When an 85-employee firm needed to move in 60 days, the vendor coordination problem became obvious
In April, a regional law firm with 85 employees tips for office move project management signed a lease for newer, higher-floor office space. Budget allocated for the move was $120,000. The facilities manager, a two-person in-house team, and a part-time project manager were responsible for delivering the relocation with minimal downtime. The work required 12 distinct vendors: office movers, IT cabling, telecom porting, security systems, furniture installers, audio-visual integrator, flooring contractor, painters, cleaning crew, waste hauler, signage vendor, and an emergency electrician.
Early conversations revealed a common problem: vendor kickoff meetings felt like a series of disconnected briefings. Vendors repeated assumptions, tasks slipped between parties, and no single meeting agenda captured dependencies or sign-offs. Leadership demanded a plan that would limit business interruption to a single weekend and keep the total expenses at or under $120K.
This case study follows how a clear vendor coordination meeting agenda - created during early coordination - changed the outcome of the move. The firm reduced unexpected delays, contained costs, and delivered a reliable rollout that permitted business-as-usual by Monday morning.
Why the initial vendor meetings failed to surface the real risks
At first, the team ran separate kickoff calls with each vendor. On paper, those calls covered scope and price. In practice, three major problems persisted:
- Assumptions were not aligned. The cable vendor assumed the IT vendor would provide conduit access; the IT vendor assumed cabling would be routed after furniture placement. Critical dependencies were not scheduled. The AV integrator needed floor penetrations done 48 hours before install, but the flooring contractor planned that work after furniture installation. No standard agenda meant no standardized deliverable. After meetings, vendors returned to their silos with no checklist, no RACI (responsible-accountable-consulted-informed) clarity, and no shared change-control process.
Consequences were measurable during early dry runs. Two vendors reported potential conflicts that could cause an extra 22 days of phasing. Preliminary contingency estimates added $18,500 in potential overtime and rework charges. Leadership needed a single, repeatable meeting structure to surface interdependencies and lock timelines.
A single, discipline-specific meeting agenda: assigning owners and deadlines
Rather than more vendor-by-vendor calls, the firm adopted a single, discipline-driven vendor coordination agenda. The main idea was simple: run a weekly cross-vendor coordination meeting using a fixed agenda that forced agreement on interfaces, dates, responsibilities, and escalation paths. The project manager consolidated inputs, produced pre-reads, and enforced a decision timeline.
Key elements of the agenda included:
- Attendance: one primary representative per vendor (the person with authority to commit), facilities lead, IT lead, and the project manager. Top three priorities for the week: specific deliverables with dates. Dependency review: which tasks must finish before another vendor starts, with signed time windows. Risk register: top five risks with mitigation owners and dollar exposure. Change-control requests: standardized form, cost impact and timeline consequences. Sign-offs required this week: blueprints, cable schematics, final furniture plan, and security zone mapping.
The firm adopted a 60-minute cadence for weekly meetings and a 30-minute daily standup during the final two weeks leading up to move weekend. Importantly, the agenda required pre-meeting deliverables. Vendors had to upload their status updates and potential conflicts 24 hours before the meeting, or the meeting chair removed non-compliant updates from discussion until they complied.
Rolling out the agenda: a 60-day, step-by-step execution plan
The implementation unfolded across a clear timeline. Below is the 60-day plan condensed into phases with measurable gates.
Days 1-10: Baseline, scope, and single-source documentation
- Create a master schedule with every vendor task, duration estimate, and dependency (Gantt-style spreadsheet maintained by the project manager). Host an initial all-vendor kickoff using the new agenda. Outcome: a priority register and a signed dependency map. Time spent: 90 minutes. Attendance: 13 people. Collect vendor insurance certificates, W9s, and proof of specialized licensing. Flag missing documents for procurement follow-up.
Days 11-30: Validation, mock runs, and change-control protocol
- Perform site access verification with security and AV vendors. Identify and assign access windows for floor penetrations, furniture installation, and AV runs. Run two focused mock runs: one for IT cabling and one for furniture placement. Each mock run had an acceptance checklist signed by vendors and IT. Implement a change-control form. Any deviation required a written request 7 days prior to scheduled work, with cost and schedule impact statements.
Days 31-45: Tighten the schedule and finalize sign-offs
- Finalize furniture punch-list and delivery slots. Lock the installation date and confirm contingency slots (two additional half-day windows reserved at vendor rates). Confirm telecom porting windows and test circuits at both old and new locations. Reserve a 6-hour overlap to minimize downtime for phone and internet cutover. Update risk register with quantified dollar exposures and mitigation owners. Example: if AV install delayed more than 48 hours, estimated downtime cost is $7,500 for overtime and last-minute equipment rental.
