Facility Managers are training staff on proper methods of using disinfectants to help eliminate the spread of infections in working environments.  Maintaining clean and sanitized buildings can help reduce the risk of flu outbreak and the spread of H1N1 virus.

Part of the effort is educating the public about the importance of sanitizing and cleaning high traffic public areas.  Many companies are using environmentally friendly disinfectant cleaners to wipe all areas throughout their facilities like the Washington Metro.  The Washington Post claims “Good personal hygiene can cut the risk of spreading and catching the virus.”

Employers and their cleaning staff play an important role in protecting employees’ health and safety.  Educating staff with verbal and written work instructions can help prevent the influence of H1N1 virus and the risks associated with outbreaks within facilities.  In addition, maintenance staff can help by ensuring timely preventive maintenance on air handling equipment that can improve indoor air quality and help prevent the virus from spreading.

Tracking the progress of cleaning staff can be easily accomplished with Janitorial Business Software while maintenance staff can use their Facility Maintenance Software to ensure filters are changed regularly and that vents are free from contaminants to improve indoor air quality.

The right preventive measures can help minimize the spread of H1N1 virus this year.

Mobile technology, such as Blackberry cell phones or “Smart Phones”, can mean no more hand written inspection forms or work order “tickets”.  Mobile technology used by today’s Preventive Maintenance Software and Cleaning Business Software reduces the duplication of effort and improves work quality.  This provides more immediate access to information and helps your managers spend more time creating solutions instead of charts.

Tracking work performance can be updated in real time and Client Requests can be sent to supervisors in the field so clients can be taken care of immediately.  Failed inspections results also get sent to supervisors automatically.  This makes corrective action response time a lot faster, which makes clients a lot happier.

With a blackberry, you only have to carry one device for phone, email, texting, organizing, and inspecting janitorial work.  As we know, Blackberrys are light, durable and readily available.

Information from the Blackberry is saved into Cleaning Business Software after completing an inspection.  The inspection can be customized based on building, room, room type, etc. and deficiencies are tracked with options to pass, fail, correct, and notify the manager.  Data is then sent instantly into a web-based software system for further analyzation and reporting.

The results are a time saving, cost effective, and efficient process for inspectors converting from a paper-based system to electronic via BlackBerry smartphones.

What is Green Cleaning?  It is simply a growing trend, using methods and products that are environmentally friendly.  Chemicals and ingredients used in green cleaning help preserve the quality of human health and the environment, avoiding the use of chemically-reactive and toxic ingredients.   These products may have various toxic chemicals that emit volatile organic compounds that can cause respiratory and dermatological problems among other adverse effects.

As we learn more about the harmful effects of these toxic chemicals, the commercial green cleaning industry and need for LEED compliance and green-based buildings is growing rapidly.  Utilizing tools like Janitorial Management Software to track utilization and provide new work instructions, companies are providing efficient, eco-friendly products and services to their customers.

Green cleaning also describes the way cleaning products are manufactured, packaged and distributed.  When the manufacturing process is environmentally-friendly and the products are biodegradable, then the terms “green” or “eco-friendly” are used.

Maximizing recycling initiatives, while reducing water & electricity consumption through proven techniques helps save time, money and energy.  Green Cleaning is an exciting way we can help preserve the earth for future generations to come!

Green Seal and EcoLogo certified product lines are made with 100% renewable ingredients for Earth Friendly Commercial Cleaning Solutions.  Using certified janitorial chemicals and equipment for general purpose cleaning benefits building operations and the indoor environment.

Paper products are also an important resource for Green Cleaning.  Recycled contents and paper products have major impacts on sustainable forest management and global certification programs.  Items like janitorial Paper Tissues and Towels(GS-1 , GS-9) are Green Seal products that are bleached without the use of chlorine or harmful materials.

Effective tracking and utilization of environmentally sound materials and procedures can be facilitated by Janitorial Software.  Using effective green programs and products in the commercial business promotes green communication within building occupants.  This allows members to be a part of the process to ensure a healthy cleaning environment.

If a company is CIMS compliant, that means they are structured to deliver consistent quality cleaning services to their customer.  A CIMS compliant company has met comprehensive standards with their systems, processes, and documentation. There is no better measurement or benchmark of excellence with which to evaluate an organization today.

Preparing for CIMS helps companies become more organized, and gives them the opportunity to look at all of their business processes at once, seeing all of the connections perhaps for the first time.  The real benefit is higher levels of consistency in everything that is done within the organization, which leads to better service and lower costs.

One of the challenges of CIMS certification is having active systems in place to ensure everything goes as planned and that there is adequate documentation to prove it.  Companies turn to Janitorial Software to help them stay organized, even as staff changes, and provide the level of control they need to achieve their objectives.

Barcoding your facility can increase your organizational capabilities when combined with CMMS Software or Janitorial Business Software to help your team track performance and make smart decisions.

