The idea of moving to a new office location may be a daunting one, but when your business is growing and changing, it’s a necessary activity! You want your office relocation to go smoothly, which means that you need to plan, plan, and plan some more! It’s a big job with a lot of planning involved. If you want to keep the disruption to your new office move as low as possible, you’re going to minimize your business costs and the impact on your daily activities.
When you plan well, your office move can be as easy as pie. So, let’s take a look at five top tips for a smooth office move, and we’ll keep our fingers crossed that yours goes well!
Whenever you move to a new office, you need to ensure that every single person is involved. You can set tasks by team, from who will hire the skip bin for the rubbish that you clear, to who will keep the business running while it all happens. Your employees should be given as much notice as possible before a big move. The last thing that you want is to have an office filled with people who have no idea what’s going on! Communication is vital, and it’s the one thing that you need for success.
Step 2: Bring In The Professionals
You could go down the road of packing the office yourself and moving it, but you have a business to run. You may well organize the skip hire and sort out the decluttering of the office, but that doesn’t mean that you can sort the actual packing of all the computers! So, bring in the professionals who are qualified and insured to do all of this for you!
Step 3: Start Early
So, your business plan predicts that this move is to happen in a year. That’s great; you have a target to follow. There is so much to consider with office relocation, and the sooner you get started, the better. It would be best if you started everything slowly, from notifying your staff to finding the premises and getting it lined up. The earlier you do this, the earlier you can let your clients know of the changes.
Step 4: In With The New
Ideally, it would be best if you had a floorplan of your new office layout so that you can preempt any issues with installing technology and locating desks. You can bring in a team to help you to plan where everything should go, and they’ll make a big difference to the way you conduct this move, too.
Step 5: Keep Communicating
Your business needs to be live as much as possible through the move, as any shutdown can have an impact on the way that you do things. So, keep communicating with your clients and any major shareholders. You need to have a team in place to keep business open if necessary, and this takes planning.
When you are running your own business, you naturally want to get as much done as possible without spending every waking hour in the office. Spending fifteen hours a day does not necessarily mean that you or your employees are any more productive – in fact, the chances are that they will be less so, and you run the risk of high wage bills and burnout, which costs you in the long run. Here are a few tips to help you free up some time in your working day.
These days, there are very few tasks that can’t be at least partially done through automation. Payroll and HR management software can be used, workflow platforms, even email scheduling software. These tasks might only seem like they take a few minutes each, but over the course of a week, it all adds up to several hours of what is probably unnecessary work for you.
Hire a social media manager
Pretty much every business has a presence on social media, but few do it properly. Maybe you check-in and update it when you get a few moments here and there, or perhaps a few different people do, meaning a lack of consistency across them. A solid social media strategy is essential, so hiring someone to take care of this will save you lots of time and money in the long run, and give you much better results. This does not need to be a full-time, in-house employee – it is the perfect role to outsource to a freelancer or third party.
Keep meetings short and to the point
We all know how it feels to be sat in a meeting that never seems to end and is entirely irrelevant for most of the people sitting around the table. Only have meetings if they are necessary, and if you do need one, only invite the people who really need to be there. Keep them short and to the point by having a clear agenda and do not divert away from it. If further discussion is required around a point, think about other ways that you can work that into a day.
Time yourself
How often do you get distracted during the day, to check on that social media or to send that quick email? It’s probably a lot!
Try setting a timer for every task you decide to do and see if it encourages you to stay focused as you work. This is called the Pomodoro technique and can be extremely effective in keeping you on one task at a time.
Work outside of the office
Sometimes, working outside of the office is all anybody needs to help them feel more motivated. See if you can have employees work from home remotely occasionally. Going virtual will help you to free up some cash too.
By putting some of these tips into practice, you will see an upturn in productivity and a reduction in the number of hours you and your team have to work.
You may have heard of underutilized office space that is costing businesses billions a year. This is not necessarily about empty desks or wings of an office building earmarked for an expansion that just never seems to come around.
This is about that meeting room that has been booked out but never used or that desk of that colleague that is heavily involved with new business pitches and therefore, only is occupied 1 day out of the 5 in a working week. Or its that desk of that colleague that works from home 2 days in the week, or that colleague that has gone on a sabbatical to travel the world.
There are numerous reasons why businesses are bad in managing their spaces, and for something that comes at a premium price, office space, it’s of major financial impact. Having a large office is reduced to having a Ferrari to drive on country roads only.
Flexible Workplaces
One of the ways businesses can reduce this problem is by embracing flexible workplaces. Meaning that people don’t get a desk anymore but at most a laptop and mobile chest of drawers to be able to sit anywhere they like. This way, you offer a viable solution for everyone to sit anywhere they like, in the most flexible way. This is all contingent on the work being able to be done via cloud services and stable VPN connections and having to handle as little paper documents as possible. Next to being more efficient with the available workspace, flexible working might also help improving communication between people who would normally not sit together in a predefined seating arrangement.
Anti-Flex
But even with the best laptops and cloud facilities, you will find people flex-working in the same place each day. There is something about having your ‘own’ spot at the office. A tell-tell sign is the appearance of more personal items at one’s desk, such as notebooks, a mug, and framed photographs. The framed photograph is probably the equivalent of leaving your coat on a seat to ‘reserve’ it for your friends who are still to arrive. This confronts businesses with another issue altogether: “do you enforce flexible workplaces?”
