A restack or a shuffle is industry lingo for a relocation that takes place within your current space. Planning a restack consists of having a solid plan, communicating with your team, and identifying risks. Restacks happen for a number of reasons: building renovations, departmental reorganization, aligning project personnel, or just a refresh of your seating chart. As experts in relocations, we want to provide you with a few pointers to consider when thinking about a restack at your place of business.
Let’s review two possible pain points that cause disruptions in workflow for your team- organizing and planning. If one part is lacking, then the results will follow suit. When you are the primary person or possibly the only person working on the restack some details can be overlooked or pushed to the side as unimportant. Figuring out who goes where and if a department will fit, what the move flow needs to be so that you don’t create bottle necks and to ensure that you have equipment in the right places at the right time making it easy on your IT team is crucial to a successful restack. Also, planning your common areas so that they work for everyone is critical, these spaces include conference rooms, storage rooms, copy rooms, wellness rooms, and team rooms as well as common area filing cabinets.
A major complication with restacks is that the spaces you’re moving into may be in the process of moving out themselves. Consider this obstacle, if employee A needs to move into employee B’s office, and employee B has to wait for employee C to vacate their office. How do you put together a reliable schedule? Confusing right? In order to solve this problem, you need to have a plan ahead of time. The results will be stacks of boxes sitting in hallways, frustrated employees, and items will inevitably go missing in the process.
We had a mover tell us the story of a client who truly thought the word “plan” to be a four-letter word! She had them place everything in a pile in the middle of an open area and assigned everything from there. That meant that the mover moved everything in to one location, then had to move it again to another location, essentially doubling the moving costs.
CMCI specializes in planning and organizing which takes some of the stress off your shoulders. Our project managers alongside your team come up with the game plan to get you where you need to be all within the desired move timeframe. Let our knowledge and experience lend itself to making your project as cost effective as possible while keeping your staff focused on their daily work. Establishing this foundation creates stability throughout the project and removes unnecessary burdens.
One of the reasons that our clients look to us as professional planners is that we anticipate setbacks, schedule changes, and are nimble in the recovery of the schedule. As the move is the last thing to happen inside a space, often it gets scheduled multiple times through the life of the project. Delays include construction, material delays, and client schedule impacts. We keep the team on track and review the schedule often to make sure the team is aware and ready.
During a renovation, your methods of transportation may be compromised. Consider these questions, do you know which days the elevator will be out of commission? Is the main hallway getting recarpeted while you are attempting to cart gondolas full of resources across the office? Your moves do not occur in a vacuum, and more often than not, there are other vendors and building projects in the works during your internal transition.
How does the new space compare to the current space? Will it hold the same number linear filing inches in the storage room, is there comparable space for people or less? Are we working a hybrid schedule or a remotely? Do you have the help needed to execute the move? What is the budget? What is the new model and what are you trying to accomplish? Having the answers to these questions is necessary in order to remain productive, on schedule and on budget. Things can go south quickly if one thing begins to falter.
Why use CMCI for a project? These relocations are fun to do, but they take a lot of planning and sequential logistics to do efficiently. We keep your project on track, plan for small and large details, all while giving you peace of mind.
Consider what resources individual departments need, and how their new spaces will impact their ability to get work done effectively and efficiently. Have you covered everything? Have you looked at each area within each department to ensure they will have their needs met at the new location? If you’re moving, for example, the payroll department to a new floor, do they have a space that can be locked to secure employee confidential information? In order to have happy and productive employees, you have to look at each department’s needs to determine if they will be able to do their job with ease in the new space. If not, you are going to have some very unhappy staff on your hands, understandably.
How do you know when you need a restack? When your team or staff is not fitting in the space as it has grown too big. Conversely maybe some departments are too big for their space, or too small. Or the work environment has changed to a hybrid or A/B model wherein A works two days a week and B works three, etc. Whatever may be changing, the quantity of space needed, or the function of the space will inevitably happen and when it occurs, do you have a plan for what happens next?
We are the premier company with the knowledge and experience to get you and your team through your move. Schedule a walkthrough today for your personalized quote, at 713-864-2890. In the meantime, check out our blog at CMCImove.com “What is a Trash Bash” for something else to consider for your next relocation.
