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Moving your office 5 tips for
staying productive | |
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After
all, moving your business or home is widely
considered one of the single-most stressful life
events for an individual. Add to that the prospect
of losing valuable work time, and you can
understand why small-business owners try to get
out of town when the business remodels, relocates
or redecorates.
"I have always been scheduled
to be out of town for the day before, day of, and
day after moving day.
Leaving the office
entirely is, of course, the best way of handling
any relocation. Step aside and let the movers do
their thing. But how do you keep your business
productive even when your office is in
pieces?
At this point in many articles, I'd
turn to experts on the subject. But I am the
expert on moving.
I've moved an average of once
every two years -- about 18 times
altogether,
So here are the key things I have
learned about how to make a move with a minimum of
down time: |
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1. |
It's
impossible to plan too far ahead. If
it's a minor move, then you should know in
advance where the cubicles will get set up and
where the Ethernet connections will get wired
through. Leave nothing to chance. Relocating an
entire business -- and don't think it can't
happen to you, because small businesses do grow
-- can also mean moving a local-area network or
a wireless network, numerous PCs and printers.
It can mean shipping equipment and inventory.
Line up your proverbial ducks well in advance of
the big day.
Tip: With careful
planning, and depending on the size of your
business, you can ensure that the actual move
happens over a weekend. That gives you enough
time to install and troubleshoot any technology
that has migrated. If there's any down-time, it
will be on Sunday and Monday, minimizing the
impact to your clients and customers. |
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2. |
Be prepared
for the unexpected. A move of any kind
forces you to think on your feet, to be ready
for anything. If you travel frequently, you
probably already know how to do that. For
example: Where do you go to buy a box of RJ-11
wire at 1 a.m. What if you need to make copies,
but don't have any of your machines set up? It
forces you to take nothing for granted, even
little things like power and phone
service.
Tip:
You don't have to be a frequent business
traveler to know how to think like a nomad. The
Small Business Administration's handbook, "Take
the misery out of moving" (www.sba.gov/gopher/Business-Development/Success-Series/Vol7/moving.txt),
can help. It's available online at no
charge. |
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3. |
Use the move
as an excuse to upgrade. For example,
if your office is using bulky CRT monitors,
here's the perfect reason to donate those
clunkers to your favorite charity and buy
flat-panel monitors. It's also a good
opportunity to take a hard look at the software
you're using to see if it needs updating (I just
upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003 on one of
my computers). Basically, you want to arrive at
your new office location in even better shape to
do business than you were when you
left.
Tip:
Use your laptop computers as "interim" office
machines while you're in transit. In other
words, make sure they're all synched up and have
the latest software before you begin your move.
Then, use them as your primary PCs while your
new office gets situated. |
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4. |
Anticipate
down time, even if you expect none.
Moving can be unpredictable. Trust me. For
instance, I thought I would close on a property
this morning, but because of some unexpected
financing issues, the paperwork won't go through
until the end of this week. Delays happen. "I
notify clients, editors, associates and friends
in advance, via e-mail or phone, that my
availability will be somewhat limited for a day
or two,"
Tip:
If it's a long-distance move, and you have to
stay in a hotel for a prolonged period of time,
make sure it can double as an office. It
features free meeting areas and high-speed and
wireless Internet access. So even though I'm out
of the office, I can still get work
done. |
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5. |
Let your
applications help you "move". If your
relocation also involves an upgrade or migrating
to new hardware (and as I just mentioned, this
is an excellent opportunity to upgrade), make
sure your programs do the heavy lifting. Save
all of your old user options and migrate them to
the new hardware or software, so that once you
arrive in your new digs, you'll be able to get
to work right away.
Tip: The trickiest of
the migrations tends to be moving e-mail from
one PC to the next. Outlook 2003 automatically
imports your preferences and e-mail when you
upgrade from a previous version on the same
computer. When you're switching PCs, go to File,
Import and Export, and pick the option for the
application you're
using. | |
| With
a little planning and shrewd use of your existing
technology, you can make sure that your next move
will be as painless -- and productive -- as
possible. But I can't lie to you: Moving is still
stressful. Yet hopefully, with these tips, it'll
be a little less so. |
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