Commercial renovation and construction services in Toronto comes with many responsibilities. It is a task that makes business owners stressed and horrified whenever they think about it. Historically, office remodels are much liked due to their nature of lowering the productivity of a business, leaving some departments out of their facilities, and the transition chaos involved.

Moreover, employees are tasked with excessive work during the transition process, in addition to their daily tasks. While most businesses dislike the thought of doing a renovation, it is possible to do it successfully without facing many difficulties so long as they do it the right way. Many organizations have done it before, and there is no reason for any business person to fear the thought of renovation.

We have prepared some tips for successful office renovation in Oakville to assist you in alleviating the much-dreaded burden of doing a considerable office renovation. Read on to learn how you can remodel or renovate your office successfully.

 

Source: Pinterest

Ask the Important Questions First

Is a renovation the best option? Are we 100% certain relocating is not a better option? What are the objectives and goals behind this office renovation idea? Is our timing, right? Are there any barriers, financial or physical, to completing a successful renovation?

Only after you have asked, pondered, and answered these kinds of questions can you determine if things are in line for you to begin planning your office renovation.

Establish a Realistic Goal and Stick To It

Most business people do not just wake up and decide that they will renovate their workspaces without a valid reason. There is always a reason behind the need to renew.

If you do not have a good reason, then you should start with establishing a good reason or goal for the major transition. Upon having a purpose, make sure you stick to it and do not have it skewed.

Office renovations often bring up unexpected problems that were not a part of your goal. Setting a goal will let you stick to your plans and address other things that might come up after meeting your goal.

Check the Amount of Money that Your Office Spends on Real Estate

Source: Pinterest

It costs an average of $200 per square feet for most companies to hire an office space. Many large companies spend millions on renting spaces for meeting rooms across the world.

Ask yourself whether you can spend such huge amounts of money even if 50% of your employees work remotely.

Take Advantage of the Available Data

Source: Pinterest

It is essential to have data when making critical decisions. You can only make clear decisions when you have existing and top-notch data. In case you lack data about the space, then you will find it challenging to make sound decisions. Without data regarding your office space, you will only hear about complaints about lacking space for meeting rooms and constant demands for more space. However, you may assess data about the current space and even realize that you do not have to renovate the space at all.

It is Great to have a Smart Office Space But Avoid Losing Focus on the Job

Source: Pinterest

Companies are often renovating to make the office area smart. While this is fun in theory, it is not the best thing to do. While you will find it fun to tell an employee to start your meeting, it will still feel awkward since you have to request everyone to remain silent so that you can say to an employee to start the mission. It will cost you valuable minutes of employee productivity.

Focus on Collaboration

On average eleven million meetings, are held across the world each day. If your organization plans to renovate without having a great goal, then you should consider collaboration as the enhancing factor.

The new set up for your workspace should also be suitable for supporting optimal collaboration. It should allow workers to communicate effectively, be it remotely or in person.

Success Does Not Come Freely

It is essential to have a well-thought-out layout and invest in the latest technology to get an optimal workspace.

Go only for the best office technology and get high-quality collaboration to make sure your office remodel project is successfully completed.

For example, you should integrate video conferencing in the office renovation budget in case you have not installed one yet or if the current one is outdated.

Make Sure Your Teams are Aligned

Source: Pinterest

Retail Store Renovation and remodels generally involve experts who are specialized in facility management. However, most enterprises fail to recognize the critical role that IT teams play during an office renovation project. Thus, you should make sure all the teams involved are aligned and include them all during the renovation to make the most of your transition. Companies always evolve. Also, the workforce continues to become globalized. As such, workspaces will still shift as time passes.

Deciding on What You Want Versus What You Require

You might have seen $1,000 desk chairs that guarantee you will feel like you are sitting on a cloud. But the fact is that once those chairs roll off of the truck into the office space, they may be worth half that. Future growth or merger plans might necessitate a renovation to accommodate your current requirements but not wants. Even more dangerous is a renovation targeted at giving a struggling company a face-lift to gain more clients to walk through the door. When identifying your goals, you need to decide on what will make your office renovation a long-term success and not just a short-term solution.

Budget High and Trim Back Slowly

The best planners still think about the things to come up and impact the budget and timeline. Build a contingency of at least 10% for unforeseen expenses. A drain pipe should be relocated to accommodate the new built-in projection screen will increase the costs quickly.

