Organized Unpacking Saves Time

I've mentioned before about the importance of making sure that you have things organized for your move. It might have escaped my attention, though, to mention that things need to be organized fully at both ends of the move. That's right, moving out is one half of the job!

Knowing where everything will go and how to unpack them safely is just as important as locating everything and packing them into the boxes. Many people will take a fairly relaxed view of this when moving home, which is understandable. Usually, they're just happy to get everything into their new place and after the stress of checking, packing and double-checking everything, they opt to relax for a few days before dealing with the next burden.

However, this doesn't apply with commercial moves. Commercial moves need to be the smoothest operations that involve the absolute minimum in delay. The reason, of course, is money. Office moves usually involve a temporary shut-down of some or all of a company's services and departments. The longer the shut-down the more money the company can loose.

That's why having a perfectly organized unpacking schedule is highly advisable. But how can you do this? Well, there are a few pointers that you could take:

1. Have an accurate checklist ready at the destination, so that everything coming off the truck is accounted for in the quickest time.

2. At the packing stage, make sure to label boxes accurately. Don't just writes 'PCs' on the side; write 'PCs at Pod 1', or maybe the name of the employee who uses it 'Jenny's PC, Pod 1'. This way allows you to make a visual checklist (office map).

3. Forget about a central drop-off point. Get the moving team to bring the boxes to their actual locations; again a visual checklist is perfect for this.

4. It might help considerably, if the office furniture is the first to be unpacked and reassembled. It could help the movers to identify the correct location for everything. Otherwise, handing them a clear map of the office as it will look is the best option.

While it's worth handing the moving organizing job to a small group of employees to co-ordinate everything, you might also want to consider using a moving consultant. This sort of service is available from most moving companies; we at Sage certainly have one!

Speed in doing anything requires a lot of planning so it's best to get it done - especially if it is your office that you're moving.