There’s no better way to help your staff stay on task and increase productivity than developing a commercial cleaning schedule that’s informative, considerate, and easy to understand.
Sticking to a schedule in any job can be difficult. In addition to unexpected meetings, missed appointments, and sick staff, there exists a whole host of other potential snags that can hold up the work day and throw off your commercial cleaning schedule.
But sometimes the delays are the result of an unclear or incomplete schedule. If you use hard copies, someone may have an old version. Someone might mistakenly make a change to a shared electronic schedule. It’s even possible that someone couldn’t understand a schedule.
The good news is that there are things you can do to maximize the efficiency of your commercial cleaning schedule, such as improving communication, planning ahead, and setting clear expectations.
The benefits of a detailed schedule
Taking the time to create an accurate commercial cleaning schedule benefits your company in many ways. The first and most important is that it gives your employees more time to do their jobs, which should translate to less rushing, improved work quality, and ultimately more revenue. (Not to mention a clear schedule makes for happier employees.)
Another benefit of detailed scheduling is that it cuts down on employee excuses when something isn’t done. You can be confident in the fact that you’ve set clear expectations so that if subpar quality becomes an issue, you have a starting point for evaluation and response.
A carefully planned schedule can even help with stocking supplies. Knowing exactly what work is being done where, and when, means you’ll know well in advance when to reorder something, or when to obtain special equipment to get a particular job done.
So what does a detailed schedule include? Below are some suggestions for the sorts of information you might want to provide to your employees on a regular basis to keep your business running smoothly and efficiently.
How to make a commercial cleaning schedule that makes life easy
1. A map that makes sense
One of the hardest parts of sticking to a commercial cleaning schedule is that staff have to travel from one location to another, which can present a number of obstacles. While most of those are unforeseeable, creating a schedule that minimizes travel time between work sites will help to reduce the possibility that your employees will be late to a client.
This may sound like a daunting task, but it should only need to be done once and then updated when work teams change or when you take on a new customer. The time spent will be worth the potential time lost during transit. In fact, Google maps can make this an easy task.
2. Include complete client information
Neglecting to provide all necessary client information on a commercial cleaning schedule can also result in lost productivity. An employee should know the client’s address, contact name, and phone number should something unexpected happen. The benefit of including this information on a schedule is that your employees will have everything they need in one place, which reduces time spent on administrative and organizational tasks.
3. Consider the weather
Though it might seem like overkill, including the weather forecast can help your staff plan for anticipated inclement conditions, like snow or heavy rains. Since the weather can still change, you’ll want to encourage your employees to stay updated, but putting this information in a commercial cleaning schedule gives them another piece of important information to consider before setting off for work each day.
4. Compassion during holidays
Holidays can be a stressful time for a commercial cleaning schedule. Many businesses remain open these days and still want cleaning services, even if you’d rather close up shop to observe. Be fair and considerate during holidays, using minimal staff and rotating employees so that no one gets stuck working every holiday. If you include this on your cleaning schedule, it will give everyone ample time to plan for whatever they may need to do.
5. Use cleaning scheduling software
In the age of technology, there’s no better way to develop a commercial cleaning schedule than to use software designed for exactly that. Track the progress of jobs, keep updated client records, know who is on the job and when, and share any or all of the available information with your team. Employees can receive real-time notifications of schedule changes on mobile, laptop, or desktop devices, and some software even supports all of the scheduling tips we’ve provided here.
No matter how you make it work, a cleaning schedule that’s accessible, informative, and clear will help keep your business running like a well-oiled machine, even when faced with the unexpected.