By Steven Langsdale – A member of the Commercial Relocation Network and moving professional at Mohawk Moving and Storage, Inc.
The poor soul assigned to handle their company’s office move is in trouble according to CRN. The biggest issue seen by office moving professionals is the office manager’s failure to orchestrate numerous tasks in a correct sequence and extremely short timeframe. The result of this failure – A disruption to a business operation that far exceeds the time that was expected to resume a normal mode of business. The task is complex. The move manager has to coordinate multiple suppliers. They need to create a relocation plan with IT professionals, Furniture Installers, the phone vendor, the phone company, the Internet service provider and more. All these suppliers need to do their job in a timeframe that is, many times, as narrow as one weekend. Unfortunately, the person given the task of “office move manager” often pays an enormous personal price. Never again are they entrusted with important tasks. Prospects for advancement to the next level in the organization mysteriously vanish and, in some of the worst cases, the office move manager’s regular job is unexpectedly downsized (this really happens)
“We are not ready to move” These words are repeated many times by the office move manager. As the move date approaches, those brave office move managers are taking on their regular job with mounting pressure every day to get everyone and everything prepared for the upcoming move. It may be one month, one week or one day before the planned move date. Whenever it is, the move manager discovers something that they didn’t realize before. Then they realize “We can’t possibly get ready in time for the move date.” Then the fateful visit is made to the boss.
What could cause your company to not be ready? The answer is just about anything. Maybe the new space is not ready because the data line for internet service will not be installed for several more days or weeks. Perhaps the carpet that has to go down before the new furniture installation is back ordered – causing a chain reaction of delays. Sometimes you find out at the last minute there is no electricity where you need to locate the copier or there are not enough data lines for every new workstation being installed. The reasons are numerous and varied.
Hiring a move consultant is a great idea. But many times it is not in the budget. But they offer one very big benefit – EXPERIENCE. In our business, we work with move consultants on a regular basis. They may use project planning software or they may handle moves in an old-school fashion. Either way, they have something most short term office move managers don’t – EXPERIENCE.
If you have just been given the task of coordinating your company’s office move, do yourself a favor. Seek the advice of a move consultant or an office moving professional. They’ll transform the process from a series of gut-wrenching surprises to a forecast of predictable events with practical solutions. And you can transform the prospect of losing your status or, worse, your job, to gaining a foothold on the empty corner office at your new office space.
About CRN – The Commercial Relocation Network is a membership organization made up of the largest and most successful office and industrial relocation companies in the country. The group is administered by an executive committee of industry professionals dedicated to having only the “Best in Class” service providers involved in the group. The criteria and process to become a member of CRN is more stringent than joining any other industry company or organization.
About Steven Langsdale – Steven Langsdale is a member of CRN and an office moving professional with Mohawk Moving Systems, based in the Minneapolis/St. Paul region.