4 pieces of advice when you don’t want an office cleaner!
Shocking news just in – you don’t want an office cleaner!
Of course, my advice would be to search for an accountable cleaning service, such as NRE Cleaning.
Think of the extra time you will have. Or how happy your staff will be that they can concentrate on what you’re paying them for. But if you have decided that you don’t want an office cleaner then here are four pieces of advice you could give to your staff to help with keeping the place looking good and keeping clean.
1. Unclutter the desk
Research has shown that cluttered offices can have negative effects on the ability to focus. It also makes to job of keeping an office clean and tidy a lot harder. And as you don’t want an office cleaner, why make things harder for yourself?
Areas that need to be cleaned that are hidden behind printers/coffee machines/funko pops/office worker of the year trophies etc etc, making keeping the office clean very difficult.
To assist in keeping the office clean and tidy teach staff members to
- Keep their desk free of clutter – I know you love your kids, but do their school projects need to be on your desk?
- Once a week move their keyboard to one side – then the desk underneath can be accessed and disinfected.
2. Keep the toilets clean
The toilet is a place which requires quite a bit of the icky type of cleaning. Mainly due to the activities that ensue inside.
Knowing the amount of time that some people spend in the toilet checking their socials, then this area is a number 1, or is it number a 2 priority?
Therefore, keeping this area clean and disinfected is therefore of top concern.
My advice in keeping this area clean is to teach staff members to
- Aim straight – I am always amazed that even in the most professional of offices that many people cannot aim into the toilet accurately (and it’s not just men!!)
- Use a toilet brush correctly – if there is some waste left on the toilet bowl, flush the toilet, and then brush it off. Brushing an unflushed toilet doesn’t clean it and leaves a mess on the toilet brush.
- Dropping of toilet paper/paper towels – if you drop toilet paper or paper towels, pick it up and place in the bin
3. Office bins
As already mentioned in a previous blog, emptying the humble office bin can keep the office looking pleasant. Not a difficult task to keep under control, but one that is so often overlooked (probably because the humble bin is often hidden out of sight).
Bin etiquette taught to staff can teach them
- Not to overfill bins – a thin plastic bin liner will not hold 100kg of paperwork. Neither will a tower of cups/pizza boxes/files look particularly great to any visitor.
- Reduce the number of bins – does every desk need a bin, or in some cases two bins? Maybe share bins, maybe even walk to a communal bin, you never know the exercise may do you some good? More bins means more work to empty them.
- Teach staff to recycle – in this day and age we all want to do our bit. Teach simple recycling skills, what goes in what bin ensures that waste will be recycled in the correct manner.
4. Keep you hands off the glass
Why do so many people see the need to touch glass? There is a little panel on the door to push on, but people always seem more interested in smudging a perfectly clean door. Or when you’re chatting in the office, is there any need to wrap your hand around the door frame. And please don’t get me started on the fashion of glass office tables!!!
To keep your office looking in tip-top condition these are both areas that need to be regularly cleaned, or very quickly the place will look messy.
Staff can be shown how to
- Open a glass door – the door has a handle, use it.
- Attract people’s attention – without the need to tap on the glass window/divider.
- Talk to colleagues – without wrapping oneself around the door frame like a pole dancer
- Cleaning their hands – before you touch a door frame/glass door/window. Clean the grease off your hands after you’ve just enjoyed the sugar coated donut sat at your desk (see the extra tip below).
Extra tip
Eating at your desk may mean you can kill two birds with one stone and continue to be productive whilst re-fuelling. But all it does is make an unhygienic mess which is at best unsightly and at worst an attraction to pests. Think of the critters that will crawl all over your well touched surfaces to feed on your dropped morsels.
So my advice would be, don’t eat at the desk – make sure the provided eating areas are used and not the keyboard to catch all the crumbs!!
Conclusion
You don’t want an office cleaner! That’s fine, but to ensure that the office does not start looking like a pigsty then hopefully these tips may help.
If not, just get the professionals in. NRE Cleaning would be more than happy to help. And together with your staff following our simple tips your office will look awesome in no time.