| Q: |
Why do I need Management Alternatives (M/A)?
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| A: |
To be succinct, we keep your business running in spite of the relocation.
We are an extension of your team. From strategic planning through logistical execution, we provide either a turnkey solution or selected services to meet your specific needs. In either case, your business downtime is reduced. We will eliminate unnecessary stress on you and your employees involved in move coordination. We avoid interruption, distraction and lost productivity for your entire staff.
Moves result from reorganizations, staff reductions, mergers, special development projects and lease expirations. If you plan to relocate staff and assets within your existing facility, move staff and assets to new facilities or supplement your facilities management capabilities, M/A is the right choice.
We have managed over 300 projects—more than 20 million square feet. We have worked in every industry, using proprietary tools that facilitate smooth change management. We tailor specialized services to your specific requirements. No other firm matches our expertise with moving law firms, laboratories, corporate headquarters, and campuses or technical and scientific facilities.
Every day, we do what most organizations only do once every 5 to 10 years. We relieve you and your employees of the burden of planning and managing multiple consultants and contractors. In addition, we facilitate cost-effective and time-efficient use of your corporate resources.
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| Q: |
I have a facilities management staff. Why would I engage M/A?
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Facilities managers have full-time responsibilities. And a relocation project is no minor diversion. It is a time-consuming event.
M/A augments your internal resources, helping you increase your planning confidence, predict resources and schedule requirements. We also help them effectively manage expectations and plan for contingencies. As an adjunct to your team, we allow you to be successful in your core responsibilities as well as the relocation.
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| Q: |
How can M/A save me time and money?
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We help make good decisions and eliminate the cost of bad ones. We know what a relocation should cost. We develop budgets, manage dozens of move services bids every year and aggressively control costs while ensuring performance standards.
Our consultants and project managers are experts, able to plan and execute the specialized elements of a move more efficiently than even the best managers that tackle relocation infrequently.
Finally, we ensure minimal disruption. The most costly element of a major relocation is the most difficult to measure: The cost of employee downtime and business interruption. We employ proven systems and tools that assure your organization is operational within budget and on schedule.
Our services are cost-effective. And we avoid any redundancy in services handled by the other key members of your project team.
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| Q: |
How can you ensure my move will be successful?
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With exceptional planning and follow-through. We will establish benchmarks and success criteria. We will plan for contingencies. Most important, we will constantly monitor all move preparation and implementation, quickly adjusting resources and methods as required by the specifics of each project.
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| Q: |
What will an M/A managed project cost?
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Our fees for relocation, churn management and furniture projects are based on the specific project scope. Costs are configured using hourly rates for team members utilized in various capacities. Our scope and associated fees are presented in detail prior to engagement.
We urge clients to weigh the costs of our services against the cost of operational downtime. Consider the cost of lost productivity, revenue, billable hours and delays in delivering on your customer commitments.
We will gladly discuss details of your move and prepare a cost proposal. Contact us at Sales@mgmt-alt.com.
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| Q: |
What are the potential risks I may face during a move?
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Primarily, they are failure to anticipate issues and failure to understand the interrelated nature of critical path items. At best, these oversights lead to excessive stress on the project team and relocated employees. Sometimes these failures mean that important operations or employee departments are disrupted or suffer serious downtime.
M/A clients are up and running as usual first thing Monday morning following a move weekend. Our project teams work with move-related vendors 24/7, if required, to meet schedule commitments. Our processes, checklists and experience ensure that all tasks are planned and completed and that appropriate contingency plans are in place.
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| Q: |
Do you provide services to handle mission-critical facilities or specialized operations environments?
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Yes. We are experts at moving highly sensitive equipment and materials (such as radioactive or chemical materials) and mission-critical equipment (such as broadcast, high-tech or scientific equipment). We understand high-security protocols as well. We have extensive experience in technical or specialized projects, and we are happy to share our record of accomplishment of outstanding results with specialized facilities.
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| Q: |
How far in advance should I begin planning for my move management?
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The answer depends on the size and needs of your business, but 6-12 months of advance planning is typical for moves under 100,000 square feet. Major headquarters, campus or laboratory moves can require 12-24 months of planning prior to the first phase.
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| Q: |
Can M/A provide references?
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Yes. We have a long list of satisfied clients who are more than happy to speak with you.
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| Q: |
What size clients do you work with?
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Our relocation projects generally range from 20,000 square feet to over 1 million square feet, but we have handled scopes including as few as a dozen people in 2,500 square feet.
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| Q: |
How does M/A staff its projects?
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It is our practice to assign a core team of M/A staff led by one of our firm's principals for every client relocation project. M/A provides you with a breadth of experience and depth of resources difficult to achieve from a single individual.
The core of a typical team consists of a principal-in-charge and relocation manager. The principal-in-charge is responsible for developing the strategic framework for the project and identifying the key elements of a relocation plan. He or she ensures that there are adequate corporate resources to support the M/A team and to execute the scope of work within the agreed-upon time frames and budget.
The relocation manager is the primary point of contact for all project participants (with respect to the move management process). Relocation managers handle day-to-day relocation management and oversee work performed by the project team. They work closely with clients to develop the relocation plan, monitor its critical path and ensure the successful completion of all move-related vendor procurement.
Other team support can include one or several of the following:
- Relocation coordinator;
- Move coordinator;
- Space planner;
- CAD operator;
- Inventory staff; and
- Scheduler.
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| Q: |
We do not need major relocation assistance, but we have frequent small moves, additions, and changes to our existing facilities. Does M/A handle this type of project?
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Yes. We call this type of ongoing internal change "Churn Management," and it is a core capability of M/A. We manage this type of project with the same level of care we afford all of our large-scale moves.
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| Q: |
Can M/A serve our relocation needs in areas beyond the mid-Atlantic and Midwest office regions?
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Absolutely. We regularly manage relocation projects across the U.S.
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| Q: |
Are M/A furniture services affiliated with any particular dealer or furniture manufacturer?
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No. M/A provides unbiased furniture, fixtures and equipment procurement consulting and maintains no connection to any furniture manufacturer, brand or dealer. M/A can, however, provide furniture project management, churn management, and asset management for any brand of furniture product.
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| Q: |
Our architect has developed furniture layouts for our new workspace. Can M/A help us select the furniture vendor?
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Yes. We are a knowledgeable, yet objective, brand-neutral agent for furniture procurement. We have the expertise to develop an RFP based on the architect's design intent and your project budget. We prepare the RFP, analyze the responses and make recommendations on vendor selection.
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| Q: |
Our move was recent—but already we are making moves, additions and changes to our workspace. How can M/A help with churn?
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Our Churn Management program is designed to manage and process work orders. As a stand-alone service or an outsourced extension of your facilities team, we manage on-site moves, additions and changes. We develop and implement work order processes, ensure proper approvals, submit requests to proper vendors and manage the process through completion. We will also capture the ongoing data for departmental allocation and cost containment reporting, if necessary.
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| Q: |
Can M/A reconfigure a group of 20 workstations down to 15 larger workstations?
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Yes. CAD Services inventories existing workstations and uses space-planning software to develop feasible solutions for new configurations. We will even procure any extra components needed from the appropriate vendor.
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| Q: |
We are having trouble making decisions about furniture. Should we move it or buy new? Which is more cost-effective? How will we know if it will fit the new space? Do our file cabinets fit the linear feet available? Will they match the new décor? Can M/A help?
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Yes on all counts. We perform a feasibility study that will provide possible solutions to your "what if" and "what about" ideas and questions. We will analyze your existing furniture and your new space, factoring in the architect's design intent and your budget. We will determine if and where you can realistically reuse what you already have.
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