Test the proposed workflow before committing the move plan
- Topic
- Relocation decisions
- Reading time
- 3 minutes
- Last reviewed
On this page
Take a representative order through the proposed business on paper before committing the move programme. Ask the people who will perform each step to explain what they receive, what they decide and what they pass on.
This exercise tests the business description. It does not replace technical commissioning, safety assessment or customer approval. Its value is finding ordinary handoff gaps while changing the plan is still straightforward.
The Cabinet Office's business continuity guidance includes exercising and reviewing plans. The meeting below applies that general principle to a proposed relocation workflow; it is an original exercise, not a regulatory test.
Run one normal order first
Choose a job from the agreed future operating brief. Give it an order reference, a promised outcome and the information normally available. Use fictional customer details or an authorised anonymised example.
Ask each participant to state the next action and its owner. Record where the order, material and information would be at that point. If someone answers “the office sorts that out”, identify the actual role and what it needs to act.
Follow the order through acceptance, work, checking, despatch and the required records. Do not skip waiting time by assuming every person is immediately available.
Introduce an urgent variation
Now tell the group that the customer has requested a change after work was accepted. Ask who receives the request, who assesses its effect, who can agree the commercial answer and how the authorised instruction reaches the job.
Pause where the participants give incompatible answers. Perhaps sales assumes the workshop will decide, while the workshop expects a revised instruction from sales. Record the missing decision route and give it an owner. Let the relevant people resolve the conflicting responsibilities before continuing the exercise.
Try an incomplete order
Use a second fictional job that arrives without information needed to proceed. Where does it wait? Who contacts the customer? Who can decide that it is ready? How does the business prevent it being confused with accepted work?
These questions often expose support functions that the new layout or staffing proposal has omitted. Add the requirement to the brief and ask the relevant specialists to assess the proposed solution.
Repeat the part that failed
For each gap, record the observed problem, proposed change, responsible person and evidence needed. Repeat the affected part of the exercise after the change. A list of actions marked complete is less convincing than a clear explanation of how the revised handoff works.
Use the job-family route map to choose further examples where the work takes a materially different path. Keep the exercise proportionate: test the differences that could change the move decision.
If the accepted workflow releases equipment, UK Auction Group can receive the surplus enquiry. Keep assets tied to unresolved functions provisional until the owner has a workable answer.
See Relocation decisions for the related business planning tools.
Sources
This guide is general information and education only. Legal, tax, employment and safety decisions may need a qualified adviser who knows your situation. Read the disclaimer.