What They Don't Tell You About Moving to a New Office Space

Anything.

They don’t tell you anything.

Here are things I learned while doing the office move for The Org.

We moved our NYC headquarters from a sunlit repurposed condo on Spring Street to a chic industrial sun-drenched floor on Broadway. I had the honor to lead operations and logistics.

First, Make Do

Take stock of the furniture you have. We brought all of the old furniture into the new space. Where we originally planned to place them isn’t where they wound up and it’s fun to get creative with it— we rearranged sofas to create a soft seating area by our west facing window. We took our two picnic tables that were on separate floors and combined them to be one long table by the kitchen.

Before browsing new pieces, work with what you already have. And then before you hit that “buy” button, measure your space. I held the measuring tape in my hand more than my phone. It saves your time, saves money and saves the planet to reduce back and forth shipments.

And Make Sense

“That doesn’t make sense.” - me to the enterprise IT vendor who tried to sell me something we didn’t need.

A lot of vendors try to convince you to buy their services. Many of them like to use confusing terms to make you think you need their services to get you to buy immediately.

And who knows? You might very well need it.

Some lonely chairs patiently awaiting their table

But ask them to explain it to you in layman's terms. Then, keep asking any questions you have until you’re crystal clear about what problem they’re even solving for your business.

High chance you don’t even have that problem.

I had an IT vendor confidently try to package in hardwiring data for thousands of dollars. “Hardwiring data” sounded like important words for an office to have. I learned that it’s for hard wired internet, like an ethernet cable… you know that wire that ran from a router to the back of a desktop CPU many years ago.

We’re a wifi office and right now, no one plugs into the internet but if it changes, I’ll know where to find services.

Personal principle: I don’t buy if I feel confused.

If you’re seeking to learn more, use the internet or a consultant. A salesperson is not your source of truth. “Ask the barber if you should get a haircut and he’ll always say yes.”

Big thanks Matt Tedder for letting me sound off ideas around IT setup.

Then, Make Last

Invest in furniture pieces that you can potentially carry over to the next space. We like high quality material and lean towards a neutral Nordic color palette.

I’m lucky to work for someone who appreciates good taste. Being able to furniture shop with Maria makes this process fun.

When it’s not for my apartment, I shop based on science, a color palette I primed in my head. I know what looks good because I studied it. Maria enjoys it so much she can shop based on gut feeling and select items easily to help me curate a cart.

Have good taste or work with someone who does.