Build a Realistic Schedule

Generally, your office renovation should happen during a lull so as not to affect company business more than necessary. The schedule should factor such things as:

• Seasonal fluctuations in business
• Availability of the contractors
• Critical project timelines

Think About Your Exit Strategy

Will the planned renovations make the office space more or less marketable soon If you outgrow the space in two years, how much of the renovation costs can you recoup? Are you making changes that make the area more or less attractive to future leaseholders

Consider a Green Investment

Source: Pinterest

What areas of the renovation can you put a “green” touch to? Energy-efficient windows? LED lighting instead of fluorescent? Building a green office could entice future buyers. It also adds points to a company’s reputation to be able to say they function out of a sustainable and ecologically friendly office.

Investigate the Current Building and Surrounding Neighborhood

Take the time to examine your existing space in person and also ask the building’s owner for architectural and engineering documents to see correctly what you are working with. Are there any building strengths you should focus on? Are there features worth saving? Utilize the building drawings as your guide, but also have your design team do a walkthrough of the spaces to assess and double-check the accuracy. The more accurate the actual conditions you got, the fewer construction hurdles and costs you will have during a renovation.

And do not forget about the outside. Does your office renovation require outdoor and indoor updates? Is there an office or building amenities valued currently that were not put in place when the building was first constructed? Research has found that workplace design has a significant effect on attracting and retaining employees, and the physical area is a clear indicator of prospects if a workplace is good or bad. So do your research to figure out what your office requires to appeal to existing and future employees.

Craft a Renovation Strategy

If you do not create a well-thought-out strategy, you will not get the best return on your investment of improved and enhanced office space.

The first phase of a good strategy lays out the estimated remodeling budget. Add up the costs of construction, required materials, labour, new furniture, etc., and assure to leave some wiggle room as the surprise costs almost always come up.  you have vacant spaces or swing spaces you can put them in? If not, you will need to find some. In terms of office renovation design, remember the existing number of employees, future growth, functionality, technology, how employees like to work, and office design trends.

Have the design team and general contractor work together to decide the best plan and timeline of action for a smooth renovation project. A team effort and the right strategy will also lower your risk of unanticipated costs.

Keep Communication Open with Those Who are Involved

Source: Pinterest

The people who require to be involved include the design team, the general contractor, landlord, stakeholders, and the office staff. We recommend building a detailed communication plan to keep everyone up-to-date on projects and the work schedule, as well as manage the staff expectations.

In terms of keeping your communication open, have the HR personnel or the design team send out a copy of the proposed work schedule to everyone involved, and update any date changes that occur on a daily basis. You should hold a meeting where plans can be discussed and shown to communicate the vision of the renovation plan and negate any concerns. It is also a good idea to let your employees get involved with the renovation before construction begins. Ask them what design ideas they would like to implement. Once construction is underway, give staff periodic tours and updates, so they are ept in the loop and feel appreciated. Feeling appreciated, especially with millennials, contributes to higher loyalty.

Maintain Proper Productivity Levels

Part of your reasoning behind renovating may be to enhance workplace productivity. But remember that during a renovation, employee productivity is highly impacted. In certain cases, it can severely drop—unless you take care of a few things.

Plan and keep productivity levels high throughout your renovation project by keeping clutter to a minimum, keeping communication open, and providing the right lighting and noise levels. A study found that lights a crucial factor affecting employee productivity, so make sure windows are not covered. Artificial lights are available to provide enough energy and good moods for your productive employees. The same study found that noises are distracting and that men are more negatively affected by sounds than women. Try to help counter the construction noises by giving the employees noise-canceling headphones, scheduling contractors to work in the late afternoon/evening when employees leave work or letting your employees work from home for a while.

Train and Inform Employees on their New Accommodations

Source: Pinterest

The most critical factor of whether or not your office renovation is the success is. If your employees are comfortable and happy operating in their new digs. The renovation should have to build spaces that better accommodate how the employees work. However, you can not just create the space, throw them into it, and expect productivity, inspiration, and revenue to spike in one day. Employees require a little time to get used to the changes, just like people do with any type of life change. They will also need to be trained and informed on the new space and technology that is now available to them.

Have supervisors or your team leads to give tours of the new space to those they oversee and have them. Or your IT specialists available to train employees on the latest technology. If there are a lot of employees and not enough IT personnel (or time). Provide video training employees can work through their own time.

ASASA Construction specializes in sleek commercial office renovation services in Aurora. We have got all it needs to give you the office that you dream.

Here you can read 15 Best Commercial Building Renovation Ideas.