I once had an employee who cleaned a large office building for me. She was a good employee; very reliable, trustworthy and thorough. Oddly though she consistently seemed to take far too long to complete the job. At first I overlooked it because the client was happy and she was doing a good job. Don’t rock the boat, right?
It wasn’t long before I just couldn’t take it anymore. I had to find out what was taking her so long. So I stopped by for a surprise visit. After greeting her, I told her to carry on and to not mind me, I was just checking on things. So she went back to work doing the high dusting. I immediately saw the issue. While I watched, she cheerfully high dusted one office and then went to the next and then the next. She was completing one task at a time…for the whole building!
Needless to say, we had a discussion about the inefficiency of this method. She resisted a bit at first, but eventually came around. With a systematic area by area approach instead of a task based methodology, she was able to shave several hours off her time at that facility without compromising quality. She did however, get less exercise…
A systematic approach to cleaning helps improve cleaning effectiveness, eliminates wasted time, minimizes or eliminates stops and starts and increases your profitability. Adopt or develop a methodology that focuses on both effectiveness and efficiency. Train your employees on this methodology and evaluate their performance accordingly.
Never stop looking for improvements!