Relocating a business must be undertaken as a major project not an event that happens over one weekend. The relocation project should be carefully considered.
Published in Facility Management Magazine.
Once the decision to relocate your Business to new premises has been made, the task of planning how this will happen must begin. If the decision is to self-manage your own relocation then there is a huge responsibility with getting it right. Trying to self-manage a relocation without prior experience is a great risk and not one that many have achieved without great stress and mistakes. Mistakes that can have sufficient financial consequences.
Relocating a business must be undertaken as a major project not an event that happens over one weekend. The relocation project should be carefully considered, planned and delivered to obtain the best outcome for the business and staff alike.
Although there are many areas that must be considered, I have outlined 5 key areas that if done poorly will result in a disastrous relocation and one that your business may not recover from.
All too often people who have the responsibility of the relocation project don’t fully understand the complexity and processes to relocating their business successfully. Many have a laid back attitude of “how hard can it be” or “she’ll be right” only to find that the project scope is far larger then they imagined. Resulting in time pressure and shortcuts having to be taken.
The secret is to ‘start early with careful planning’ to ensure all aspects of the move are considered. Know the needs of your leadership, business units, staff and future direction of your company. Which leads us to the next deadly sin.
Leaving your relocation to the last phase of the project will put your move under great pressure of failing. As your new premises are being prepared for your arrival, the planning to exit your existing site and preparations for your transition must take place at the same time. Adequate time must be given to engaging your external providers (removalists) and preparing your staff for the new adventure. Again careful planning is required to ensure all aspects of the move is considered.
The goal of any relocation project is for the company to be operational on the first day in the new premises. Able to continue your operations as business as usual without inconveniencing your clients and staff is vital to your business reputation. Relocation is not a cheap exercise and therefore for every hour or day your business isn’t operational will add to the financial risk of your business. Again careful planning is required to ensure all aspects of the move is considered.
Relocating your business to new premises will bring many changes to your staff’s working lifestyle. It is natural for staff to view these changes are negative (especially if they had no say in the decision to move). Moving staff away from their comfort zone can bring on great stress and many will feel threatened by these changes. They may have concerns of (whether valid or not) job security, new workplace layout (will I have my own desk), transport issues, distance and location, even down to where are they going to get their morning coffee.
Your staff must be part of the change and included in as much of the decision making as possible (of course the major decisions must be made by leadership). Any information must be given in a positive light and changes must be displayed as generally good for everyone not just the CEO. This leads to the last of the deadly sins – poor communications.
This is the one time when silence is not golden. Poor communications will lead to breakdowns and little confidence in the relocation process. Failing to communicate to staff the reasons behind the move with make them feel unvalued and irrelevant and can quickly have your staff questioning the relocation or even worse, working against it. Consideration to the emotional intelligence of your staff must be at the forefront when communicating the requirements of the move. Giving clear detailed instructions to your different business units, external providers and general staff will keep the relocation project on track, on time and on budget. Communicating the process will give a sense of security to all personnel and will guide everyone to the best outcome and a stress free experience of “Business Relocations”.
