Intro
Office relocation is a common theme in the business world, and it can be a very stressful endeavor. Part of relieving this stress, should you be faced with it, can come from having been prepared for it. But should you be part of an office relocation, the post relocation period has its own set of hardships and challenges that induce their own class of stress. When this time comes, there are certain things one can try to relieve some of their tension and adapt to their new work environment. We will be covering some tips to reduce the stress that comes with having your office relocated.
What Is Office Relocation
The term ‘Office Relocation’ refers to the practice of uprooting the operations of a company, a group of employees in a company, or an individual in the company, and moving them to a new location. There can be multiple levels of office relocation. It can be as simple as moving to a new office within the same building or to a new location within the same city, or as difficult as moving to a whole other city. The first one is generally free of stress, the second one can be difficult to manage and infuriating to bear, while the last one can be enough to make people quit their jobs.
Reasons For An Office Relocation
There can be various reasons behind an office relocation being done. Within the same building, office relocation happens quite often alongside promotions and changes in duties. Inter-city office relocations however, might be done because another branch needs some more manpower or a specific talent. Some times employees request an inter-city office relocation to shorten their commute along with other related reasons.
Office relocations of a company always have much bigger reasonings behind them. A company might be relocating to a new city because the current city or town simply does not have enough potential employees, either due to low population or lack of required education among the populous. It might also be moving its operations to escape high energy bills that stop them from turning a profit, and aiming for a place with comparatively cheaper utilities. Or, a company might decide to move to a place with a low cost of living where it can get by on lower rent as well as lower wages for its employees.
With all that explained, it’s not hard to see why this can be a stress inducing exercise to take part in. So now we will actually talk about how you can tackle that stress and make the most of an office relocation.
Prepare Yourself Beforehand, Mentally
Instead of waiting for the relocation and trying to bear it when it arrives, it is a good idea to start preparing yourself beforehand. If you start to mentally prepare yourself, then your mind slowly eases into accepting the upcoming change and does not experience that big of a shock when the moment arrives. You would have already subconsciously started working out solutions to the problems that would come with the relocation, and will have a much better time coping with them later.
Picture Yourself In Your New Office Before Moving
A couple of weeks before the move, start imagining how your day will go after you move to your new office. Imagine what it would be like to commute to the new place, and the hallways and corridors you will walk through on your way to the office. Think about what kind of interactions you will have with all the new coworkers you will meet, and how you will answer their questions about yourself. Picture what it would be like to leave the office each day, and commute back home. In short, try to picture and imagine as much as you can. The more you imagine before the move, the more every new thing will seem familiar after it. Familiarity is a precious source of friendliness in times of change, and imagining yourself in your new office before you even move there can definitely help evoke some feelings of it.
Socialize With Your New Coworkers
Of course, if you have moved out of your previous place of work for another branch, you will suddenly be thrusted among new people. It can be a bit overwhelming, and can make memories of changing schools as a child resurface. But if you ever changed schools as a kid, you know what to do. This is something school actually prepared you for, you need to socialize. Be friendly and courteous to your new colleagues and offer to help them in small tasks as well. Laugh, smile, joke around. Just be a swell guy overall. Not only will this help you feel better yourself, your new office mates will come to like you sooner rather than later and before you know it, you’ll be getting invited to outings and other events. When you reach that level of comfort around each other, you can relax and ease up a bit and get rid of some of the stress that comes with a new environment and people.
Create A Checklist Of Expected Problems
Tying into our first point above, you should consider creating a list of all the challenges you expect to meet after your office relocation. Just listing them out will not be enough though, you should also work out solutions to them. If you have a list detailing expected problems and their solutions, you reduce a lot of stress because you know you have something reliable to fall back on. And should you actually run into some sort of difficulty, you will have the list to refer to instead of having to come up with a solution on the spot which would be even more stressful.
Focus On Your Work
Another thing you can try to reduce your stress after the move is complete, is to focus more on the work at hand. If you busy yourself with your assigned work, perhaps even with the new friends you made among your new coworkers, not only would your quality of work improve but you would also get your mind off your recent move. This way you can focus on the current task and get lost in your own world that you’re familiar with. Keep doing this and before you know it, you will find working in your new environment pleasant and relaxing as well.
Start Moving Your Stuff Early
When the office relocation is only a week or two away, start to move your belongings from your soon to be previous office to your new one. Start with the unnecessary ones first, items that won’t impact your work in your old office until you move. Doing this ensures that on the final day, when you have moved all the necessary items to your new office as well, you won’t be remembering things and running around to fetch forgotten stuff all day long. Not only that, but having moved some of your stuff beforehand would assure you that you already have this move under control and give you some confidence while moving as well.
Get Yourself Some Help
There is no shame in asking someone for help in your job, especially if something as big as an office relocation is hovering over your head. If you feel you need to give more attention to the move, or that you might not be able to handle both your job and your move at the same time, ask someone for some help. You could perhaps ask some close coworkers to handle some of your tasks for you, or if you feel that is asking for too much, you could get some help for the move itself. You can ask friends and family to help plan or carry out your relocation, or you could even hire professional office movers to lift some, if not all, of the weight off of your shoulders.
Be Clear And Firm About What You Want
An important thing to keep in mind, always stay firm on what you expect for the move. State your terms for the relocation clearly, and do not compromise on them. In your new place as well, be clear about how you run things and how you expect to be treated. Most of all, remain firm with the management about everything you expect when you move. If you relocate your office and are suddenly deprived of stuff you needed, it will add immensely to the stress. Having your new place ready just how you like it can play a huge role in keeping your stress levels under control.
Conclusion
With all of that said and done, your office relocation should be manageable if not downright easy. Most of all, remain calm, and you might even end up enjoying this time. Office relocations are messy and mostly unwelcome, but they can also be the start of new, greater things if handled properly. Like to be in control in the office and want your boundaries respected? Learn how to say no in business here. Like things neat and orderly? Read about the 7 things you should consider before writing your business plan.