Organising an office relocation involves planning, negotiation, communication and surrounding yourself with good people to help you along the way. The hardest part of planning an office move for a business is considering people’s emotions, feedback, and response to change. There’s a good reason why a business is relocating offices and it should benefit the people in the business. How you communicate with your people about the office move is a key part of the success and buy into the change. It has been known for organisations to communicate to their team only a week before the move, we would not recommend this approach to manage the message, this would leave your people feeling undervalued and demotivated.
There is plenty of information on how to plan for an office removal but little about how to communicate to your people about the move. Every business has its approach to delivering the message and if you engage with your people in a timely and effective way, you’ll be on a good path to creating a positive impact on the office move for your people. Let’s explain how you could deliver the message to your people effectively, especially in a hybrid working environment.
It is easy to put a quick email out to your team and let them about the office move but is this the right way to manage the message. Probably not!
Discuss how the message will be delivered and when with ‘move champions’ in each department. What needs to be and should be communicated in the message to your people.
The best way to communicate once you have agreed on timescales (earlier the better) is a face-to-face meeting, this may not be possible with everyone and for those who can’t be there in person, you can include a video link. Include visuals of the new office and the amenities in and around the offices. Focus on the positives and how the office relocation will benefit them.
Listen to your people’s feedback and act on this. If there is not a suitable solution, give constructive feedback. When a business is going through change, being realistic 100% of your people can’t get on board with it straight away. The last thing you want is for your people not to feel valued or appreciated, listen to their concerns, and give feedback. You may find better solutions to the original plans.
Once you’ve communicated to your teams, keep it up! Engage with them throughout the process leading up to the business relocation and keep them up to date with the designs and any changes. Let them know the timescales for the office move and any actions they need to complete before the move happens.
Communication with your people and suppliers is key to keeping everything on track.
To learn more about our business relocation services and how Undiscovered Workplace can deliver a stress-free, positive office removal or internal reconfiguration reach out to the team.
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