You manage the day-to-day activity of a law firm, and you’re good at what you do. However, do you have the time or background to make your office move seamless and stress-free? Or more importantly, how can you ensure that your firm won’t lose productivity during your move? Below I’m sharing 5 keys to maintain productivity during your move.
Key #1 – Keep your files at your fingertips
Though the trend is toward paperless workplaces, law firms have certain legal requirements that can create a large collection of paper files. Packing, relocating, and unpacking files is a major project in of itself. This may not be the best investment of your staff’s time. Having the help of trained teams can substantially minimize downtime and disruption and help avoid lost or misplaced records.
A well-trained team will pack the files on carts. This will ensure that they are available at a moment’s notice, right up to the time of the actual move. In some cases, the entire cabinet can be moved with the records intact if your provider has the SpiderCrane®.
Key #2 – Avoid an IT blackout
The second key to maintain productivity is your IT equipment. Your IT equipment is the nervous system of your company. They must be carefully uninstalled and reinstalled, safely yet quickly. Besides moving IT peripherals, you should also make sure your mover includes wire management. This is for maintaining a neat, clean, and safe working environment. A proper PC disconnect/reconnect strategy can save both time and money. The proper management of all IT equipment (including cables) is a crucial component of a seamless relocation.
Many law offices are moving their data storage to the cloud, many still opt to keep their data in-house. If you maintain your own server, you’ll need professionals that can help you plan for the move. Your mover will ensure that the delicate server racks get moved safely. They should also make sure the proper environment is set up at the new office space.
Key #3 – Save thousands on record storage
Office space is a huge expense, especially in major metropolitan areas. What does this mean for file management? You could save thousands and even tens of thousands of dollars over time by reducing the need for onsite storage or file rooms.
Hire moving experts who can work with you to determine which records can be stored offsite in order to reduce costs. These same experts can help you with purge campaigns to cull out unnecessary or duplicate files prior to your move. Your mover may also be able to digitally image your records or recommend one.
Key # 4 – Keep your data confidential
Any company can fall victim to security breaches. This is especially true when confidential data or files are thrown out when no longer needed. In fact, a Verizon 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report mentioned that over 2,300 corporate security breaches involved lost and stolen assets. Unfortunately, proprietary information is thrown out without being properly shredded or destroyed. This leaves your law firm at great risk for a data breach.
Hire a shredding service to properly destroy your confidential data (both paper and digital formats). The shredded materials are recycled. Thereby reducing the impact to the landfills. Most importantly, it protects your data from a costly and embarrassing breach.
Key #5 – Remove surplus furniture
The final key to maintaining productivity is removing surplus furniture. At the completion of a move, you may need to remove surplus furniture from your former office space. Unfortunately, this can take a long time. If you need to extend your lease for a month or rent storage space to accommodate your surplus office furniture removal, your firm will face a major expense.
How can you avoid it? Hire a commercial mover that works closely with liquidators and local charities. These partners can find homes for your unwanted furniture. They usually provide pickup and delivery services to those charities. Now your space is clean and ready for turn over to building management.
Want to find out additional keys to maintain productivity during your move? Contact one of our consultants at commercial@jkmoving.com or 703.574.6754.