Wouldn’t that be the same as creating a predefined seating arrangement, with the only difference it changes quite frequently? For most companies, the answer is that flexible workplaces are a gradual (and slow) process. Some companies would do away with traditional desks altogether and offer bar-style and conference table workspaces. In promoting flexible workplaces, the philosophy can be to turn away from desks altogether.
Breaking Away From Traditional Planning
This thinking breaks away from the traditional office planning approach, with almost every room getting a function of bringing people together and/or as inspirational areas. Some locations are for focus, some are for creativity, some are for dialogue. As long as there are power points, strong WIFI, and a water and coffee machine, you can make it work. And what about the unused spaces in the office? That open space with the big windows, which gets too hot too quickly, with the right commercial window tint, can be the perfect large flexible working space! If the underutilization of office space tells us one thing, it’s this: think outside of the box!
Your interior design and office architecture can have a big impact on the success of your business, so it’s worth taking the time to get it right. When you create an inspiring working environment, your employees will naturally feel more motivated, leading to increased productivity and efficiency. In addition to this, an inviting office welcomes new and potential clients into your business and is responsible for giving them a great first impression.
With so much riding on the appearance of your office, try these tips to ensure you’re making the most of your workspace…
1. Switch up the flooring
Replacing office flooring doesn’t have to be expensive, but it can be a decisive factor in your interior design. Carpet floor tiles are a budget-friendly way to enhance office flooring, and they offer increased flexibility with minimal maintenance requirements. Using complementing colors for different areas can also help to make smaller offices look more spacious and differentiate between departments.
2. Add new furniture
Office furniture needs to be safe and functional, but it can be visually-appealing to. Civic Australia furniture can work well in any work environment, whilst statement pieces and breakout furniture is ideal for welcoming reception areas. New office furniture also gives you the opportunity to improve your facilities. Office desks with integrated tech are fast-becoming the norm and a range of standing, sitting and floating desks will ensure your employees can work safely and efficiently.
3. Use bold colors
Many workplaces stick to drab greys and whites, so why not brighten up your office with a splash of color? Using your existing branding, you can extend your corporate colors to your interior and exterior space. A feature wall, statement furniture, and vibrant meeting areas showcase your business as fresh and exciting, which is exactly the impression you want to give to your clients.
4. Hang custom art on the walls
Artwork can be motivating, reassuring and thought-provoking, so it’s a great option for enhancing your workplace. Commissioning custom artwork enables you to access bespoke pieces, which are designed with your firm in mind, so you can ensure your corporate personality shines through. Another benefit of using custom artwork to enhance your office space is the option to switch pieces around from time-to-time. This helps to bring a new feel to the office on a regular basis and ensures that employees and clients frequently have new décor to inspire them.
5. Increase storage space
The vast majority of offices are lacking storage space, and this can have a detrimental impact on the appearance of your workspace. As well as making the office look cluttered and untidy, employees are typically less productive when they’re working in a disorganized office. Adding storage space will enable your staff to access materials, tools, and equipment when they need them and will also ensure that your office remains clutter-free. In addition to increasing productivity and efficiency, a neat and orderly office guarantees guests, visitors and clients will feel welcome from the moment they walk through the door.
The moment when you decide to buy an office space for your business is a moment which will change the dynamic of your business forever. Having an office space to work with can allow you to expand your business at a rapid rate and it will also allow you to also have employees inside the business to help you achieve your goals. Today we are going to take a look at some of the security measures you need to bring into your business this year to keep it safe.
Reception desk
The first line of defence for any business is the front door and the reception desk. By having a receptionist at the front of the building, you will be able to better control who enters your building each day and you can also be given warning if someone comes unannounced. A simple ID Check can be a great tool for a receptionist to use to make sure visitors are trustworthy, and this will make sure that you are only letting in people who are safe.
Fob locked doors
If you have any departments in the business which are a little sensitive and more in need of security than others, a fob system is a great idea. A fob system can be programmed so that only staff members who have the required clearance are able to access this power of the building. It will keep lower level employees out and it will make sure that your data is secure and safe at all times.
Cameras
When it comes to running your business in a secure manner, the easiest way to secure the building and monitor behaviour is to use security cameras. Cameras will allow you to deter any would be robbers from stealing anything from you, and if anything does happen you will be able to use the footage to catch the culprit and get justice. It will also be a good idea to have a camera or two inside the office to monitor the behaviour of your workers and make sure that they are working to the best of their ability and that they are working safely.
Alarm system
If there is anything which will keep your office safe overnight it has to be an alarm system. Having an alarm system in the office is essential because it will ensure that even when you aren’t in the office yourself, it is protected and people won’t simply be able to break in and steal your things without you noticing. Make sure to install a good quality system and ensure that when it is set off, it wither notifies you directly or the police.
Secure server
A secure server for your data is crucial when it comes to running a safe and secure business. It is important to make sure at all times that your data is safe, and by using a secure server it will mean that hackers aren’t able to access your data easily, therefore your information should be safe.
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