep them involved. Do it early and encourage lots of engagement.AntonyRichard

Gail

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