How to use this checklist
- Name one owner. One person owns the move and the plan of record. Everyone else works from their version.
- Work through the phases in order. Each phase depends on the one before. Seating cannot be final until the scope is, and people cannot be told until seating is.
- Give every task an owner and a date. Download the spreadsheet, add owners and due dates, and share it with IT, facilities and HR.
- Measure before and after. Measure how the space is used before you plan the move, and again after it, so you can show whether it worked.
The checklist
Six phases. Copy a phase into your own plan, or download the whole checklist as a spreadsheet. "In Kadence" notes show where a step can be done in the product.
1. Set the scope and the plan of record
Agree why you are moving, what done looks like and which plan everyone works from.
- Name the move owner and the sponsor who signs off.
- Write down why you are moving: lease event, consolidation, growth or restack.
- Agree the budget and what counts as done.
- Measure how the current space is used, by team and by day, before you size the new space.
- Build the space roster: every person, team, desk and assigned seat.
- Decide which plan is the plan of record, and who may change it.
- Check lease notice dates and restoration obligations for the space you leave.
In Kadence SpaceOps builds stack and space plans on real WorkOps attendance and occupancy data, compares scenarios side by side and exports share-ready PDFs for stakeholders.
Plan of record · Space roster · Lease event · Utilization study
2. Plan the new space and seating
Seat teams for how they work together, and plan for the busiest days, not the average.
- Get floor plans for the new space in a format you can edit.
- Set team adjacencies and neighborhoods.
- Decide which desks are assigned and which are bookable, and the desk ratio for each team.
- Plan for peak days, not average days.
- Plan swing space if the move happens in stages.
- Seat new starters, and free the seats of leavers, who fall inside the move window.
- Get sign-off on the seating plan and lock it as the plan of record.
In Kadence Move Manager (WorkOps Pro) plans new starters, leavers, ad-hoc assignments and team relocations, with seat recommendations, bulk auto-assign and bulk move uploads. The HRIS integration syncs starters, leavers and leave dates. In SpaceOps, an approved plan is published to WorkOps as live neighborhoods and assignments.
Swing space · Team adjacency · Desk ratio · Joiners, movers and leavers
3. Tell people
People forgive a lot if they hear early, from their manager, with the details that affect them.
- Brief managers first, so they can answer their team's questions.
- Announce why you are moving, the date and what changes for each person.
- Tell each person where they will sit, with a floor plan.
- Publish a short FAQ: parking, lockers, access badges, accessibility and travel.
- Tell visitors, suppliers and couriers about the new address and reception.
In Kadence Move notifications email each employee, and a personal move sheet tells them where they are moving. Workplace announcements reach people through Slack, Microsoft Teams, email and the mobile app.
4. Prepare IT, facilities and access
Day one goes well when the building is ready before the people are.
- Test network, Wi-Fi, meeting room video and screens in the new space.
- Issue access badges for the new site.
- Set up room names and calendars, so bookings work on day one.
- Close the old space for booking from the move date.
- Update floor plans and wayfinding signs.
- Book movers, crates and labels, and agree a packing schedule.
- Plan visitor reception at the new site.
In Kadence Closure Management closes buildings, and on WorkOps Pro floors, neighborhoods or individual spaces, so nobody books space that is out of use. With editable floor plans (a paid add-on, included with SpaceOps), admins edit floor plans in the browser and activate the changes. Room booking syncs both ways with Outlook and Google Calendar.
5. Move day
Keep one up-to-date seating list and one issue list, each with an owner.
- Put a named lead on each floor with the latest seating list.
- Check crates and equipment against labels as they arrive.
- Run a help desk at the new site for IT and access issues.
- Check that every desk, room and screen works before people arrive.
- Log every issue with an owner and a deadline.
In Kadence Floor plan search helps people find a person, desk or room on the web and in the mobile apps, and ticketing lets them report facility issues.
6. After the move
The move is done when the data matches the floor and the space works for the people in it.
- Check that seat assignments in the system match where people actually sit.
- Measure attendance and occupancy in the new space against the plan.
- Fix hot spots: overbooked neighborhoods, unused rooms, missing equipment.
- Ask employees for feedback.
- Record the full cost of the move.
- Close out the old space and its lease obligations.
In Kadence Workplace Insights shows attendance, occupancy, no-shows and heatmaps with CSV export. Employee surveys (WorkOps Pro) collect feedback inside Kadence.
How Kadence helps
Kadence Move Manager (WorkOps Pro) plans and executes new starters, leavers, ad-hoc assignments and team relocations, with seat recommendations, bulk auto-assign and bulk move uploads. Employees get move emails and a personal move sheet. In SpaceOps, stack and space plans built on real occupancy data are published to WorkOps as live neighborhoods and assignments.
Move management software · SpaceOps · Space management
Frequently asked questions
What should an office move checklist include?
It should cover six phases: setting the scope and the plan of record, planning the new space and seating, telling people, preparing IT, facilities and access, running move day, and checking the result after the move. Each task needs an owner and a due date, and one person should own the whole plan.
How far in advance should you plan an office move?
Start as soon as the trigger is known, usually a lease event or a decision to consolidate. Lease notice dates, fit-out and IT work in the new space set the real deadline, so work back from the move date and check notice periods first.
What is the difference between an office relocation and an internal move?
An office relocation moves people to a different building or address. An internal move changes where people sit inside buildings you already occupy, such as a restack between floors. Both need a plan of record, a seating plan and clear communication; a relocation adds leases, movers and new access.
Who should own an office move?
One named move owner, usually in workplace, facilities or real estate, with a sponsor who signs off decisions. IT, HR, facilities and team managers each own their tasks, but one person keeps the plan of record and decides changes, so everyone works from the same version.
How do you tell employees where they are moving?
Brief managers first, then tell each person their new floor and seat, with a floor plan, before move day. Include the details that matter to them: parking, lockers, access badges and accessibility. A personal move sheet sent by email works better than a single shared spreadsheet.
Related terms
- Move management Planning, sequencing and carrying out workplace moves, from one desk change to a whole-team relocation.
- Plan of record The approved, current version of a stack, block or move plan that every team works from.
- Space roster The authoritative list of who is assigned to which seat, zone or space at a point in time.
- Swing space Temporary workspace people use while their permanent space is refurbished, reconfigured or not yet ready.
- Office relocation Moving an office or department to another building, planned around the lease date, real attendance and a clear move schedule.
- Restack Reassigning teams across the floors of a building to free space, absorb growth or improve adjacency, done as a sequence of moves.
- Office consolidation Moving teams from several floors, buildings or sites into less space, then giving up or repurposing the space that is freed.
- Cost per move The average cost of relocating one person inside the workplace: total move costs divided by people moved.
All templates · RFP requirements checklist
Kadence editorial team · Last reviewed