How Much of the Moving Process Should I Delegate?

The process of moving an office is a ton of work.

Identifying the right space. Negotiating the lease. Nailing the fit-out. Coordinating the move. Most people underestimate the amount of work involved, and by the time the process gets rolling, it can become overwhelming.

That’s understandable. Moving an office is too much for almost any one person to handle alone.

Thankfully, you don’t have to do it alone.

Having the right people on your team can help – and delegating during this process is almost a requirement if you want to maintain a little bit of your sanity. Many hands make light work, and they’ll make the transition to the final finished office a lot smoother, too.

With that in mind, let’s break down a bit of the moving process, with a look at how good delegation practices can make the transition more seamless.

Who Should You Involve?

If you’re going to delegate during the office moving process, it makes sense to ask: who are you delegating to?

Here are some of the players you’ll want to bring onto your team. Note that this doesn’t account for other parties, like potential vendor partners or building owners.

The Broker

One of the most important pieces of the delegation puzzle is finding the right commercial real estate broker. They’ll be able to guide you through all components of the moving process, from space selection, to lease negotiation, to the final fit out. With a great broker, the moving process is like driving down a pristine street. With a bad broker, it’s like off-roading in the dark.

Company Team Leaders

Depending on the size of your business, you’ll probably want to periodically involve leaders within the company. They’ll be able to provide insight into how the moving process will impact their teams, and their buy-in will go a long way in making the process smooth for your employees.

Office Admin / Project Manager

Throughout the process, it can be immensely helpful to have an office admin or even a project manager involved. This person will be able to manage a lot of the logistics, bringing options and ideas forward to be priced out, approved, and implemented.

When Should You Involve Other People?

In general, the best approach is the sooner, the better. If you get started early enough, you will have longer timeframes to make decisions and coordinate the process while having time to eliminate a lot of stress. This means you must begin this process well in advance of the end of your current lease. Working against the near-immediate end of a lease is much more difficult.

That means starting to plan early; the minimum time to start preparing for the move is six months in advance; nine to twelve months is even better. Find a broker first. They’ll be able to identify areas where you’ll need help, and then start asking people.

Many of the service providers you will need for a move are not available at a moment’s notice, so coordinating may be difficult if you wait until the last moment – moving companies, for example, are best solicited at least a month or two in advance.

The caveat here is that, as a business owner, you will ultimately be the one to make the most impactful decisions: the location, the direction of the fit-out, etc. Your role should be making the high-level decisions to identify direction and then get confirming feedback from key staff members.

For example, instead of letting company leaders offer suggestions for locations, it’s wiser to identify a location you think is a good fit and then get their feedback to confirm. If you invite collaboration too early in major decisions the old adage will surface – too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the broth. Making the high-level decisions then involving personnel later can expedite the process.

What Should You Delegate?

The final point of consideration: what should you delegate? The answer: almost every part of the process that can be easily and effectively done by someone else.

As a business owner, your primary responsibility is strategic direction. If you try to handle all of the tactical implications of your choices, you’ll be buried. Ideally, your job is to delegate and then approve things like:

The design of the new space.

There are a thousand small decisions to be made relating to the design of your new space. Will the floor be carpet? Vinyl? Composite tile? What color will the walls be? Where will interior signage go? What will the lighting be like?

Your broker should be able to walk you through the necessary decisions, potentially with help from designers.

Additionally, specialty industries may have certain space and design requirements. Call centers or dental offices or law offices, for example, have industry-specific functions, flows, and specialized requirements that necessitate strict usage of space – you’ll want to work with a specialized consultant. If you don’t have connections based on your use case, your broker should be able to connect you with consultants who can help.

Vendor management during the fit-out.

There are a variety of ways the fit-out might play out, but the worst case scenario is when you’re responsible for overseeing every vendor interaction personally. With the fit-out designed and confirmed, your new landlord may manage the vendors during this process. Your broker may play a role.

Don’t handle it alone.

The moving process.

There’s a lot that goes into the actual process of physically moving your office: finding the moving service, changing your mailing address at the right time, making sure paper files are available in the new space when it’s set up and scheduling and coordinating the move so that downtime is minimized – everything adds up. This is where an admin or project manager can be extremely helpful.

They’ll make sure the moving process goes smoothly, so that your first day in the new space is celebratory instead of dysfunctional.

Ready to make a move? Get in touch.

Intimidated by the prospect of moving? At AushCo, we’re here to help. We have years of experience in brokering commercial real estate in Frederick to make great deals happen, and we take pride in helping our clients make the most of their moves.

You don’t have to do it alone – and you shouldn’t. By delegating the right things to the right people, you can make your office move the exciting opportunity it’s meant to be.

Avoid the stress. Get in touch with us to get started.