What is Process of Office Decommissioning?
The pandemic led to an unprecedented amount of people’s lives transitioning from reporting to work daily to working hybrid hours or predominately working from home. This has led to a glut of unused office space and the furniture within in.
The process of office or site decommissioning is necessitated by the need to empty space or a portion of it and in some instances repurpose portions of it for multi-use. This determination is typically made by an organization’s senior management staff or the in the case of furnished sites the landlord.
The first component of the process is de-occupation. This entails moving all the employees or tenants out of the office. This may be as simple as having them move their own personal affects out of the site. Potentially it is as complex as having to move all the office supplies, paperwork and IT gear off the site.
The pivotal question for planning purposes is where do the goods go? Is it one location or many? Maybe it is as simple as moving them to a scrap yard, dumpster or used furniture company. Perhaps some items are moved to other offices, employee homes, metal to the scrapyard, computers to central IT, the used furniture company and the remainder to disposal. Getting a concise sense of what needs to go and where it needs to go is the first step.
Office Decommissioning: Why Does It Matter?
The whole purpose is to save costs or minimize losses for the organization or the landlord….or make it more attractive to potential renters.
If the space is no longer going to be used the organization or landlord will no longer want the rent or maintenance costs involved with the location.
If the furniture, contents and potentially fixtures will no longer be used they can be liquidated into whatever fair market value remains in them.
In the case of an office space that is being multi-purposed the space needs to be reconfigured to multi-use. This would entail removing all items that are specific to the previous occupant. (Paperwork, computers, files, servers, branding materials, etc.) Once this is completed the existing office furnishings can be re-configured in an effort to best serve all future occupants.
In re-configuring for multi-use it is imperative that each potential occupants’ needs are known and it is clearly communicated if the space will or will not be able to facilitate their needs. Most multi-use spaces will need a readily accessible, reliable internet connection at a minimum. They may or may not require file cabinets and if they do considerations will have to be made for keeping them separated and secure.
Navigating Office Decommissioning: Tips for Success
First, if you are placed in charge of decommissioning an office space the first thing you need to do is assess everything that needs to be removed from the space. During this process it is highly recommended to create a comprehensive contents inventory as well. It’s best to do so from the perspective of categories:
Contents, Personal: These are personal items of the employees that are their personal property. Ask them to remove all of their personal property and give them a deadline and make it clear after that deadline the items are no longer considered their personal property.
Contents, Company Owned: This would be everything else, encompassing some of the other categories. Generally, under this heading focus on the paperwork, files, office supplies, communal company provided sundries, cleaning products, printer inks, pens, pencils, adding machines, etc. Determining if they are to remain company owned property or to be parted with at this time is important.
Fixtures: These are items permanently attached to the building in some way; such as a whiteboard. This is also the category cubicles would fall under. When it comes to fixtures its important to ascertain if they were provided by the landlord or put in by the renter. Once that is established the decommissioning agent must make a determination on those fixtures that are part of their responsibility.
Furniture: Desks, files cabinets, chairs, tables, etc.
Information Technology & Electronics: The servers, the desk tops, the laptops and tablets, the phone system, the copiers and printers all fall under this heading. The first determination is to decide if you have an IT Dept and if they want to handle this or if it falls under the decommissioning agent’s responsibilities.
Miscellaneous: This is anything that does not fall under one of the other categories that must still be planned for. An example of these items could be 3rd party copying equipment or 3rd party water coolers or shredding bins.
Secondly, after making an assessment, call a moving and storage company. You are going to need their services and office relocation consultants have an extensive background in projects like this. They will stop and do a walk through and bring things to light you had not thought of or considered.
A relocation consultant can also help you establish an order of progression that is most efficient as well as most cost effective. They will also be able to tell you what tasks their crews are not allowed to do and therefore will require 3rd party services. (For example, disconnecting direct wired electrical items such as powered cubicles.)
They can also recommend third party service providers or include them in their estimate giving you one price for all phases of work and putting the onus of scheduling third party services on the relocation consultant rather than yourself.
Lastly, while you may not need storage at the time you are organizing the project; if you find a need for storage later the relocation consultant can cover that service for you too.
Third, you have to make a game plan. This entails the order in which items will leave the property. Work with your relocation consultant to make defined deadlines for each phase. At this time you will want to start developing a “system” in your head.
Post It Notes are great if they are a call to action and can then be pitched. They do not work well for items being moved. Develop a system using different colored labels or painters’ tape that can remain in place during the rigors of being moved. Associate each color to the destination the items are to go to. Or use different colors and a number for the destination if you are moving mixed category items in multiple phases.
Lastly, have contingency plans in place and assume some aspects will go quicker than expected but be certain some aspects will take a little longer. Consider the “what if’s” that could affect your timelines and progress.
Key Considerations for Office Decommissioning and Moving Out:
When it comes to site decommissioning the key considerations to grapple with first are:
- Where does it go?
- Who is my service provider?
- What is most cost effective?
- What is most efficient?
When decommissioning a site its imperative that you decide if it’s moving within the decommissioned site, going to another site to be used, being scrapped or being taken to an auction house or used furniture retailer. This helps you determine whom the service provider will be.
If the goods are being moved within house or taken to another location to be set up and actively used or sold you are probably best served using a decommissioning specialist also known as a moving and storage company. If you will need storage than a moving company is definitely the route to go.
If you are scrapping the items a scrapping company may be your best option. Since you are not concerned with damage in this scenario you may want to ask if the scrapping company will remove the items and take their costs from the scrap value. Beware that they are insured for any property damage to the structure they are working within.
What Else You Need to Know
Assessing site decommissioning’s cost effectiveness can be complex. While a moving company may be more expensive than decommissioning in-house with company employees and rental trucks; the moving company is full insured from a workers’ compensation stand point and for any potential damage done to the facility. Additionally, they carry extensive amounts of vehicle insurance. They also have all of the necessary equipment already required on hand.
When doing your analysis; it is important to factor in all of your time and costs to “gear up” for the project. Not to mention all the potential risks you run by doing it yourself versus a fully insured moving company. Always try to do your work on weekdays during normal business hours. While you may have no option but evenings or weekends; it will most likely cost you more than weekday options during work hours.
The efficiency of any office decommission job is important too. A lot of it can depend on your timelines. If you have two months to work with, perhaps you prefer one small, 3-person crew to handle everything over an extended period of time. If you have a week before your deadline, you may have to consider a much larger crew in order to meet your objectives.
The good news is most decommissioning costs are going to remain the same in both scenarios. By doing the larger crew though you will probably help reduce your travel and fuel surcharges by having fewer days. The office decommissioning provider may prefer the longer window to work with due to their current workload. If that’s the case they should be willing to consider a reduction on the travel and fuel costs.
In closure, unless you decommission offices for a living, I would recommend reaching out to a relocation consultant at a moving company for an initial discussion. They do this for a living and even if they have not tackled a site decommission before, they have certainly taken on office or commercial jobs with multiple objectives before. They are a great first point of contact to get your hands around your project.