How to Maintain a Clean Workplace

If you are reading this, I am going to assume that you care about your workplace being clean and that you are currently not happy with how clean or dirty your workplace is right now. Anyways, welcome to our latest blog post and where I will give you some actionable tips to maintain a clean workplace. If your workplace is in the Greater Toronto Area, the easiest path is to call us today for a quick quote and check out our commercial cleaning services in Toronto.

Start With a Cleaning Checklist:

Thinking about cleaning your workplace and doing rounds in your head about what needs to be cleaned will only make you mentally exhausted and anxious about cleaning. A quick fix is to write down what you need cleaned on a piece of paper. Your cleaning checklist should be bespoke and focus on what your space needs, not just a generic cleaning checklist. 

How do you go about creating a bespoke checklist that works for you? I am glad you asked. Step one is really writing down the most important things and areas that you want cleaned. For instance, if you are a retail store, you may want to start with your store windows and glass doors, then the foot mat if any. If you are a law firm on the 20th floor of a downtown Toronto office building, your primary concern is that your reception area is clean and welcoming so that your clients feel they worked into a professional space that can solve their problems. 

By starting with the most important spots that you need cleaned you will feel good, even if at the end of your cleaning schedule, you find out that you only cleaned 80% of what you wanted to clean. But the fact that you cleaned the most important stuff will give you some comfort. 

Create a Cleaning Schedule:

Having a cleaning checklist is one thing, but it is quite useless unless action is taken. A cleaning schedule helps you take action in ensuring that your office and commercial space cleaning is done well and on time. It reduces friction in your calendar and ensures that your space is continually clean. For commercial spaces, we recommend booking your cleaning roughly one hour after your office closes or when foot traffic is under 10%. This ensures that you or your cleaning team can work without interruptions to workflows. It also provides an environment that is safe to clean. Keep in mind that stuff like wet floors can be a safety issue, so always ensure that your wet signs are up.

You can also schedule bi-hourly cleaning for washrooms, especially if it is a busy workspace. This is essential to promote a safe, clean, and productive workplace. Remember, a dirty washroom is ground zero for germs, and outbreaks can start from there. Check out this amazing resource on establishing a cleaning schedule for your office.

Organize Your Workspace and Designate Trash Areas:

You will be surprised to find how many workspaces are not organized properly, and how many of them do not have a trash can within reach for staff and customers. Organizing your workplace will make it cleaner, safer, and more productive. An organized workplace can reduce cleaning time by up to 30%. Organizing your workplace is best done with your office coordinator, facility manager, and a professional janitorial company. Yes, we are important in this process because we deal with hundreds of offices and can tell you what is practical and optimal. Again, keep in mind that we understand what a clean workplace looks like from a professional's point of view.  

Declutter, Declutter, Declutter:

Decluttering is super important. In fact, I believe that you cannot have an organized workspace if you do not declutter first. Decluttering makes your space bigger, brighter, cleaner, safer, and more productive. Use solutions that require fewer cables for your printers, and adopt cloud computing to reduce papers and similar stuff lying around. Use modern storage solutions to keep and organize stuff. Yes, this goes back to organizing your workplace and my belief that you cannot have an organized workspace if you do not first declutter. 

Also create and foster a culture of cleaning and decluttering. How does this work? Let’s assume you received  20 new computers; make it a point to ensure that all boxes are broken down and taken out by the end of the day. Do this for other stuff like kitchen supplies, food deliveries, etc, and your space will appreciate you. At Daily Cleaning Services, we always say that if you can see the clutter, it's already too late. Forming a habit of decluttering and clearing things out in real time ensures that you never have to dedicate a whole day to declutter, leaving you more productive and refreshed. 

Tell People to Clean Up After Themselves:

No, seriously, this is a big deal. If you work in an office space where you probably share 2 bathroom stalls with 50 other people, you may want to print a sign that says “FLUSH THE TOILET AND CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF”.

Common sense is not common. 

Print signs that remind your teammates to clean up after themselves in all common and shared spaces like the kitchen, washrooms, breakrooms, and even the smoking area. You will be surprised how many people do not use the ashtrays right in front of them and drop the cigarette butts on the floor. Again, remember that common sense is not common, and an intelligent engineer might be a carefree or dirty colleague. 

It costs less than 10 cents to print each page of this stuff, or you can order some signs from Amazon.

Hire a Professional 5-Star Office Cleaning Service in Toronto:

You saw this coming, didn’t you? Honestly, unless you are the in-house cleaning staff, you probably have a whole bunch of stuff on your table that needs to be checked off. You really don’t have the time to be cleaning washrooms every other hour for your colleagues, making sure the break area is clean and staying back 3 or 4 hours after work each day to clean the entire office and make sure supplies are restocked. Also, there is a 90% chance that you will not do the same job that a professional cleaner will do, unless you have past work experience in this field.

Are you located in Ontario? Call us today for a bespoke cleaning quote for your office and commercial cleaning services needs, and let’s be your partners in maintaining a clean workplace