What Facility Managers Should Review Yearly

By: Briana Smith, Social Media and Product Branding Specialist, WAXIE Sanitary Supply

It’s always good to have a game plan. Game plans make it easier for both you and your staff to be on the same cleaning & maintenance page. Here are several things that facility supervisors and managers should incorporate into their yearly planning schedules to ensure that their facilities are well maintained.

• Educate & Train Your Staff: Continuous education is important. It provides each member of your team a great foundation upon which to build job knowledge and understanding that ultimately results in job performance improvement and the appearance of your facility. As their knowledge grows, so does their expertise, which offers the ability to efficiently problem-solve any issues that may arise. Sporadic training keeps this information fresh, and allows the introduction of any new processes, techniques, pieces of equipment or products. Take the time to incorporate training exercises into your master calendar for the year.
  
  
• Review Cleaning Procedures: Is team cleaning working for you? Does the cleaning task order make sense with what’s going on in the building? Are the restrooms being cleaned at the best time avoiding interruptions for building occupants? It’s a good best practice to analyze how effective your cleaning program is and see where improvements can be made annually or bi-annually. Acquire feedback from your staff. Your staff may have a suggestions based on issues that they engage in on a regular basis and offer suggestions on utilizing their time more efficiently.
  
  
• Schedule Major Cleaning & Maintenance Tasks: Some large cleaning tasks, such as recoating a gymnasium floor, take a long time to complete and cause a room(s) to be unusable for an unspecified amount of time. Figure out what time of year that room(s) is used the least and plan ahead so that you are less likely to be performing this type of maintenance during a peak time. Summer break, for instance, is one of the best times of year for school & university staffs to recoat a gymnasium floor – it’s that time of year during school closure between semesters. Also, there is a higher chance of the weather cooperating allowing the dry times to be faster!
  
  
• Check Supplies – Take Stock: Even your most reliable machine reaches the end of its lifespan, or perhaps your floor mats have taken all of the ice melt that they can take. Investments last longer if they are taken care of properly & replaced when needed. Equipment, in particular, should be checked for damage in several places (the cord, the wheels, where attachments connect, etc.) and it’s well worth it to schedule some sort of planned maintenance check, like you would for a car, to make sure that everything is running smoothly. Remember – repairs are generally cheaper than a replacement.
  
  
• Evaluate Your Custodial Closets: Just like your closet at home, it’s easy for closets to get disorganized. Take the time to “spring clean” your closets and designate proper spaces for everything. Tons of money is wasted every year due to unorganized and disheveled closets & storage areas. Best practice is to update or create an inventory log that corresponds with each closet & storage space so that you know exactly what you have and when you need to order. This process will also let you track usage more efficiently.

Taking the time each year to review these things will help you save money and time. Ideally, you should do many of these several times throughout the year, depending on the size of facility you are maintaining.

READ MORE:
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