It might feel like a daunting task, but with these essential tips for managing a large scale furniture purchase, it’s easy to get right. Make sure you implement these tips to avoid the time consuming, costly and embarrassing mishap of your furniture order going awry.

Conduct A Full Furniture Audit

Before you get out the catalogue or head to the online store, it’s important to conduct a full audit of existing furniture. Complete a full comprehensive list of every single furniture and accessory item in the office. You then need to decide whether it has to be replaced or not. Ask the following questions of each and every item:

• For how much longer will it be operational/fit to use?
• How many employees use it and can it be shared?
• If the item was removed, would your day/working process be impacted?
• Does it meet aesthetic demands of the office following this exercise (you may be undergoing a refurbishment, etc.)?

Answering those questions should help you minimise wasted costs and ordering of non-vital furniture items. And because you have itemised every item currently in place, you don’t run the risk of missing anything vital for day to day working.

 

Create A Checklist

Once you have enough information to start putting together your new large scale furniture order, you need a checklist. This will help you in the simplest of ways;  like helping to quickly work out that if you have 30 office staff, then, yes, you have 30 desk chairs on the list. This ensures there are no simple and embarrassing errors come delivery day.

But, more sincerely, once you are ordering more than just a couple of chairs for a couple of people, and each person needs accessories, storage units, and the office needs communal furniture too, it can become extremely easy for things to get missed.

A checklist also helps with keeping an eye on costs.

 

Organise Each Location And Each Item

Once your order has been placed, we suggest creating a checklist for each specific work area or each individual person in the office. Include an easy to follow, itemised list of what needs to go in that area. Your delivery or installation team can then assist with distributing furniture quickly and without confusion.

 

Arrange Collection To Coincide With Delivery

Don’t forget to arrange for any existing furniture to be collected. Otherwise, you might have to reject your new furniture delivery and incur fees and charges for doing so, as well as a second round of delivery charges.

If the supplier has to take them back to their depot until you are ready, it’s taking up valuable space in their storage premises and wastes handling time. This is why you are hit with a charge.

On the other hand, don’t arrange for furniture to be collected too early either, as your staff will still need furniture to operate. Weekend or at night is the smoothest time for the changeover to take place.

 

Notify Teams And Landlord

But to do that will mean making sure all employees and your landlord are aware of what is happening. This is because staff will need to ready their desks and belongings for the incoming new furniture and the landlord will have to provide access outside your regular hours. The landlord might also have vested interest in the furniture that you’re going to be installing into the property.

The simplest way for staff to get ready for the change over to new furniture is to put all their belongings in a named, sealed box and installers can just leave it in place.

 

Keep All Paperwork And Notify Accounts

Whilst you should ensure that you make every effort to check the delivery as it arrives, most suppliers will give you a grace period to check all items are present and correct. To do this, you need to make sure you keep all delivery documents safe.

Likewise, keep all documents – order confirmation, layout plans and lists,  delivery notes, warranties and invoices – all together in one place. This will make the signing off and paying of invoices easier. As will notifying accounts well in advance of what the agreed payment terms and amounts are going to be. Cashflow can then be planned accordingly.

 

Get Fully Organised

This is just a snapshot of how to relieve some of the stresses of ordering a large amount of furniture. If you want a pre-formed checklist, guide to what to order and other little tips, get our free checklist document. Download Now.