h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: How to Survive an Office Move - A87882079 Author: SashaQ - happysad - Editor - U9936370 Here is a collaborative Entry that I have put together from this conversation: F19585?thread=8317154 http://h2g2.com/forums/A148907/conversation/view/F19585/T8317154/page/1/ Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences

Authors:
Cheerful Dragon
Bluebottle
Baron Grim
Gnomon - wandered off
Milla, h2g2 Operations
You can call me TC, or Spartacus
SiliconDioxide
paulh. Planting, watering, and weeding
Icy North
deb - I'm in love with my soup maker & I don't care who knows it
Rev Spartacus

What a wonderful idea for an entry, well done Sasha and thank you to all the contributors!

GB

I'm afraid we didn't give you any really useful tips, did we Sasha, just sort of told anecdotes of our own moves.

Here are a few:

- Take you personal belongings home before the move and bring them back on your first day on the new premises. This is a good time to re-assess the junk you have accumulated at the back of that bottom drawer....

- Furniture will have to be labelled with the new destination, with name and room number. Post-it notes will not survive the manhandling, and indelible ink is not an option on most furniture surfaces, being, by definition, indelible. Self-adhesive address labels will be readily available in the stationery cupboard, but remember to get the office manager to order in some label-remover.

- Lock all drawers and keep the key with you. If the lock is broken, or non-existent, stick them down with sticky tape, again, usually available somewhere in the office for doing up parcels. You may need that label-remover here, too, when you settle in.

- Waste paper baskets are useful containers for the bits and bobs you have to pack at the last minute.

- Bring a pair of rubber gloves on the first day back, as no one else is going to wipe down those empty cupboards before you put your files and boxes back in. And a thermos of tea, in case the new kitchen isn't working properly yet.

- When you start life in your new office, make a resolution to reduce clutter and paper to a minimum. It might work for a week or so!

Good advice, that.

I'm currently wondering what happened to the boxes and boxes of Christmas decorations that our old department used to have before we were restructured - we certainly didn't get any of it...

<BB<

Actually, as well as the rubber gloves, if you have room, you could bring a hammer and pliers on that first day. If the office has a toolbox it will probably be in someone else's office or lost in the move, and picture-hanging is a very important job and vital for marking out your territory! (Having said that, our office has moveable walls of a kind that you can't hammer nails into, so check that out beforehand, too.

Thanks TC - excellent tips. I've added a new section and hope it looks OK for everyone

I remember walls - I had one of those once... A toolbox wasn't needed, though, as pictures weren't allowed but I did have a bit of a noticeboard that I could use drawing pins on to display some useful information and a bird picture

This is amusing, though I suspect that office moves vary enormously according to the size and nature of the organisation.

When I used to work for the UK civil service one of the reasons for moving was that, whenever a new minister was appointed, the Department would be reorganised to give him a sufficiently important job.

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Well dona SashaQ! Another entry picked

Deb

well done

Yay ! Congrats !

Thank you

Well done everyone

Congratulations everyone! This Entry A87885049 is on the Front Page today