Cleaning Open Office Floor Plans
- Tobi Colbert
- Jun 28, 2017
- 3 min read
Open-plan offices have been gaining popularity recently. An open-plan office, also known as an open-space or open-concept office, refers to an office in which the interior walls—and along with them, most private offices—are removed. In place of walls, partitions of varying heights may be installed between workspaces, or, what is becoming increasingly common, office staff work at long tables with no walls or separation from other workers whatsoever.
Additionally, in an open-space office, assigned seating usually is a thing of the past; workers may work individually or in groups wherever they want. And some offices now have what are referred to as hoteling areas, which is where a worker or guest uses a specific workspace whenever he or she is in the office, much like reserving a room in a hotel.
It is estimated that about 70 percent of U.S. offices now have low or no partition offices, which would be considered an open-plan office. While they were first introduced in Silicon Valley locations, major corporations across the country have adopted open-office concepts.
The U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED program may have encouraged the concept. Eliminating walls reduces the amount of construction materials needed to build office space, allows for larger work areas in a facility to take advantage of natural light, and can be easier to heat and cool—all of which helps to reduce energy needs and promote sustainability.
Employers like open-plan offices for a variety of reasons, such as flexible workspaces; reduced design and construction costs, allowing for significant cost savings; increased worker productivity; and enhanced staff collaboration and teamwork.
While employers like open-plan offices, and these designs help promote sustainability, how do these facilities impact cleaning? There are some very significant concerns cleaning professionals need to consider with regards to open-offices.
Before receiving bidding for office cleaning, make sure you know the correct questions that need to be answered.
Determine how many people use the space. An open-space facility can often accommodate many more workers in one central area, increasing cleaning workloads.
Assessing when the work can be performed. While some open-space offices are leaning back to traditional 9-to-5 business hours, many others allow, if not encourage, their staff to use the facility at any time. When office staff is present, it can be harder and require more time for cleaning workers to perform their tasks.
Find a number of shared work locations. With more people using the same work areas, cleaning and sanitation become critical issues. Cleaning workers will need to spend more time sanitizing these areas, which means routine desk dusting is out and more detailed cleaning is required in every visit.
If you are providing chemicals to your janitorial company. You will need to plan for an increase in cleaning chemical solution usage. When more cleaning solutions, including costly chemicals such as sanitizers and disinfectants, are needed, the over all costs for chemical can raise by 10-15%.
Before receiving bids on an open-space office, managers should clearify with upper management if there are open-office protocols in place for , such as leaving a workspace in as good, if not better, condition than employees found it. This can help reduce cleaning needs. Also, workers should be encouraged to bring their own computers, keyboards, and mice to the office. Not only can this save cleaning times, but taking these steps can also help reduce the spread of infections considerably. If you are making the switch to an open faced office and need help getting a detailed maintenance program. Call us Directly 888-315-7671
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