6 Tips for Keeping Your Workplace Clean

1. Create a Culture of Clean
Cleanliness is of utmost importance in dozens of industries, from hospitals and schools to grocery stores and fitness centers, maintaining a spotless environment is important to the health and success of your organization. Making cleanliness a part of your organization's identity will greatly improve your efforts. Managers must lead by example, and the tools to maintain your building's cleanliness must be readily available to all. Then the expectation is set, every member of your team must be a willing participant in maintaining the cleanliness of the environment.  Once the culture is set then you are off to the races with your team of Lean Mean Cleaning Machines! but don't slip, I just mopped!

“By failing to plan you are planning to fail” - That guy who's on the $100 bill.

If anyone has good life advice it's Benjamin Franklin. Any time you want to achieve something, putting a plan in place is the best way to keep yourself on track and measure your successes and shortfalls so that you can adjust and improve. Having your team commit to a written plan is a great way to foster accountability and maintain that culture of clean from tip one that we hope you are putting into place already! A great way to do this is by keeping a log listing your daily and weekly cleaning tasks and the times they are expected to be completed. Have an employee each day appointed to be responsible for signing off on the log after each task is completed, this way you have a quick and easy way to set and maintain the standard.

Having the right tools for the job is vital! Identify the types of surfaces and items that your team is responsible for maintaining and do your research on the appropriate chemicals and tools. If you have a sizable building to maintain you might look into a commercial floor scrubber to increase efficiency, If you have many different types of surfaces to clean you should look into the various types of chemicals available to you. And remember, keep all of these tools available to your team.

Don’t get hurt! Soap, water, and chemicals are slippery, and you must remind your team to work with their safety in mind as well as the safety of those whom you serve. Empower your team to block off areas to clean spills. Schedule major cleaning tasks in off-peak hours and train your team in the proper use of all of their cleaning equipment! “Working safely may get old but so do those who work safely.”

Cleaning daily is important, but sometimes you have to dig deep and do some intense spring cleaning to start the new season off right! A deep clean ensures that no spots are missed and that the standard is met. If your team is still struggling to create a culture of clean, (even after all these tips) scheduling a deep clean may be an excellent option for setting a standard that can be more easily maintained in perpetuity. Some teams may even benefit by looking into renting certain cleaning machines or equipment to get the job done both properly and efficiently. These deep cleans should be regularly scheduled and done at a time that your business is closed or experiencing less traffic so that your team can maintain their focus, and clean safely.

If you and your team have an especially big cleaning project to take on, hiring a professional cleaning crew might be a wise investment. These crews are skilled in safely taking on the toughest of jobs, experienced in using the proper chemicals and equipment, and trained to comply with local and state laws. A cleaning crew may be the most cost effective method for cleaning your space. It is definitely worth a look!

Happy Cleaning, from the ServiceStar team!