Offices are like the second home, where you explore the best of your potential and interest. It becomes a comfort zone for employees where they adapt work-wise and personally. Moving an entire office space to a new one is a difficult task to achieve as not only it requires shifting each and everything but more importantly being able to shift the comfort zone of your employees. Building an understanding with your employees before the move is essential, as they will need to mentally prepare themselves for a change in their environment and to be willing to adapt to the new office.
Opinions matter:
When employers decide that it’s time to move their office, it would be incredibly beneficial to sit with their employees and take their input and agreement on the employer’s decision and have their two cents as for how and what are their requirements in an office space to look for when moving offices. It builds a more important trust and acknowledgment between the employer and employee by strengthening their work relationship by discussing such big matters as moving. The decision of move, or how to reinstate the office can never be on one individual or employer as he/she isn’t the only one who would have to deal with and the entire teams need to be taken under consideration.
Know what you’re bargaining for:
Employees are those who create the work aura and set up the environment and hence, the new office should be according to their needs and comfort because if the new office fails to provide them these there might be a major impact on the work and efforts put in by the employees. After the move is made, keep a check on the well being of your employees and know if they are or are not adjusting within the new space, neglecting the employees can be damaging. To understand that they have been used to working in a certain environment and now are expected to adapt to a completely new environment will affect their work performance. This move should be a happy experience before and after the move.
How to prep your employees:
Before the actual move, fun activities with the team can take off the stress of the whole actual move. Activities such as employees packing up other employees stuff or maybe plan a party where each employee can bid farewell to the current/to-be-past office space and rekindle on the joyous times, how secret Santa notes were hidden during the merry season or the wall that still has sauce stains from the last Thanksgiving. Even thou the employees will remain the same but give them time to remember the times they may have dozed off, pulled a prank, or gotten into a fight in that particular office space.
Let the new space in:
Finally, you and your staff have landed on the land unknown, make it into a fun activity to unpack and settle in. discover the nooks and corners or maybe some hidden cabinets that your employees can stash their snacks and beverages! If possible, get your team in their creative kicks and paint the whole office by yourselves as a fun activity, let your employees choose the new furniture maybe or be creative with wall hangings and other items to accessorize the new office space. Set up the new office differently from the older one, go for suggestions your employees didn’t like in the old office but can be rectified in the new one.
It’s a journey:
Moving places are always a journey both physically and mentally, but you will have to learn to utilize that relief with trying to indulge your employee’s mental stress of moving by being on the same ground as them, letting them know that it isn’t even easy for the employer so all in all the whole office team and the employer can empathize with each other and help motivate and support each other with a positive zest that the move will be the best decision and everyone will have each other’s back and support as long as the employer gives the employees this comfort too.
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