Dustin Staiger
Dennis A. Attwood is an office environment expert who literally wrote the book on Office Relocation. Filled with information on everything from floor layout and space planning to managing employees and outside vendors, Attwood’s sourcebook serves as an in-depth and practical guide for those looking to move offices due to company growth or downsizing.
In the preparation phase of office relocation, Attwood suggest putting together a team of experts, both within and outside of your office, to whom you’ll delegate the important and often strenuous task of logistics, organization, and scheduling.
Here are the top 3 roles Attwood describes in “The Office Relocation Sourcebook: A Guide to Managing Staff Throughout the Move.”
Office Relocation Coordinator
The Office Relocation Coordinator has perhaps the most detailed and time-consuming role. Attwood suggests one person be placed in this role to organize:
- Instructions and details with your office movers
- Plan, implement, and coordinate moving process
- Ensure clear communication with clients regarding your moving schedule
- Schedule and conduct moving coordination meetings
- Coordinate follow-up activities between building services personnel
“The Relocation Coordinator has the most pivotal role in the relocation team,” Attwood says, “The RC is a juggler of people and time.”
Office Telecommunications Coordinator
If you’ve come across many of our other office moving articles [Link], you’ve likely seen the emphasis we place on properly prioritizing your IT department. The best way to be certain your company will be up and running as soon as possible in your new location, according to Attwood, is to delegate the telecommunications tasks to a Telecommunications Coordinator. This is a person who is aware of all your electronic equipment needs so they’re able to organize the following:
- Define telecommunications requirements for the office relocation
- Estimate costs for moving telecommunications equipment
- Direct disconnecting/reconnecting of phones, faxes, Internet, etc.
- Order/Install any new equipment necessary in your new location
- Serve as the first line of contact with your Internet and phone providers
Office Movers
The Office Movers with whom you partner are an important part of your office moving execution, but they differ from your Relocation and Telecommunications Coordinators in that they’re not employees of your company before and after your move. Attwood makes this distinction while noting that Office Moving consultants “can provide an essential expertise that is not available in-house.”
When partnering with Office Movers, your Relocation Coordinator should communicate your expectations and make sure both parties are on the same page regarding matters that include (but aren’t limited to) the following:
- Personnel and equipment necessary to relocate office furniture and equipment
- Expertise to assist the internal project team (RC and TC) to expedite the moving process
- Provide storage space or references for storage spaces if there is to be an interim storage of furniture or office equipment until it’s required.
When you’ve put together the right team, you can trust your office relocation effort will go as smoothly as possible. As an executive or leader in your company, you know who’ll serve the roles of Relocation and Telecommunications Coordinator best, but when it comes to moving office furniture in Austin, Texas; Houston, Texas; and the surrounding areas, McCoy-Rockford is the premiere commercial relocation provider.
Key Takeaways
- Delegate the role of Relocation Coordinator to the person in your office who can handle multiple lines of communication at once while remaining organized.
- Find the person who knows the most about your telecommunications and electronics equipment and appoint them Telecommunications Coordinator throughout the duration of your move.
- Partner with Office Moving experts who can provide expertise, resources, and equipment.