A working environment should always be kept clean and tidy. If your office is always messy, rest assured your working morale will suffer. Moreover, office furniture can be a host to different types of bacteria. In case you are wondering where these bacteria come from, think about the times you have had to eat lunch or drink coffee at your desk. The germs build up from these kinds of activities. 

However, you can easily keep your office fresh and tidy by sticking to a thorough cleaning schedule. The right cleaning solution should not leave any area of your office unattended. Whether it’s the reception area, the lobby or the conference room, it should remain clean and presentable. Remember, how you maintain your office speaks volumes about your organisation. 

So, what should a full office cleaning routine entail? 

Chairman Jacco Vonhof, ECJ’s Dutch correspondent, brings news of research indicating that the level of office cleanliness directly impacts on employees’ productivity. Not only does the standard of cleaning impact productivity, it also contributes to the general satisfaction of employees. Employees are more satisfied when their office is clean. In other words, when the environment is technically clean, productivity and work satisfaction are higher. And work satisfaction again leads to increased productivity, according to the same research.

Daily Office Cleaning Routine Tasks: 

• Ensure that all the office trash cans have been emptied and their liners replaced. The trash removed should be taken to the designated collection point. 
• If your office has a carpet, it should be vacuum cleaned to prevent dirt and dust build up. 

• Dust has a habit of gathering in places that are not easily accessible and also settle on horizontal surfaces. Therefore, all the horizontal surfaces should be dusted. Files, chairs, windowsills, and all types of furnishings should not be left out. 
• Coffee rings and other forms of sticky substances are common on desk surfaces. For this reason, it is imperative that damp wiping cloths be used to remove the dust that accumulates every day. 
• It is very easy to ignore telephones. Nevertheless, a telephone is frequently used and accumulations of most germs. This can be counterproductive to keeping employees healthy. Offices with dirty phones have a higher number of workers calling in sick. See to it that all the telephones in your office are cleaned on a daily basis. 
• Hard surfaces floors get the most dirty, given that people step on them every day with shoes that carry all forms of dirt. These surfaces should be dust mopped with a treated dust mop. 
• Floors are easily soiled by the spillage of different liquids. This makes them sticky and messy. Damp mopping with the proper sanitising solution is the most suitable way to clean hard floor surfaces. It should be done on a daily basis to avoid a notorious build up. 
• Employees, as well as those who visit your office, are likely to leave fingerprints on the entryway, especially on glass surfaces. The entryway should be regularly damp wiped and the fingerprints wiped off. 

• Most offices are partitioned with glass. The glass easily spots whenever touched. Daily spot- cleaning is a necessity .
• After the daily cleaning routine, an inspection should follow to make sure that no area has been left unattended. 

Restroom Cleaning Duties: 

Every office needs a clean restroom. These are some of the things you should pay attention to when it comes to restroom cleanliness. 

• The office restroom should be stocked with clean towels, hand soap, and tissues at all times. 
• The sanitary bins should be emptied and wiped with an appropriate disinfectant. 
• Ensure that the mirrors are keenly cleaned and polished. 
• Urinals and toilets are very sensitive in terms of hygiene. They should be wiped and sanitised both inside and out. 
• A disinfectant should be used to clean the toilet seats and their covers to ward off germs. 
• The basin should be carefully scoured and sanitised. This should be finished with bright polish work. 
• Splash marks should be wiped from the walls as well as the basins to avoid permanent staining.
• The office’s restroom floors should be mopped, disinfected and dried. 

Lunch Break Cleaning 

Some of the daily office cleaning activities should be repeated during the lunch break hour. This includes: 

• Mopping the lunch break room & kitchen floors. 
• Emptying trash cans. 
• Wiping counter tops and tables & desk surfaces. 
• Clean up the inside of microwaves and fridges to avoid any odor and bacteria build-up. 
• Wash any left over dishes. 
• Clean up coffee machine. 
• Stock up on utensils, cups, napkins. 
• Ensure place is always clean, disinfected, and inviting for employees. 

Weekly Cleaning Tasks: 

For some offices, it is not possible to reach all areas in an office that requires cleaning on a daily basis. However, some of these tasks can be accommodated to a be done once a week: 

• Clean up inside cabinets. 
• Floor waxing & cleaning. 
• Deep cleaning. 
• Clean any areas cleaners cannot access every day. 

Monthly Cleaning Tasks 

• Monthly cleaning should be thorough. Cleaners can machine scrub the hard surfaces and rinse. Then, a new finish can be applied to restore the decency of these areas. 
• Carpets can be extracted so that the surface beneath can be cleaned and maintained. 
• Switches, door handles, and door frames should be wiped to remove fingerprints. 
• All upholstered furniture should be vacuumed. 
• The telephones which have probably been handled by different people should be damp wiped and disinfected.