If you’re planning an office fit out or refurbishment, you may feel a little overwhelmed with the enormity of the planning and tasks to be carried out.

Here, we aim to help you to create a simple checklist that will begin to help you break the process down

What Are Your Reasons?

• Do you need more furniture?
• Require more space?
• Want to improve your brand’s image?
• Boost morale and well-being?

The reason for your refurbishment could include, some, all or none of these reasons but identifying why you are planning to carry put an office makeover can help you to work a number of important things about the project. These include how big the job might be, how long it might take, the scale of your budget and how and when the work should be carried out.

Who Needs to be Involved?

A refurbishment project requires the collaboration and agreement of a great many people, so ask the experts! Below are a few examples of key departments and decision makers that should be involved in the process.

• Managing Director: Make sure they are kept well abreast of plans and budgets and make sure you have their approval for each stage of the project.
• Finance Department: Set budgets and balance costs with this department and make them aware of any changes as soon as possible.
• Operations Director: Let them know how and when each stage of work will be carried out and liaise with them to keep disruption to staff and productivity to a minimum
• Office Manager: This person can give you some valuable insight as to what their employees may require from the refurbishment project
• Marketing Department: Include this team when deciding how and where to use company branding and colours throughout the refurbishment. They could also keep a blog or add images of your refurbishment to social accounts to keep customers informed of progress and impressed by the end result!
• Landlord: If you have a landlord it is very important to make sure you have their approval for any work that you are planning to carry out before the project starts. Keep them well informed throughout the process to avoid any confusion.
• All other staff: Where appropriate, you should try to include your staff in the office makeover; it’s a fun way to boost morale and create stronger bonds within teams. Get them to search for corporate or professional office ideas on Pinterest and create boards with their favourite ideas. Later on, you and your team can go through and get an idea of what your staff would like to see in their new workspace.

When?

• Do you have a deadline for completion?
• Does your timing suit the finance department?
• Will the time of year affect how long the project might take – for example around Christmas or school summer holidays?

Source a Refurbishment Company:

Once you have identified your reasons for a refurbishment and have a rough budget and goal in mind, start your search for a refurbishment company. Office fit out experts can help you in designing your office space with a layout that works for you and at an affordable price. They also help to ensure that your project has a professional finish and meets all laws and regulations. You can also receive quality advice on new office furniture and ergonomics and enjoy warranties and after sales care.

What Furniture Do You Need?

• Are you keeping some of your old furniture or will everything be brand new?
• Are you looking for ergonomic pieces to improve the well-being of your employees?
• Do you require furniture for more than one area of your work place?

Satisfaction:

• Are all necessary people catered for within your refurbishment plans?
• Have you listened to and tried to incorporate staff input into your designs?

Try to break your project down with the help of the above list. It should help you to segment your tasks and liaise with the right people and departments and help you to ensure your project runs as smoothly as possible.

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