An office relocation has the potential to disrupt workflow for employees. With some careful planning and clear communication, it’s possible to make the transition smoothly. Even better, the relocation can offer an opportunity to make improvements in your workspace to facilitate efficiency and team collaboration.
Often, senior management assume responsibility for all planning associated with an office move. However, a helpful way to encourage buy-in on a new location from all employees is to designate a “relocation team” responsible for making the hard decisions of space allocation. Instead of a new space where senior managers make all the decisions, your team members are both stakeholders and decision makers.
With a relocation team made up of representatives from each team, your new space can best meet the needs of all your employees. The relocation team will help decide how to best utilize the office space for productivity, future growth, and their team identity. In this Team Space model, members from different teams may need negotiate with each other for the overall space or areas that will be allocated to each team.
The team’s biggest task will probably be determining how to arrange the office, cubicles, or pods. The team will need to plan for a variety of spaces: individual work stations, open collaboration areas, private spaces, and closed conference areas. They’ll need to keep the following considerations in mind as they determine this arrangement:
- Plan space for the growth targets so they can plan today how they will rearrange space as the company grows.
- Consider the collaboration they want to have, not the collaboration that they have in your current location.
- For open space floor plans, what space is available for personal phone calls within a quick ‘3 or 4 rings’ walking distance when a team member receives a private phone call.
- Plan for the ‘water cooler’ or ‘coffee break’ area. Is there a team-friendly space where employees can interact for a quick chat or even to hash out a problem away from their desks?
There are additional questions that will also need to be considered. You can pose these to your relocation team as well, or assign some of these tasks to management.
- What physical elements do employees value? Do you have a veritable indoor garden that makes the office feel welcoming? If so, plan for the plants by asking the people who make them thrive now take this on during the move.
- How can you help ensure employee safety and security on the property? Do changes need to be made to parking lot lighting, security cameras, and electronic access locks?
- It’s almost never too soon to plan for your Internet connection by obtaining a full installation and service quote before you even sign the lease. As soon as possible, confirm an installation date to ensure you are up and running as quickly as possible.
After your careful planning, your teams will be able to move into their designated areas, with spaces allocated for common and personal use within appropriate boundary and budgetary limits. Implementation of a relocation team of employee stakeholders will facilitate a seamless transition to your new location on move-in day!
Writing and editing services provided by long-time collaborator, Kelly Garrett.
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