Office Move-In Guide

The First 24 Hours

A concrete script for your first day. Don't solve everything — create a clean picture of reality and a single place to track it.

working draft Updated Jun 2, 2026
1 Collect the project documents 2 Build the contact list 3 Confirm the hard dates 4 Define Minimum Viable Opening 5 Start the open-item tracker That’s control →
You won’t have every answer — and you’re not supposed to. By the end of day one you have a place where everything lives, an owner for every role, your hard dates or a list of unknowns, and a tracker that’s started.

The First 24 Hours

Your first job is not to solve everything. Your first job is to create a clean picture of reality — and one place to keep it.

You’re looking for four things:

  • What has already been decided
  • What is still unknown
  • Who owns each answer
  • What could block opening day

Here’s the script. Work top to bottom. Don’t worry about gaps — note what’s missing and keep moving. There’s a ready-made First 24 Hours Checklist you can work straight from.

1. Collect the project documents

Find or request the latest version of each. You don’t need to read every page — you need to know what exists, where it lives, and who has the current version.

  • Signed lease or sublease, and the work letter / tenant-improvement exhibit
  • Building rules, moving policy, and insurance requirements
  • Approved drawings or furniture plans
  • Scopes of work from any general contractor (GC), designer, audio/visual (AV), IT, or furniture vendor
  • Furniture inventory, vendor quotes, and open proposals
  • Property-manager correspondence and any pending approval requests
  • The current move date or target opening date

2. Build the contact list

Create one contact list — names, roles, emails, phones, and backups. If you only have a name from an old email thread, add it and fill in the role later. Use the Vendor Directory and a contacts sheet.

Cover the internal team (decision maker, workplace lead, People/HR, IT, finance/procurement, legal), the building (property manager, security desk, loading dock / freight elevator, landlord), and the vendors (GC, electrician, designer, furniture, mover, IT, AV, security, janitorial, pantry).

In a compressed move, unclear ownership becomes delay. If a name has no role, fix that now.

3. Confirm the hard dates

Get exact dates. If a date isn’t confirmed, write “unknown” — never leave it blank, because a blank hides a risk.

Earliest access date · target opening date · employee move-in · mover arrival · furniture delivery/install · IT/network · AV · security/access · final clean · property-manager approvals · any old-space surrender date.

Then mark which dates are flexible and which aren’t. An unknown date isn’t flexible — it’s a risk to clarify.

4. Define Minimum Viable Opening

Write your one-paragraph standard for “ready” (see Minimum Viable Opening). This is what you’ll point to every time someone asks whether the office is ready — and every time someone treats a non-critical item like an emergency.

5. Start the open-item tracker

Open one Open-Item Tracker. Every open item gets a workstream, owner, due date, status, blocker, next action, and any decision needed.

If an item doesn’t have an owner, it comes back to you by default. Assigning owners is how you protect your time and keep the project from becoming a pile of loose ends.

At the end of day one

You won’t have every answer — and you’re not supposed to. You should have: a place where everything lives, a contact for every role (or a note that you’re missing one), your hard dates (or a clear list of unknowns), your Minimum Viable Opening, and a tracker that’s started.

That’s control. From here, work the month → The 30-Day Plan.