When everything is going well and you can provide optimum service to your customer, it can be called Plan A. Using this term allows you to think outside the box and not worry too much about how many DLH (direct labor hours) spent per day. You can have the maximum annual frequencies (260 for 5 x week, 365 for 7 x week, etc.) so that the facility is as clean as possible based on commonly accepted industry standards.  

 

Of course, you should only provide a service when necessary so trying to dust every area every day may be unnecessary unless the customer specifies it for a VIP area or the entire facility.

 

Continuing with the dusting analogy, you should utilize Quadrant Cleaning so that every area is dusted at least once per week (breaking area into four different quadrants) which allows you to keep dust under control but not touch areas that do not need daily cleaning.  There may be exceptions such as a high profile area or an area that, for some reason, gets dusty more often such as a lobby entrance.  

 

As you develop a cleaning schedule, you can focus on Mickey’s 80/20 Rule which stipulates that up to 80 percent of your wear and tear is on 20 percent of your area so you should focus 80 percent of your labor on that 20 percent once it has been identified.  

 

The worst thing you or your customer can do is try to be democratic and service all areas unnecessarily resulting in labor being expended unnecessarily on some areas and neglecting others that actually need more attention.  We will continue to take a look at the differences in Plan A, B and C in future articles. 

 

Your comments and questions are always welcome. 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.

 


posted on 4/22/2014