An employee’s work environment plays a significant role in their efficiency, productivity, and motivation. If they work in substandard conditions, you can’t expect them to operate at their best. But if they work in an environment that is clean, organized, and overall very pleasant, they will be better able to focus on work instead of the piles of trash in the bin or the unpleasant odor coming from the pantry.
Regular general cleaning is the key to keeping the office spotless. That said, here are some of the best tips that all business owners should know when deep cleaning their offices.
1. Rent a bin
Renting a mini bin can make trash disposal a lot easier during deep cleaning day, especially if you have many items to throw. Aside from having a large vessel to contain all of your office’s garbage, a bin rental service can also transport the waste to the proper disposal center for you.
2. Have employees purge their desks
Oftentimes, it’s the employees themselves making the office more cluttered than it needs to be. Piles of documents or rows of used coffee cups may be a common sight on busy days, but you wouldn’t want to encourage people to use their desks as a secondary trash bin. As clean-up day approaches, instruct employees to purge their desks of unnecessary items and place them in the trash bin for collection on the actual day of cleaning.
3. Go paperless
The less paper that the office uses, the less trash that you have to deal with. Adopt as many paperless strategies as you can, including forgoing unnecessary physical documents, investing in scanners, and prioritizing the digital route for most paperwork. Apart from reducing waste and helping out the environment, you’re also cutting down your expenses significantly.
4. Hire a deep cleaning crew
Your regular maintenance staff may not have enough time, people, or equipment to give your office a real deep clean. If this is the case, hiring a deep cleaning service may be the better way. Aside from having the equipment and expertise, a deep cleaning crew will also know which spots need special attention. More than that, hiring a crew for this endeavor can get the job done in a day or even less, meaning you won’t have to sacrifice a workday to accomplish general cleaning.
5. Pay special attention to the pantry
The pantry is where people eat, drink, and generally spend most of their breaks in. Thus, this is usually one of the dirtiest parts of the office with a lot of food residue in the microwave, the sinks, and the furniture. There may even be lingering food bits underneath items where no one bothers to look, much less clean.
That said, instruct the maintenance staff to spend more time cleaning the pantry, especially the microwave, the coffee maker, the undersides of furniture, the sink drains, and frequently touched items such as the vending machine buttons, door handles, and light switches.
6. Increase storage space
Clutter can be eyesores in the office, but it is impossible to get throw them all out. To promote better organization in the office, invest in more storage space, such as file cabinets, drawers, and closed shelves. You can also create more storage space by getting rid of unnecessary items that have spent more than enough time in storage, especially bulky things like old furniture and office equipment.
However, the key is to encourage employees to actually use the extra storage space. Instruct employees to keep infrequently used items out of sight, not only to make the entire office more visually pleasing but to also make their workspace more conducive to productivity and less promotive of stress.
7. Shampoo the carpets
The office carpets experience a lot of foot traffic every day, not to mention the food and drinks accidentally spilled on them. That said, make it a point to have your carpets shampooed at least once or twice a year. Regular vacuuming won’t eliminate the deep-seated dirt, which may be in abundance in a high-traffic space like an office.
With all the people coming in and out of the office, eating or drinking at their desks, and generally utilizing the space all day, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that general cleaning should take place regularly. With these tips, however, you can make clean-up days much easier and more efficient than ever before—which not only saves you time but can also reduce your maintenance expenses as well.