An office move is judged on one thing: whether your team can work on Monday morning. Everything else is detail. Plan backwards from the reopening and most of the usual problems disappear.
Start with the floor plan
Nothing else can begin until you know where each person and each cabinet is going in the new office. The floor plan is what lets crates be numbered to a destination, so they arrive at the right desk instead of in a heap by reception.
Do this three weeks out. It is the dependency for everything below.
Book connectivity immediately
Internet and phone provisioning at the new premises has the longest lead time of anything in an office move, and it is the most common reason a reopening slips. It is not unusual for it to take several weeks. Start it the day you sign the lease.
Sort building access early
Both buildings. Many Nairobi office blocks restrict goods lift use to specific hours, require insurance documents from your mover, or need written notice for weekend access. Find out now rather than on the Saturday morning.
Ask specifically about
- Goods lift booking and permitted hours
- Loading bay access and vehicle size limits
- Out-of-hours and weekend permissions
- Security clearance for the moving crew
- Any documents the landlord requires before move-in
Agree the IT plan with your IT provider
Decide, in writing, who powers down the servers, who transports them, who reconnects them and who confirms everything is back up. This is where responsibility most often falls between two suppliers.
Keep IT equipment together, label it by user, and offload it first so the reconnection can start while furniture is still coming in.
Move outside working hours
Friday evening to Sunday is the standard pattern, and it works. Your staff leave one office and arrive at a functioning one. The cost difference is small compared to a day of a whole team unable to work.
Decide what is not going
Old desks, broken chairs and redundant cabinets need a decision and a disposal plan. Leaving them behind is a common reason deposits get withheld on commercial leases. Sort it a week out, not on the day.
Brief your staff properly
Give everyone a crate and a deadline. Each person packs their own desk, labels the crate with their new desk number and clears personal items. Tell them explicitly to take valuables home rather than leaving them in a crate.
The week-by-week short version
- Three weeks out: floor plan finalised, connectivity ordered, mover site visit at both buildings
- Two weeks out: lift and access booked, crates numbered to plan, disposal arranged
- One week out: IT shutdown plan agreed, staff briefed, crates distributed
- Two days out: desks packed, confidential files crated and sealed
- Move weekend: IT down last, furniture and crates moved, IT up first
- Monday: walk the floor, snag list, cleaning of the old premises
Do not forget the old office
Commercial leases are usually strict about the condition premises are returned in. Book the clean for the day after the move while the lease still runs.
Plan it with us
We visit both buildings, number crates to your new layout and move outside your trading hours. See our office relocation service, or arrange an office cleaning contract for the new premises.
