It’s no secret that organizations adjusted their office models in 2020. However, what we once saw as a temporary necessity has become the norm.
A Gallup survey in June 2022 found that 8 in 10 employees work either remotely or in a hybrid model. That is expected to continue as only 6% of employees prefer to work fully in the office and 57% say they’d leave their job if unable to have some remote work options.
Indeed, JPMorgan Chase CEO pointed out that their adopted hybrid structure meant that for every 100 employees, they only need 60 desks. Earlier this year Google Cloud announced their five largest U.S. offices are moving to a desk sharing model with hybrid employees coordinating in-office and remote days.
The cost saving measures for downsizing office space in tandem with improved employee satisfaction is making this less of a trend and more of a paradigm shift — this extends to sororities and fraternities. However, there are many considerations to take into account when moving offices, especially when you have materials documenting decades (or centuries) of history.
Moving Fraternal History
Many of HistoryIT’s fraternal clients have cited current or future plans to downsize offices as a driving factor in their need to digitally preserve their historical materials. While it might seem to be adding another task to the never-ending relocation to-do list, it’s an important time to evaluate the storage and organization of your archival assets.
We have a few of questions to ask when planning your move to determine if now is the right time to address your legacy materials:
Do you own your headquarters building?
If so, you could stand to profit from the sale. Those funds could then be used to support a digital preservation project.
Do you have a catalog of your historical materials that contains item specific information as well as storage location?
If not, having a professionally trained team assess your archives prior to a relocation could prevent loss of precious materials. Moving offices can be chaotic. Without a firm grasp on what is where, things can be easily misplaced or lost.
Does the new office have adequate storage with proper humidity and temperature control for archival materials?
If not, consider your alternatives. Storage units can be a quick solve, but they lack environmental controls. Also, you lose the ability to easily access your materials.
HistoryIT now offers long-term archival storage. With our expertise, you can trust that your history is in good hands. It also streamlines the digital preservation process in order to provide complete, instant access as quickly as possible.
Next Steps
Office moves are happening more than ever before. We know how complicated that process can be. That’s why we’re here to help. If you’re considering a relocation, reach out to chat about how to handle your history during that process.
