1. Reorganize All Office Items
All the hustle and bustle of a hectic workday usually leads to scattered desks. Your office space needs to let go of all visual and unorganized clutter.
Start with sorting all important documents and putting them in proper files and folders. This will definitely help you find them easily in the future and de-clutter the mess.
Everything from pens, papers, sticky notes, office supplies to your pantry items need to be in place. Discarding all unnecessary items will make room for new things. Less mess and less hoarding will also make the spaces look bigger. It will be easy to clean, making it look neater.
Keep only absolutely necessary items on your desk and within the reach of your hands. Nothing more than a computer or a laptop, a notepad and a few office supplies should sit on your desk, unless you have other necessary tools to operate on a daily basis.
Pass on this ideation to your employees that’ll make the entire office look organized and minimalist.
2. Make It a Daily Habit
If you haven’t appointed a cleaning contractor yet, it should be your responsibility to empty the trash on a daily basis. Filled trash bins can lead to foul smells and spread of unhygienic germs that can lead to illnesses.
However, one doesn’t expect their employees to help with cleaning and organizing. If you’re a small business owner, employees can help voluntarily until you can afford to hire a cleaning contractor.
3. Vacuum and Mop the Floor Every Once in a While
Whether it’s your house or your office, vacuuming and brooming the floor is necessary to keep dirt and dust away. Your office is a commercial space that witnesses a staggering amount of traffic on a daily basis.
The crazy footfall number can leave piles of accumulated dust and dirt on the floor that goes invisible to the naked eye. More than your house, your office requires a thorough and regular floor cleaning, unless you’re using a carpet.
It should be followed by mopping the floor using an appropriate floor detergent. This should be practiced at least twice a week to remove visible spots and marks that make the floor look dirty.
4. Clean As You Go
Also applicable to house cleaning, organizing and tidying up as soon as you see a mess can keep your office clean almost all the time.
For instance, clean up the mess or dirty dishes as soon as you finish lunch, or make up your mind to organize a messy drawer at the end of the day. See a dirty desktop? Wipe it instantly. Found some dust on the reception table?
Request your helpers to sort it out immediately. Cleaning up in tiny bits like this can avoid clutter and unnecessary mess. You can keep cleaning items handy to solve the issue, once you get some time.
Instill this habit in your employees as well, which will also make them more responsible and will treat the office space as their own.
It’s better to clean on the go rather than waiting for a month and taking on a huge cleaning task that can leave you crying in despair.
5. Target Public Areas
Your office space and cabins surely need regular cleaning and organizing, but the areas that accumulate maximum dirt and bacteria are the public spaces like the toilets and pantry.
These are the areas that are the most unhygienic and can spread illnesses if not cleaned thoroughly. Follow the same procedure of getting these spaces vacuumed and broomed, followed by mopping the floor using a disinfectant.
The pantry’s countertop sees regular coffee spillages and collects broken food crumbs, so it should be cleaned every day as it can accumulate bacteria and can lead to diseases and foul odor. At times, the pantry can have seating areas for eating lunch and gathering for short breaks.
Make sure to get the lounges, tables and chairs cleaned for your employees to enjoy their food and coffee in a neat and tidy space.
The toilets should be cleaned every day because no one likes to do their business in a dirty, smelly space. Disinfecting this area is the most important. Also, make sure to install air fresheners in both these spaces to keep a pleasant scent.
6. Hire an Exterior Window Cleaning Service
Now that half of your interiors are sorted, let’s talk about the exterior of your office building. If your office building comprises glass panels, it becomes extremely necessary to get them regularly cleaned.
When it comes to high rise window cleaning, hiring a professional service can get you the best results.
These experts specialize in exterior window cleaning over extensive heights with a special rope rigging and training lessons. By keeping safety and service as equal priorities, a window cleaning service will ensure that your office building looks spotless from outside, which is essential for maintaining your reputation in the corporate world.
7. Wash the Fabrics
The largest dirt accumulator in your office should be your carpet or your rug. Carpets are usually made of microfiber fabric or hair that can trap heaps of debris and germs within. With regular vacuuming of the carpet, which is at least once a week, it needs to be deep cleaned thoroughly at least once in six to twelve months.