Employee

Using barcodes, you can easily verify work performed by your janitorial and maintenance staff.  You will know when a task begins and ends, plus who did the work.  You can also determine the travel time between tasks to better understand route schedules and employee efficiency.

Verifying work performance will help you provide better training procedures and cut down costs.  Many Facility Mangers are responsible for multiple buildings.  By knowing the time it takes for employees to get to different buildings, you can optimize route schedules by reducing travel time to cut labor and fuel costs.

Quality

Facility Managers are asked difficult quality questions.  Was the inspector actually there?  What exactly are you inspecting?  Was that the correct area to inspect?

If you use barcodes with CMMS Software or Janitorial Business Software, you can easily answer those questions.  Mobile devices will time stamp inspections and automatically display the exact location & inspection criteria for the Inspector. Whether it is an inspection based on cleanable items in a room or check points for a piece of equipment, mobile devices with barcode capabilities will save inspection time, provide more accurate inspections, and verify inspection performance.

Inventory

Many facilities are affected by limited space, supply shrinkage, and heavy consumption.  Inventory management systems that use barcodes will provide accurate and timely information to assist you in managing those issues.  You will be able to track consumption, understand usage patterns, and better control supply shrinkage problems.

You will have alerts when inventory falls below minimum set points, and be able to track equipment location accurately to stop guessing where it went.

All of this adds up to saving management and labor time, which gives your team time to focus on making money in your facility.

A satisfied customer will tell about five people about their positive experience.   This means bad news spreads a whole lot faster than good news.

Great service strengthens customer satisfaction and can turn ordinary clients into long-term clients.  Here are a few ways to increase your customer satisfaction:

1. Be Accountable – effectively use good Maintenance Management Software or Cleaning Business Software to track work performance and client requests.
2. Listen to your Customers – be knowledgeable and work to help them find solutions
3. Be Dedicated – follow up consistently to meet their needs
4. Be Respectful – even when they may frustrate you
5. Go Above and Beyond – don’t just focus on immediate profit, give them more than they expect
6. Be Genuine and Personalized – take time to customize all correspondence, whether they are notes, emails, or letters
7. Show them you Care – Throw in something extra, whether its additional info on the use of a product or a genuine smile.  Make sure they feel appreciated.

The experience of a customer is affected every day you provide service.  A satisfied client will provide positive feedback, help you make more money, and even help you get new clients.

Make sure that progress is communicated effectively to a wide range of people in your organization.  Change needs to take place not only on performance, but also the perception of performance.  Be prepared to uncover more problems as you make progress.  It is easier to document real progress with management tools like Janitorial Software or CMMS Software.  In many cases, these tools can automatically notify key individuals of progress with minimum time consumption for your team.

Provide feedback when problems are hard to fix.  Explain what you are doing and your plan for improvement.  Provide timelines when calling for planned action.

Step 10: Celebrate Successes, Continue to Work on Failures

Celebrate when you have made true progress.  Thank those who helped achieve milestones for their hard work.

Set up regular evaluation points to review achievements and summarize progress to remind yourself how much has been done and where you need to improve.

Continue working on areas that don’t show the expected improvements.  If you have not achieved your goals within stated timelines, review the main reasons and determine if there is still a path for success.  At this point, your commitment to this process should have been demonstrated, and it is likely that you will be given time to complete the improvement process.

This step is a significant milestone.  The level of achievement at this point can either make or break your relationship.  It is important to keep the key people in both organizations up to date on progress and you need to seek their support.

Plan to launch the program at the start of remedial work.  Make sure that you present any actions positively and constructively.  This is a blueprint for the future.

It might be a good idea to think of a clever name for your improvement program to catch people’s attention.  Your goal is to actively manage the improvement program and promote each key achievement within both organizations.

Step 8: Monitor Progress

Monitoring progress carefully and frequently is very important at this stage.  Since the relationship has been strained, it is safe to assume that normal process for reviewing performance and introducing service improvements has not been working effectively.

In previous steps, we recommended that you investigate Maintenance Management Software or Janitorial Management Software.  These systems can be extremely helpful in monitoring your progress without doing any extra work.

Your improvement task force should meet on a regular basis to review progress, agree on additional actions, and modify the program where it isn’t producing the desired outcome.  As communications and services are brought back in line with the agreed upon standards, ongoing monitoring duties should be passed back to normal contract management mechanisms.

Look out for potential problems in the transfer process.  There is a possible conflict between actions started while improving the relationship and actions that are considered part of the normal contract.

It is important for both organizations to recognize the significance of this improvement program.  Give the program firm priorities and don’t override its activities.  Support from your senior management is extremely helpful in this situation.

In the final part, we will review steps 9 and 10.  Step 9 deals with communicating your achievements and step 10 covers what to do after you have successfully established a excellent relationship.