Tips To Improving Productivity

In the next few articles, we will discuss converting a building from Zone Cleaning to High Performance Team Cleaning.  Please reference "Transitioning From Zone To High Performance Team Cleaning" for details.  

The customer is demanding a reduction in price which means there must be an increase in productivity with a commensurate decrease in labor hours.  Following are some suggestions that would help with improving productivity:

1. Determine which floors are mandated Zone Cleaning and try to negotiate them to be cleaned utilizing Team Cleaning.  For this exercise, let’s assume the Property Manager has rejected that request siting the requirements of the tenants on those floors.

2. Break out all floors that are to be Zone Cleaned and identify efficiencies that can be implemented using the current staffing (usually one person assigned to the floor).

3. Standardize cleaning products (chemicals, cloths, tools) with color coding and one vendor support.  More on this later.

4. Observe current Zone Cleaners to identify training improvements that could increase productivity:  Examples are:

a. Introduce Job Cards customized for each floor/section to allow for all required tasks to be performed as per Statement of Work.

b. Replace outdated equipment (vacuum cleaners, mop systems) with more efficient units.

c. When possible, remove all public rest rooms and common areas from Zone Cleaners responsibilities and assign to a Rest Room Specialist on the Team Cleaning model.

d. Convert current Zone Cleaning mopping system from 30 oz string mops to a pre-staged microfiber flat mop system to simplify cleaning private rest rooms.

e. Introduce and train on how to use microfiber cloths (color coded) to reduce cross contamination, capture dust and increase productivity.

f. Introduce Quadrant Cleaning so that workers are methodically hitting each area on a rotating basis for Detail Work.

We will continue in the next article.

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.