Creating a Communication Plan for Your Move

by Andrea Dekker

Moving can be a long, stressful process; and the more people involved, the more stressful it CAN be... if you let it! However, if you stay organized, plan ahead, and create a proper communication plan, your moving process will much less stressful and you'll have lots more time to focus on growing your business from your new location!

Here are a few tips to create a communication plan for your next move.

1. Set a Positive Tone from the Beginning:

Even if you're moving for a less-than-desirable reason, it's still important to focus on as many positives as possible. Keep this in mind BEFORE you inform your employees about the move and state those positives right away.

Create incentives for people to help with the moving process; plan a fun lunch outing to discuss details of the move, highlight any possible benefit of working at the new location, etc. Anything you can do to set a positive tone at the beginning will help the entire process run more smoothly and be less painful.

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2. Start Early:

Moving always takes longer than what you think; and depending on how many employees will be involved in the moving process, you may need to start planning several months {or more} in advance.

• Will you hire a moving company or do it yourself?
• What company will you hire?
• What is your budget for the move?
• What date are you hoping to be moved by?
• Do you have any huge project deadlines coming up -- either right before or right after the move?
• Is there anything you won't be moving?
• Do you want each employee to go through their files and purge anything they don't need before the move?
• Do you need to purchase or find moving and packaging supplies?

By starting early and planning ahead, you'll alleviate much of the stress and hopefully be able to prevent potential problems BEFORE they surface.

3. Keep The Lines of Communication Open:

Reserving information from your employees {whether intentional or not} will only cause them to wonder what might be wrong, if their jobs might be on the line, etc. It could also be the cause of bad office rumors and lower employee morale.

Obviously, there might be some things you just can't share with everyone, but if possible, keep the lines of communication open.

• Hold an informal meeting to discuss the move {and remember to focus on the positives!}
• Let them know up front what you will expect from them during the moving process
• Send out weekly emails detailing the moving progress
• Offer to answer any questions employees have about the move {within reason}
• Explain each step of the process -- or at least everything you know
• Speak openly about the move in public places
• Ask people to help you with specific decisions or simply for their opinions
• If there is information you can't share with everyone, try not to draw attention to it.

Anything you can do to keep your employees and staff "in the know" will help the entire process go more smoothly and you'll most likely get less resistance from others as well.

4. Involve Your Employees as Much as Possible:

There will be some activities that are easier for you to accomplish on your own, but when possible, try to involve your employees in the different parts of the moving process.

• Ask different people to be "in charge" of specific parts of the process
• Try to involve everyone in something
• Encourage team work and offer rewards and incentives for making good progress

Not only will this help your employees feel like they are more involved and "in the know", it will also lessen your load and allow you to focus on the things that only you can do.

5. Be Detailed but not TOO Detailed:

There are many details involved in the moving process, and some of them are important for everyone to know and be aware of:

• The final date and location for the move
• Specific milestones and dates you're planning for
• Times and locations of meetings or other events that revolve around the move
• Office set-up -- who will sit where, etc.
• Parking situation at the new location
• Additional rules, regulations, or restrictions present at the new location

Others might not be as important for each person to know:

• The color of the walls, carpet, furniture, etc.
• Many of the financial aspects of the move
• Details about the moving company and specific process
   

Use your best judgement and share the details you think need to be shared. Remember that everyone will have different opinions of the "right way" to do things so be careful of asking too many people for their opinions -- which could just make things more overwhelming and more time-consuming.

6. Post The Finalized Floor Plans and Desk Assignments.

This might not seem like a big deal to you, but I'm positive that your employees will appreciate knowing exactly where they will be spending their 40+ hours each week. It might even be a good idea to email a PDF of the floor plan, or at least post the floor plan in several highly-visable locations around the office.

By letting employees know what the new office may look like, they can prepare themselves to sit next to John who consistently blares his music, or Nancy who always shares too much personal information!

Also, if someone is really dissatisfied with the office arrangement, or if there is legitimately a problem, you'll have time to correct the issue before your move and before the construction phase is complete.

7. Realize That You Can't Please Everyone:

Unfortunately, no matter what you do, someone is going to be upset -- that's just life!

The only thing you can really do is try to focus on all the others who are not upset, and then make sure you spend time listening to the concerns of those who are upset and try to alleviate as much of their stress as possible. Help them feel like you really do care and are trying to do what's best for everyone {including them}.

Go back to #3 and make sure you are properly communicating as much information as possible. If you are, then try not to stress out about a few unhappy employees. However, if you think you could be communicating more, then it might be time to schedule another meeting to answer any questions people have.

8. Make Sure You Follow Through:

There is nothing worse than creating an elaborate plan, informing everyone of the plan, expecting them to follow the plan, and then not following through yourself!

Yes, sometimes things don't go according to plans, but if your employees feel like you are not taking the moving process seriously, they won't either. So whatever you do -- try to follow through with everything you say you're going to do... even if it's not convenient for you at the time.

By following these few simple steps and creating an organized communication plan, the moving process will be less stressful, less time consuming, more organized, and more positive for everyone involved!