Office Cleaning: Keep it Shipshape with Our Top Tips

Ever looked around your office and wondered “what is going on here?”

Sometimes, things can just run away on you. Now, naturally, if you have a regular office cleaner come in to take care of things, office cleaning probably isn’t something that’s on your mind all that regularly. However, for those of us that face the pleasant prospect of maintaining the cleanliness of their office space, finding a few shortcuts and introducing some efficiencies can really help the entire show flow more smoothly.

People rarely notice a clean office, but they certainly notice it when an office is dirty or cluttered. It’s like the old adage about the IT Department – when you’re not busy, it means you’re doing your job perfectly. We’ve thrown together a quick breakdown of some basic steps you can take to keep your office clean year-round – without breaking your back with hours-long cleaning sessions.

Small things add up

First and foremost, it’s the small things that contribute most to clutter. Clutter doesn’t just show up one day and flood your office. It’s small decisions every hour, every day, by everyone, that add up over time. If you find yourself sitting something down in a place that clearly isn’t where it belongs, just don’t. If you find yourself leaving that coffee stain on the kitchen bench because someone will be wiping it later, don’t.

Staying on top of the small things ensures that the big jobs don’t materialise, or when they do, they aren’t a struggle to get through.

Do you really need that duplicate?

Paperwork is easily one of the biggest contributors to clutter in every office. If you find yourself printing a spare copy of something for a meeting “just in case” and then never, ever using that copy – stop. There’s no need for unnecessary duplicates of paperwork that end up adding to a stack of paper or being left on a side table somewhere. Additionally, it’s not great for the environment or your bottom line to be needlessly printing things. Printer ink isn’t exactly cheap.

Just take out the rubbish

Honestly, just take it out. You don’t need to maximise the value of every 35-cent rubbish bag by filling it to its absolute maximum before taking it out. It seems that in so many offices, people are reluctant to take the trash out until it’s impossible to squeeze more trash into it. If you take it out now, you’ll avoid the rot and the smells that come with it. It also subconsciously encourages people to keep things cleaner when there aren’t bags of trash surrounding them.

Everybody leaves the kitchen spotless

There should be very clear expectations around the kitchen in your office. There will always be those who just toss their plate in the sink and expect someone else to take care of it, and that’s unacceptable. Nobody is above putting their own plate in the dishwasher. It’s not a herculean task. If somebody in your office is shifting their own personal responsibility onto another, that’s rude and they need to be called out.

When everybody leaves the kitchen spotless after using it, nobody has to go through the arduous task of scrubbing it down just to return it to a reasonably acceptable state. This is one of those situations where everyone has to pull their weight, and the best way to make sure they do is to call them out on it when they don’t. Create a culture of accountability around your kitchen and it will remain clean.

The bathroom is a communal space

Much like the kitchen, the bathroom is a communal space. If you’re taking care of your own office cleaning internally, no one wants to have to clean the bathroom. Avoid hefting this responsibility onto any single person by treating it like you’re the next person who has to clean it.

Take care of your own space

In addition to shared responsibility over communal spaces, take care of your own mess. A messy workstation creates an impression on others that letting things slide is acceptable. Everyone should be making an effort to have a reasonably organised desk, clear of trash at the end of every single day. It should absolutely not be the responsibility of a cleaner to remove trash from someone’s desk.

Be an adult

It’s really that simple. Just stay on top of cleaning, don’t act like it’s someone else’s responsibility, and take care of your own mess. Be respectful and courteous to your workmates, and leave every part of the office cleaner after you’ve used it.

Just hire a cleaner

There are people who make a career out of office cleaning. We know, because we have dozens of them managing the cleaning requirements of offices in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Sydney. Save yourself a headache and just pay a professional.