How to Move Office: The Smart Way

Any change within a business can cause friction for staff and customers, minimising this is important to reduce any potential negative impact. There are some changes of course that are 100% positive in which case you can announce them to your staff and customers without too much planning and preparation. An office move is not usually such a straightforward announcement. Moving location is more often than not going to suit some members of staff better and others not as well, which is where friction can begin to creep in.

Get Feedback

Being open and honest with your employees from the offset when thinking about a potential office move is definitely a good idea, this way you can gather their opinions and find out what is important to them before you finalise a choice for your new offices.

Some topics to bring up with your team that will help you when making your final decision include:

Location: You will never be able to please everyone with this one but having an idea of which staff members would find it most difficult to travel to certain areas will help you to make a sensible decision when picking your location.

Working environment: Some staff members would be happy to work in offices that are shared whereas others may prefer to have a private office. It may also be worth asking if your team prefers to work within a town or city with public transport links or if the countryside is better suited to your business, people and objectives.

Hybrid working: Before you rush into leasing an office space big enough to accommodate all of your staff at once, it would be a good idea to find out who actually wants and needs to come into the office each day. Since the outbreak of Covid-19 forced many to work from home, there has been a shift in working styles with a large proportion of workforces now adopting a hybrid working style. Taking into account who within your team will be in the office every day vs those who are only in at certain times for meetings will help you to reduce wasted space by only renting the office space that you will actually be utilising. Furthermore, if you decide to go for office space within a larger building there are often communal co-working spaces and larger meeting rooms that you can take advantage of if you do have all staff in the office on the same day.

Parking: This one may not seem like a big deal but if you are looking at office space within a large town or city it can be really tricky to find somewhere with adequate parking. It is important to decide whether you will be offering reimbursement for staff to park in public car parks or if it is more cost effective for you to find office space with free and unlimited parking.

Perks: Many offices and co-working spaces offer certain perks such as an onsite cafe or even free tea and coffee. Exciting interiors with ergonomic furniture are other perks to consider if you are looking at serviced office options.

Analyse your Feedback

There is nothing more frustrating than offering feedback and then having the feedback ignored. Make sure that you listen to the wants and needs of your team and compromise as best you can. Explaining that you have chosen office space in town rather than out in the countryside due to better transport links for stock deliveries will help your staff members to understand why they might be looking at a busier commute for example.

Don’t forget that keeping talented staff members is worth a lot to your business so be sure to weigh this up with other cost savings made by cutting corners within your new office space.

Choose a Flexible Option

It is impossible to know just how well your team will adapt to your change in office space so opting for a flexible option that can be changed if needed is always a smart option.

If you decide to go for a serviced office space then you can usually sign up for a short-term lease to begin with, this will give you time to work out whether you need more or less space and if the location works well for your team.

Flexible Office Space – Watermoor Point

At Watermoor Point we offer flexible serviced office options for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Located in Cirencester, the heart of the Cotswolds with great transport links within the southwest, our offices are the perfect spot. As an added bonus we also have storage facilities for any businesses who hold stock and want to add warehousing to their lease.

To discover more about us, book in for a free tour or check out our available offices and pricing.