The Simple Rule
When in doubt, do this — ask early, write it down, assign the next owner, and test before opening.
The simple rule
You won’t remember every checklist in this resource. You don’t need to. If you remember one thing, remember this:
Ask early, write it down, assign the next owner, and test before opening.
Four moves. They cover most of what goes wrong in an office opening, and they work even when you have no idea what you’re doing yet.
Ask early
Most move-day disasters are not dramatic — they’re administrative, and they were knowable weeks earlier. The missing certificate of insurance. The freight elevator nobody reserved. The approval that takes ten business days. Questions are free and lead times are not. When something is unknown, ask now, not later. A question this week is a problem avoided next week.
Write it down
If it lives only in your head or in a hallway conversation, it will get lost. Put every open item, decision, and promise in one place (your Open-Item Tracker). The tool matters less than the habit: one place, one current version.
Assign the next owner
Every open item needs a name attached — the person responsible for the next move. Without an owner, the item drifts back to you by default. Naming owners isn’t passing the buck; it’s how the work actually gets done and how you protect your own time.
Test before opening
“Installed” is not “working.” A conference room can look finished and still fail a real video call. A badge system can be live and still not let employees in. Before you call anything done, test it the way an employee will use it — and test it before opening day, not on it.
Keep these four close. When a day feels chaotic, run whatever is in front of you through the rule: Have I asked? Is it written down? Who owns the next step? Has it been tested? That’s usually enough to find the next right action.