It is a major challenge to move offices for any company, presenting numerous obstacles and headaches along the way. How to maintain productivity in the midst of so many disruptions is one of the biggest speed bumps managers face. Fortunately, there are a number of things you can do to ensure your move goes smoothly, leading to maximum productivity during and after the move.

Encourage employees to be excited about the move

In order for the whole team to function smoothly, employee morale must be kept high. It is crucial that you get your team excited about the big change and eager to take it on. Research has shown that even in situations where change is seen as a positive factor, employees can still lose enthusiasm due to loss of control, uncertainty, and additional work relating to relocation. Therefore, you have to work twice as hard to make sure that your team appreciates the change instead of dreading it.

Focus on the perks of the move, such as better amenities, more living space or improved aesthetics, to keep spirits high. You’ll find that your employees will be less concerned about inconveniences as soon as they are as excited about moving as you are.

Communicate, communicate, communicate

Nothing dampens the mood among your team like confusion and unclarity, leading to a drop in productivity. People can’t devote their hearts to their work when they don’t understand what’s going on around them.

Maintain open lines of communication so that everyone is aware of what is going on. Communication is the key to ensuring everyone understands the purpose behind the relocation. Communicate both collectively and individually with all your employees.

Maintaining the productivity of your office requires communication with your service providers and suppliers as well. There’s nothing worse than getting your office supplies delivered to your old address, or not having electricity or internet in your new place as a result of not communicating with your utility provider. Get your new office off on the right foot by communicating with all relevant entities well in advance of the move.

Move departments stage-by-stage

It is common for businesses to attempt to complete their move in one day, but if you think about it, all this does is to put a tremendous amount of pressure on your team while also wasting a whole day. Rather, break up the moving process and move both people and equipment over several days, from least to most critical. Furthermore, you might want to try dividing the departments themselves throughout your move so that one half is settling in the new office and the other half is still working away in the old one.

Prioritise IT

Computers and electronics are perhaps the most important aspects of any business. It’s very likely that you will lose valuable hours of productivity during your move if you don’t keep your IT in mind.

Moving companies specialise in disconnecting and reconnecting cables and equipment, making sure everything is moved safely and getting everything up and running again right away. Consider moving on a weekend so that your IT equipment can be tested and ready for work on Monday.

Make use of temporary telecommuting

Despite having piles of boxes around your office, your team can still stay productive. Thanks to technology, your team can do a lot of work from home with tools like Skype, Asana, Slack, Trello, and more. Be sure to get everyone the resources they need before the start of the work at home period so that they can work efficiently.

Moving offices is a time of growth and should be celebrated, rather than marred by a loss of productivity. Maintaining good morale, communicating, moving in stages, prioritising IT and telecommuting can ensure that productivity remains high and that your transition to a better place is seamless.