Challenge

Johnsons Business Moves was appointed to deliver project move management and relocation services to Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU).

We relocated all existing staff, their current IT equipment, office filing and team storage over five phases encompassing the following departments: External Relations, Human Resources, ISDS, Finance and Academic Services.

Each of the moves took place over two consecutive days, starting at 3pm Friday and completing no later than the following Sunday 12 noon. Included in the move were the following:

2 x Senior Supervisors on each move phase to ensure all work packages are completed on time

All resources, vehicles, crates, building protection to complete the relocation over the 5 planned phases

Trained and experienced IT supervisor and IT technicians to complete the IT decom/packing/unpacking/recom

Attending project set up meeting to conduct project kick-off and agree final scope/project governance

Completing regular meetings with key client stakeholders/move champions

Providing specific move guides with all key tasks/information/dates to ensure all pre-move activities are correctly completed by University staff

Completing detailed and full relocation scheduling and timeline baseline for all relocation activity to seamlessly follow

Arranging and supplying pre-printed labels

Ensuring all resources/crates are booked in line with the project requirements

Ensuring regular communication and single point of contact with the client

Providing IT and cable management services

Facilitating the staff feedback process

Solution

Staff Engagement

We viewed this as the most critical element of our bid due to the nature of the departments moving. Our schedule was based on the following:

Implementation with the individual teams to meet key contacts and agree the process and floor plans

Engagement with each department/floor to discuss packing and the softer elements of the process

Information correlation and finalisation of the move plan and as contingency

Added Value

We provided an IT cleaning service over the weekend which meant all equipment appeared fresh for staff arriving at their new desk on the Monday of each phase

The main IT department being relocated was ISDS who had many breakable items within their storage cabinets. We provided them with anti-static bubble wrap facilitating their requirement for the best protection prior to items being packed

We noticed that there were several longer walkways and a number of tiled floors in some of the buildings. Some of the lifts have mirrors on the rear/back of the cab and there are numerous doorways that we had to pass through. We took specific note of all these and ensured that we had enough building protection to maintain the original integrity of all building areas

We used IT decom/recom sheets to record and log all details of each individual set up, as well as a photograph of each set-up positioning

We took the opportunity to start the largest phase earlier than 3pm when granted to us by the University. During the planning phase our Move Project Manager obtained the correct information off the Transition Manager and FM/Estates contacts, discussed start times and prioritised any key business areas that could be packed up and relocated earlier. They also ensured that the areas that were business critical until 3pm were correctly sequenced in the move order so that there were no unexpected delays