Cleaning With Day Porters

A reader comments: "I have a cleaning company and we are cleaning a building where the cleaning is done during the day with no nightly service. Two "day porters" are responsible for the cleaning daily. Question is, what do we clean first and in what order?"

You should have a lot of flexibility with having day porters although you did not indicate much about the specifications, square footage, building hours, age, security requirements, equipment, floor types or tenant/traffic. All these factors can impact how you workload this facility. The following are suggestions based on guesses that may not be accurate.

One assumption is that the two porters can perform all the required tasks with the time and resources available to them for the square footage in play. Wet work such as mopping floors, stripping/recoating, and carpet cleaning will have to be performed before or after the tenants arrive or leave.

First of all, you may consider splitting the day porters into two staggered shifts with one starting at 6 a.m. (assuming an 8-5 office work schedule). One could take a break while other is covering calls and policing. The other would start sometimes between 10 a.m. and noon determined by how late he/she needs to stay in the early evening for more wet work.

Day Porter #1 would clean restrooms (including mopping, scrubbing etc.) early enough so that floors are dry by time tenants arrive. He/she could pull trash, dust and vacuum key areas that are hard to get to during work day. Other areas could be scheduled during lunch break. Open areas could be serviced during times when tenant space is occupied. Both porters could check/service rest rooms, entrance, break rooms and other key areas on a predetermined schedule to minimize interference as well as noise. Day Porter #2 could stay late, conduct a full stock of restrooms/break rooms so that the Day Porter #1 could focus on cleaning and floor work.

Without more information these are just suggestions that would have to be adapted to the actual environment. Developing schedules with job cards and quadrant cleaning practices could help both porters to be more productive.

Your comments and questions are important. I hope to hear from you soon. Until then, keep it clean...

Mickey Crowe has been involved in the industry for over 35 years. He is a trainer, speaker and consultant. You can reach Mickey at 678-314-2171 or CTCG50@comcast.net.