Use these proven tips to facilitate your workplace change management.
Being responsible for workplace change management can be a challenging and frustrating. Workplace changes affect employees on all levels and if not managed properly can lead to business downtime, employee dissatisfaction, and a decrease in worker productivity. Change management practices will help ease this stress and will reduce the negative effects of workplace changes.
As the West Coast’s largest commercial moving company, we at Corovan understand how using change management practices can make office moves successful. We move more than 300,000 office employees each year and witness the upheaval workplace changes can have on employees and businesses. Protect your company’s bottom line by employing these 10 change management practices that will help you successfully prep for office moves and workplace changes.
1. Start at the Top to Manage Workplace Changes
When employees need guidance or assistance with business tasks, they look to their team leaders, managers, and company CEOs. The same holds true for workplace changes, so start your change management at the top. Before you announce office moves and workspace changes to your entire company, first notify your top employees. Your top staff members should already be used to being in leadership positions and will be able to model respectable behaviors throughout the moving process. They can also be available to support one another when faced with questions or difficulties from company employees.
2. Create a Workplace Change Management Team
Once your top employees are informed of the office move, create a team of specific employees who will be in charge of helping to implement workplace change management practices. Some key players to include are human resources reps, prominent stake holders, information technology reps, and managers from various departments. This team can also assist with directing the commercial moving company you hire and responding to any questions they may have.
3. Hire a Qualified Commercial Moving Company
Smart businesses don’t trust their office moves to any old moving company. Hiring a qualified commercial moving company will give you the benefit of years of experience with commercial office moves, pre-move planning, and additional services. For example, Corovan provides pre-move planning management and can also train you or key employees how to pack, label, prevent accidents, and avoid unnecessary downtime. We also provide moving guides, checklists, and tools that help implement change management practices.
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4. Provide Training for Team Leaders
Training that is specific to handling workplace changes and office moves will allow your change management team leaders to efficiently assist employees throughout the moving process. During training, put protocols in place for managing any problems that may arise during the move, mitigating conflicts with employees, and communicating with the moving company and other vendors. Ask your commercial moving company if they provide training sessions so that you can enlist the support of office moving experts.
5. Speak to Individual Employees
To create a positive environment during workplace changes, it’s best to speak to employees on an individual level when possible. Each person will have their own sets of concerns and questions and will have very personalized issues that will need to be addressed. Making workplace change management team leaders available during specified hours will provide reassurance to the rest of your employees, knowing that they have key people they can reach when needed. Additional training and preparation would be needed at the individual level as you are moving forward with your workplace transitions. Safety training, for instance, is an important area that needs to be addressed to protect your business.
6. Conduct a Workplace Survey
Knowing how your employees are feeling about workplace changes will give you a more clear idea of what kind of support to provide. The survey can address how people feel about the current office workspace, what areas can be improved upon, what they are expecting at the new location, new services or tools that are needed, and anything else that pertains to your office relocation. The survey will also make people feel included and that their concerns are being heard.
7. Hold a Pre-Move Planning Session
Before implementing any part of the office move, hold a pre-move planning session regarding workplace changes and how to best implement change management practices. Commercial moving companies like Corovan are available to help with pre-move planning sessions, providing tools and guidelines for what you can expect with office moves. Include the members of your workplace change management team as well as any other key players, such as department heads and managers.
8. Have Regular Meetings with the Assigned Team
Even if your pre-move planning meeting and training sessions were successful, it’s a good idea to hold regular meetings with your change management team to make sure everything is on track with managing workplace changes. Office moves are busy times, so it will be helpful to check in with useful reminders about what kind of support is expected during the office relocation.
9. Enlist Furniture Management Services
Utilizing furniture management services will help minimize business downtime and will also provide a new office design that is best suited for your employees. Whether you want to reuse your existing furniture, or entirely redesign the look of your new office, commercial moving companies like Corovan can provide the same services that you would expect from a furniture dealer. Furniture management services can also help reduce costs by optimizing space planning, reusing and repairing existing furniture, and getting the best prices when purchasing new office furniture.
10. Provide a Welcome Package
Communication is key when it comes to workplace change management. A simple but efficient tool is a welcome package for your employees that welcomes them to the new workplace location. Include a welcome letter from the company president, information about the new office building, and useful information about the local area. You can also use the welcome package to remind employees about expected office etiquette, any changes in workplace policy, and any other changes that occurred as a result of the office relocation. Including a small welcome gift is the cherry on top and will make your employees feel appreciated.
Change management practices are ways to help office moves go as smoothly as possible. Never hesitate to seek advice from moving experts. The best planned office moves are also the most successful ones.