Five Tips for Keeping Your Office Clean & Clutter Free

We all know that keeping our workplaces clean & tidy is important. Whether it’s a retail store, an office or a manufacturing shop, keeping your workplace clean and free of clutter makes your business appear more professional to visitors, keeps your employees more productive and can help to reduce on-site accidents or injuries. Of course, with concerns over potential COVID-19 infections top of mind for many people, maintaining a clean environment can also help provide a sense of comfort to your customers and employees, which can make a big difference to your bottom line. Need help with getting started? Here are six tips that can help you keep your workplace clean, tidy and inviting for customers and employees alike. 

• Commit to Consistency One of the most important steps for keeping your workplace looking great is following a regular cleaning & maintenance schedule. While this may seem like an obvious point, the fact is that running a business can be a challenge, even under the best of circumstances, and it’s easy to see how easily cleaning can get put off and then forgotten about in the face of other challenges or opportunities. Meanwhile, dirt & clutter builds up and before you know it, you’re left with a daunting, more time-consuming and potentially more expensive task that becomes even harder to accomplish. By sticking consistently to a regular schedule, you’re far less likely to put your cleaning off, especially if you break things down instead of trying to do it all at once.
• Rotate Your Schedule but Standardize Your Approach Depending on how large your space is, trying to clean everything at once can greatly reduce your chances of being consistent. And, the fact is that not everything needs to be done at the same time or as often. To be most effective, you should consider creating a rotating schedule with differing levels of frequency. Daily, weekly, monthly, and even yearly cleaning schedules can be created based on the nature of the task, how extensively the space gets used or how thoroughly they need to be cleaned. For example, you may choose to tidy/spot clean daily but vacuum weekly, focus on service areas daily but storage areas monthly or disinfect daily but declutter annually. However, regardless of the frequency, try follow a set process or routine for each task and consider using a checklist. This will help to make clear what needs to be done, can help make sure it’s done thoroughly and the familiarity/repetition can help make sure it’s done efficiently.
• Don’t Forget the Small Stuff Another challenge associated with keeping a commercial space clean is the fact that many commercial spaces have complex structural and non-structural features. Elements like shelves, display cabinets, light fixtures and operational equipment often have more nooks and crannies that can be difficult to clean and sometimes get overlooked or ignored altogether. However, much like other often ignored elements like baseboards and kickplates, they tend to collect dust & grime and so definitely do need regular attention. Of course, many commercial spaces are also set up to serve the general public, which means a high volume of new people coming into contact with high-touch elements such as door handles, counter tops and key pads. To keep your commercial space clean, tidy and germ/virus-free, it’s important to remember to include these smaller elements in your cleaning schedule and on your checklists.
• Make Sure You Have the Right Tools and Supplies  Having the right tools and supplies can make a world of difference when it comes to keeping your space clean & tidy. Having the right tools can help make your job more efficient by ensuring that you only have to do a given task once or don’t have to waste time improvising when trying to get to those hard-to-reach places, for example. In addition to making your job more efficient, the right supplies can help make your job more effective. For example, not having the right type or strength of disinfectants can mean the difference between a space that just appears clean vs one that actually is clean – or one that is clean but smells like a chemical factory. Finally, it’s probably not too far from the truth to say that no one really likes cleaning. Many of us will use almost any excuse we can to procrastinate and not having the right tools or supplies just makes it that much easier to put it off. 
• Try to Clean as You Go …Especially When Upgrading Furniture or Equipment  What does clean as you go mean? Exactly what it sounds like and what many of us were taught growing up. When you use something, put it back where it belongs when you’re done. When you make a mess, clean it up right away. And, if you see garbage on the floor or something out of place, pick it up or put it away – even if you didn’t put it there in the first place. Taking this kind of approach can help keep your workplace looking clean & tidy between cleanings and even can save the time when doing a formal cleaning. Of course, this approach works best when it becomes part of your company culture rather than just being the responsibility of a select few. It should also be applied to the upgrading of furniture or equipment. If you’re not going to use the old furniture or equipment any longer, sell, donate or throw them away. Keeping what you don’t need is a fast track to a cluttered environment. 
  Keeping your workplace clean and free of clutter not only looks good, it can provide real benefits to your customers, your staff and to your bottom line. And while few of us really like cleaning, taking a standard and consistent approach can make it an easier and more effective process. If you’re planning an extensive decluttering and need help with disposal, VaVia can help. Contact us today to learn more about our dumpster rental options.