Days 46-60: Move weekend preparations and daily standups
- Switch to daily 30-minute standups that focus on the next 24 hours, outstanding sign-offs, and immediate risks. Assign a move-day command center with a single phone number and a designated incident manager for rapid escalation. Confirm post-move warranties and vendor contact windows for 30-, 60-, and 90-day follow-ups. Require an initial post-move walkthrough within 48 hours of occupancy.
Project management artifacts delivered on schedule included: a master schedule (updated daily), a decisions log (with who signed what and when), and a cost-variance report that tracked any change-control approvals and their dollar impact.
Cutting unplanned delays from 22 days to 3 and staying under budget: measurable outcomes
Results were tangible after implementing the agenda-driven model.
- Schedule adherence: Projected unplanned delay risk dropped from a potential 22 days to 3 days across all vendors. The team realized a net on-site downtime of 36 hours across the move weekend. Cost containment: Final spend closed at $118,700, which is $1,300 under budget and 1.08% below the $120K ceiling. Change-control approvals added $6,200 in scope changes but offset by negotiated savings of $7,500 in labor by consolidating two vendor trips. On-time installations: 10 of 12 vendors met their first agreed installation window. The two delays were limited to 24-48 hours and had pre-approved contingency plans reducing service impact to non-critical tasks. Downtime metrics: The firm lost a total of 2.5 billable hours per attorney on move Monday, versus an internal worst-case estimate of 8 hours. That translated to a productivity impact valued at approximately $9,400 for the week, but the firm anticipated full recovery in two weeks. Risk closure: The move exposed three high-priority risks early, each with owners and mitigations. All were mitigated without cost surges.
These figures came from the decisions log, invoices reconciled against the master schedule, and a short audit of productivity impact performed by the firm\'s operations analyst two weeks after the move.
5 coordination habits that prevented most problems
Beyond the agenda itself, several habits made the approach resilient and repeatable. These are lessons relevant to any facilities or operations team managing a multi-vendor office move.
Require commit-level attendance. Invite the person who can sign onto dates and costs. Having a sales rep who must "get approval" causes delays. Mandate pre-read compliance. Vendors had to upload their pre-meeting updates 24 hours ahead. Non-compliance meant delayed discussion until they provided documentation. Quantify risks in dollars and days. Assign mitigation owners and set automatic triggers. If a task slips beyond X hours, pre-approved contingency tasks kick in. Use a single escalation path. A move-day command center and incident manager eliminated finger-pointing when things went wrong. Standardize change control. A simple two-page form with cost and schedule impacts prevented last-minute scope creep and surprise billing.How your team can adopt this vendor meeting agenda in 7 practical steps
If you are planning an office move, you can adopt the same agenda-driven approach. Below are seven steps you should follow, including measurable checkpoints.
Quick checklist you can copy for your first vendor coordination meeting
Agenda Item Owner Deliverable Attendance and authority check Project manager List of commit-level attendees Top three priorities this week Each vendor Signed task windows with dates Dependency review Project manager Updated master schedule Risk register update Assigned risk owner Mitigation plan with dollar exposure Change-control requests Requesting vendor Signed change form or rejection Sign-offs required this week Facilities lead Digital signatures or approval emailsInteractive self-assessment: Is your vendor coordination agenda ready?
Answer the five quick questions below to estimate your readiness. Tally your score at the end.
Do you have a master schedule that shows every vendor task and dependency? (Yes = 2, No = 0) Does a single meeting include at least one commit-level representative from each vendor? (Yes = 2, No = 0) Are pre-meeting uploads required 24 hours before the meeting? (Yes = 1, No = 0) Is there a standard change-control form that everyone must use? (Yes = 2, No = 0) Do you have a designated move-day incident manager and command center? (Yes = 3, No = 0)Scoring guide:
- 8-10: Strong readiness. Proceed to mock runs and tighten tabs on last-mile tasks. 4-7: Moderate readiness. Implement pre-reads and appoint an incident manager now. 0-3: Low readiness. Pause vendor activity and build the master schedule before continuing.
Closing practical advice from the project manager who ran the move
Two final, practical pieces of advice came from the move's project manager. First, treat vendor promises with caution unless they are on the agenda and signed. Many vendors will tell you a timeline is fine in a one-on-one conversation. Only the agenda and sign-offs convert that promise into a decision. Second, document decisions ruthlessly. The decisions log saved several relationships because disagreements were resolved by a timestamped entry showing who agreed to what.
In this case, a disciplined meeting agenda transformed a risky relocation into a controlled project that met budget and minimized downtime. Your situation will differ in vendor count, budget, and timeline, but the principles remain the same: force alignment on dependencies, require commitment-level attendance, quantify risks in dollars and days, standardize changes, and maintain a single escalation path during the move.
If you want a copy of the sample agenda template and the change-control form used in this case, I can provide editable files you can adapt to your move.