Surviving Structural Change

Picture the last time you moved. It was stressful, wasn’t it? It probably took days or weeks of planning the logistics on both sides, what with coordinating with movers, getting boxes and tape, packing and labeling, unpacking, turning off and setting up Wifi, making sure the dates for move-out and move-in lined up… and on and on.

Now picture moving 120 people. Welcome to startup life.

Anyone who’s worked at a startup will confirm that change is constant, par for the course in startup life. Startups are like the toddlers of the business world — changing and growing so quickly from month to month, let alone year to year, that systems and processes are out-grown almost as soon as they get implemented.

And that rapid-paced growth brings us back to the topic of moving. Here at Bluecore, we recently moved to accommodate our growing team, and I wanted to share a few of the takeaways we learned in the transition.

The Big Opportunity: Rally the Troops

A major change for a company is no different than any major change in life — it carries with it a lot of emotions, both positive and negative, and it presents an opportunity to come out even stronger on the other side.

At a startup company in particular, it’s a huge opportunity to rally the troops by enlisting their help and making them feel a part of it all (and really, what better way is there to create a sense of community and loyalty than by making people feel like they’re helping build something?).

The Big Challenge: Logistics and Emotions

Here comes the part you had to know was coming: The challenges. So what kinds of challenges are we talking about? External (logistics) and internal (emotions).

Externally, logistics like timing, planning, engaging the right support (think consultants, vendors, temp workers, designers, etc.), budgeting, assigning ownership, communicating updates to the right people… is your head spinning yet? It’s a lot of moving pieces and that means it can easily escalate to a frenzy. But it is survivable and doable, and our team is living proof of that.

Internally, the challenges look different. When change is afoot it’s important to have an open line of communication to your team in order to help quell fears or apprehensions — and you need to do this from the outset. For us, it was important to make this move fun wherever possible and positive in terms of company goals and milestones. Remember: Change is GOOD, it’s a sign of GROWTH.

The key to surviving this frenzy? Communication. And it’s something I recommend doing as much and as often as you’re able. Emergencies can pop up at any time, and having a network of people supporting and communicating along the way can make resolving those emergencies a much smoother and faster process.

In general, we had several important learnings from this process. Some of the most important tips I’d share with anyone going through a move of their own include:

• Set up consistent touch points on a weekly or monthly basis to update your company on the status of the change, particularly in the home stretch as the deadline approaches.
• Touch base daily with the core team executing the change (IT Managers, Office Managers, Executive Assistants) to help everyone make informed decisions. And remember that communicating logistics with this group is just one piece of the puzzle. Whether these syncs happen in a meeting room, over a meal, on a walk or anywhere else is up to you, so long as there is space to listen and respond.
• Establish a contact sheet for your core team that includes the names, phone numbers and emails of essential players, such as movers and building personnel.
• Secure support from the top. Having your leadership communicate the reason behind the change and share that message consistently can make all the difference. Along the same lines, you might need to to affirm (and then reaffirm) that this is a good change — a sign of health and growth for the company and a milestone in your mission to be celebrated.
• Assign and delegate responsibilities on a timeline. Google Sheet it, man. This organization eliminates the “wait, I thought you were doing that” conversation.
• Begin to share details on packing, timelines and office clean out expectations with employees three weeks before the move.
• Plan to be in the new space most of the time in the final two weeks before the official move date, particularly if there is construction and/or design work being done.
• Assign a farewell party committee to plan an event closing out your old space, because who doesn’t love a fun goodbye?
• Do something special for Day One in the new space to welcome the team. For instance, put a swag item on each desk or get a hot breakfast why don’t ya?
• Don’t forget to tip! If your freight elevator guy shows up for the move, tip him. If your movers were on time, prepared and great to work with, tip them. If your maintenance crew dealt with massive clean ups, tip them. Whether it’s Starbucks cards, cash or anything else, showing your gratitude, even in a small way, has a big effect on others.

The Takeaway: It’s All About The Team

Our move came with the obvious benefits like having space for the people we already had on board plus those who were yet to join us, as well as some unexpected benefits like deeper bonds within our team and a stronger sense of trust. It really left everyone involved with a sense of accomplishment.

At the end of the day, you can get through change in one of two ways: With your arms crossed or with a handshake, and you definitely want it to be the latter. As cheesy as it might sound, it’s really special to work within a team that functions as a unit and supports one another, and the stress of a move can deteriorate that or strengthen it. Fortunately, on both a practical and cultural level, it strengthened that connection for us and now we’re geared up and ready for our next phase of growth… bring it on!