Office moves go wrong in predictable ways. The network does not come back up, someone forgot the key cabinet, and the boxes arrive at the new place labelled "misc" with no indication of which desk they belonged to. None of that is hard to prevent. It just takes a plan and one person who owns it.
Start with a single owner
One person in your company should own the move. Not the movers — someone internal. That person is the answer for every question, the decision-maker on what goes and what gets tossed, and the person the movers call when they need direction. Without this, the crew stands around waiting.
Eight weeks out
- Confirm the new lease dates and access hours.
- Book the mover. Small-office moves are usually a few weeks out; book early to get the date you want.
- Book your internet and phone service at the new address — this is the single biggest lead-time item.
- Sketch the new floor plan. Who sits where, where the printer goes, where the server rack lives.
Four weeks out
- Inventory every room. Every desk, every monitor, every filing cabinet.
- Purge. Office moves are a great excuse to shred old paper, retire monitors nobody uses, and clear storage closets.
- Notify clients and vendors of the move date and any brief service interruption.
- Order boxes, tape, labels, and cable ties if your mover is not providing them (ours are provided).
Two weeks out
- Label every box by department and by desk. "Sarah / Marketing" is better than "Misc 3".
- Back up everything on servers and local drives. Verify the backups actually restored to a test folder.
- Confirm the freight elevator at the new building — most offices require a reservation and a certificate of insurance from the mover.
- Confirm the parking situation at both ends. Loading zones at a downtown office are usually restricted.
One week out — IT and equipment
The IT move is the single most common cause of "we lost a day". Plan the sequence:
- Unplug and pack IT last so it loads first and comes off first.
- Keep server and network equipment in a dedicated, padded, labelled bin. Not in a "misc" box.
- Photograph the back of the server rack and every workstation before unplugging.
- Have your IT person on site at the new place for setup.
Moving day
Start early. Movers are most efficient in the first three hours. Have the internal owner on site at both ends. Walk the crew through the layout before they touch a box.
Load order matters: IT and anything else needed on day one loads last, so it comes off first. Desks and chairs load first, so they come off last and can be assembled while smaller items are brought up.
First week in the new space
- Confirm internet and phones are up before Monday.
- Post the new address, parking instructions, and office map for staff.
- Set up the key cabinet, alarm codes, and building access on day one.
- Do a walkthrough with the internal owner — anything misplaced gets fixed while the crew is still nearby.
Most small-office moves we do land on a Friday or Saturday and the team is working from the new place Monday morning. That outcome is not luck — it comes from that eight-week plan and one internal owner.