Often, dirt trapped in our house carpets has been more visible than the carpets in our office because they are more promptly designed to stay flushed and simple. Hence, the amount of accumulated dirt becomes almost invisible, which is why regular cleaning is advised.
Apart from the carpet, other fabric pieces and linens like door mats, curtains, sofa covers, cushion covers, chair seats, removable upholstery and table cloths should be washed properly to regain the shine and brightness of these fabrics. You’d be surprised to see the amount of change that freshly cleaned fabrics can bring.
8. Clean the Devices and Appliances
All the electronic devices and appliances need to be cleaned. Start with all monitors, screens and TV displays in your office. Apart from stains and accumulated dirt, all fingerprints should be thoroughly cleaned as well.
You need to buy some antibacterial screen cleaning liquid, wipes, polish and microfiber cloth pieces that specialize in cleaning computer and laptop screens. Untextured paper towels work just fine.
Next, tiny and often ignored objects like keyboards and phone keypads should be considered. As we mentioned above, eating at your desk can collect food particles and debris within the crevices of your keyboard and keypads.
Keep cleaning objects like cotton buds or spray dusters to reach the tiniest of nooks that can remove all dirt and grease marks. Hop on to all office appliances like the microwave, coffee maker, refrigerator and air conditioners.
Cleaning appliance surfaces using a dry microfiber cloth can keep them dust-free. Make sure to incorporate these procedures in your daily cleaning routine.
9. Sort Hanging Wires and Cables
Hanging wires can unnecessarily add to the clutter and mess of the space. A bunch of dangling wires and cables can be distracting and unpleasant to look at, especially when you have important clients visiting your office.
Dedicate a space to hide the wires or use a surge protector or a power strip to have a common charging outlet.
There are several ways of hiding cables behind a panel. You can seek expert help to solve this issue within hours. While you’re still planning on your office interiors or thinking of renovating the space, make sure to solve this embarrassing issue.
If your office needs to function on a lot of devices, leading to rise in dangling cables, you can get furniture designed to solve this issue or get desks that can conceal the wires upon shutting the drawers.
10. Apply a ‘No Food On Desks’ Policy
This is the worst thing you and your employees can do to make your workspace dirty and unhygienic. Nobody is too busy to be able to take a proper 30-minute lunch break, away from their desks.
Eating at your desk can leave food crumbs, greasy stains and gross fingerprints that can make the workspace extremely dirty if not cleaned afterwards. Food particles stuck in the corners of the tables and in between keyboard crevices can lead to bacterial growth.
As a boss, you should apply a ‘no food on your desk’ policy that needs to be strictly adhered to. If you feel that your employee is crammed up on time, you should be a little more liberal and extend their break times. After all, they’re only human. Everyone deserves a break from a long working schedule.
Your employees will feel fresher when they return due to the change in environment that’ll ultimately boost productivity. If it’s still impossible to implement this rule, you can ask your employees to clean their desks immediately after they’re finished.
11. Disinfecting and Sanitizing
Disinfecting and sanitizing the spaces can kill all accumulated germs and bacteria, leading to a healthier environment. It’d be surprising to know that your keyboard or computer desktop might have the same amount of accumulated germs as your toilet. With multiple users touching the same surfaces now and again, the hygiene factor needs to be reconsidered.
Follow the procedure of disinfecting all surfaces such as desks, computer screens, keyboards, pantry stove and chair handles on a daily basis.
You can buy certain disinfectants and wipe the surfaces using microfiber wipes, or use steam or spray warm water to sanitize them.
Encourage the use of hand sanitizers among your employees every now and then. While sanitizing and disinfecting can mean different terms, both are useful to build a healthier environment.
12. Hire a Professional Cleaning Service
If you own a huge office area that’s simply impossible to handle alone, you might want to hire a cleaning contractor to maintain it.
These helpers are thoroughly trained and well equipped to leave your space spotlessly clean at the end of the day. With quicker and better results, a professional cleaning service will make your task easier, will save you time and ease your anxiety. Moreover, they will make every penny spent worth it.
These services also own better cleaning equipment that can elevate the quality of the results. Hiring them once a week can be sufficient, which will also fit your budget.
Keeping your office clean can boost employee productivity, gives them the chance to focus better and makes you feel more relaxed in the work environment, and means a presentable establishment for clients, especially when they visit unexpectedly. It’ll get more work done and entrust a bonding between you and your employees.