Getting It Right Without Doing It All
An office move can be a huge undertaking. But nobody does it alone. Three office managers who have been through it tell us what mattered most, what they let go of, and how they stayed sane doing it.
Our own office manager Rebecca picked up our move on her first day in the job. It was mid-construction and she jumped straight into the deep end.
Contractors running late, movers unable to step in when booked, permits needed at the last minute. Asked what it was all like, she tells it truthfully. "It's a whole job in itself. You can't just do this on top and go, this is fine on top of my normal work. It's not. If you want to do a good job, that needs to be your job, and that's it."
Stacy Bergener, who manages the workplace experience at Tebi, moved from three floors into one across a four-week window after the company doubled. Asked how much work a move actually is, she doesn't sugar-coat.
"It's an insane amount."
Melissa Hendrikse at Van Gooi says proper forward planning and budgeting is the only way to manage it. "It's a lot," she says.
Despite the effort, they all did it. Melissa pitched the case for what she wanted for the new office and won approval. Stacy turned around a move against a four-week clock and levelled up the space. Rebecca stepped up when it was needed and delivered something exceptional under pressure.
How did they do it? Across the board, the message was clear: know what matters most, leave yourself space, and ask for help.
Melissa shares the load with her fellow colleagues. "You don't have to do it alone. You can always ask for help, and then together you come up with something good."
Stacy focuses her energy into the few things the office cannot do without, whittles down what isn’t needed and stays realistic about the rest. "Realise as soon as possible that you're not going to please everyone all the time," she says. "Make the decisions you'd want people to make for you, and take care of yourself at the same time."
And Rebecca says know your boundaries and be clear about what's really possible. "You really have to take other things off your plate. You need to figure out how to be clear with your boundaries really quick. And that's a hard thing to do, but I think it's the only way to actually do this successfully."
To the office managers out there
You will likely make some mistakes. We learned many of the lessons within this guide the hard way. But setting your priorities from the beginning and understanding what needs to be fixed before the design locks is the safest way to nail the parts that matter most.
And, like Rebecca, don't forget to bring the good vibes along the way.
"Hey, to my office managers out there: I see you, I feel you. It's a thankless job sometimes. Actually, it's not. I get thanked all the time, it's a very visible role. But I think our main function is vibe-bringing. We're out here to give people a good time. Keep things running smoothly and make sure everyone enjoys coming into the office, loves where they are, feels like they're in a good space and enjoys working together. As long as you take the trash bags out and look after your fellow friends and make sure they're having a good time. Smile at them, give everyone a pat on the back, tell people they've done a good job. That's what it comes down to."
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Previous article
Self-reflection: behind our own move
We wrote this guide partly because we could have used it ourselves. Here's the honest take on how our own move went, from the two people who ran it. VP of marketing Fabienne Walch scoped and planned the front half. Office manager Rebecca Baddeley steered it through construction. They learned many lessons the hard way so you don’t have to.
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In conversation with Marnix: signing it off
Aquablu CEO Marnix Stokvis made the final calls on our own office move. We asked him what he wishes we had done differently, what he thinks is worth fighting for, and how he decides on a cost that will never show a qualitative return.
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