Moving your office can be time-consuming, expensive and overwhelming. The transition to a new location needs to be seamless so that operations can start as fast as possible once you get to your new location. To help you move smoothly, we have prepared a list five tips to help in packing your office supplies, furniture, and equipment, to ensure that your items arrive safely for setup in your new office premise.

1. Avoid moving unnecessary items

Before you start packing, discard unnecessary office supplies to avoid filling up boxes with items you don’t need. Obsolete files, worn out files, damaged office items e.t.c should be separated from the necessary items.

2. Packing items in cartons

Let your employees be responsible for moving small plants, pictures, deck clocks and other personal property. When packing in cartons, seal the boxes tightly to prevent disarrangement or damage while shifting. Label all cartons to identify the contents of the boxes and the destined location in the office.

Ensure that the employees responsible for locked items also take custody of the keys. Do not leave the keys on the file cabinets or desks. Also, ensure that you remove any liquids like ink from the drawers and place them in separate packing cartons. Always ensure that the caps on the liquid bottles are tightly placed to prevent any leakage. Additionally, empty all ink sets and desk pens; for better packaging, place the liquids in plastic bags before placing them in cartons.

For breakable objects like glassware, wrap them in bubble wrap or white newsprint, and pack them well in cartons. Small items like scissors, paper clips, pens e.t.c should be sealed in envelopes and packed in cartons.

3. Drawer tables, desks, and credenzas

To prevent disarrangement of desk parts, lock all the drawers after emptying them. For desk pads, glass tops and chair mats, label them with the respective desks to which they belong.

4. File cabinets

Move vertical cabinets with their contents still intact. If there are stairs involved, pack the verticle files that are over two drawers and leave the bottom two drawers full. For lateral file cabinets that have more than two drawers, empty them entirely especially if there are stairs involves.

In case there are no stairs involved, lateral cabinets can be moved with up to three drawers full. If cabinets have more than three drawers, the top should be emptied, and the bottom drawers left intact. Ensure to lock the file cabinets if you have keys, but if there are no keys, cylinder locks on the files should be opened to prevent locking.

5. IT equipment and Computers

Employees should move their laptops. If necessary, ensure that your employees back up their PC’s and they take the back up discs with them. Place toners from fax machines and printers in tightly sealed bags.

Disconnect all cables from the equipment. Place your cables, mouse, and keyboard in a keyboard bag, speakers in their boxes and rightly label the boxes with the contents.

You need to prep the copiers before moving. You can call your service representative to check the service contract or warranty to ensure that the commercial moving contractors are authorized.

Conclusion

Planning will most certainly ensure that you will have a smooth move. Remember that not all plans go perfectly, but planning will give you a better success rate. Additionally, factor in some possible business downtime and how you will manage your business.