A final thought about the other 70-80 days of the year when school is not in session. Although there may be summer school, meetings, training events and other activities, most schools will be available for the intense cleaning during holidays and especially summer when there is sufficient time to move items out of a classroom, strip/scrub/recoat and then move it all back in. Some companies have found that they can keep their employees year round by going to a four day week (Mon-Thur) and only one day shift with no work at night or weekends. This is often welcome by workers who want to have some kind of break and oftentimes your numbers will be diminished by their taking their own vacations and other leave during the same off season months.

It might be best to have two distinct crews in full swing regardless of the days you choose to work. The first crew is the take down/set up crew that needs to be led by someone taking into account that everything moved has be put back in the same place (preferably without breaking anything). They start a day or so before the second crew (your floor techs) who can start scrubbing out rest rooms, changing light bulbs and performing other tasks until the first area is ready for stripping/scrubbing/recoating. Make sure that you have a master schedule so that no time is lost with floor techs waiting on the first crew.

It is best to remember that you have two distinct time periods to work load the schools and plan accordingly.

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


posted on 10/16/2015