The end of the year is close. Everyone at the office has their mind occupied with all kinds of pleasant (and not so pleasant) pre-holiday thoughts: what gifts to buy, how to decorate the house, what dishes to cook for the festive dinner, and where to leave the dog until the morning after the celebration. Everyone wants to get rid of all those tedious working tasks as soon as possible and hurry home to enjoy the best time of the year together with their family. However, before the business commotion is over, it is a good idea to have a thorough cleaning of the office, which can involve both a cleaning service company and office workers themselves. Here is why a pre-New Year office cleaning is necessary along with some tips on what you should do first of all in this important process.
Motivation for employers
1. Office cleaning will let your employees “recharge their batteries”
Focusing on complex business tasks right before the holiday season begins is very challenging for the majority of the employees. If you give them a chance to direct their physical and mental energy to tasks that don’t require much effort and don’t affect the business, they will be really grateful to you. That is a very wise managerial move.
2. Clean slate
Your employees will appreciate returning to their uncluttered and clean working places after the New Year. That will contribute to a more productive and creative way of thinking, as research proves.
3. Better relationships among team members
Cleaning the office together will give the team members an opportunity to get to know each other better. Ordering a pizza for the team afterwards will serve as a way to reward your employees for their work and let them have a friendly conversation, exchange information, and simply tell jokes and laugh. All that will make the workers closer to one another and have a positive effect on the productivity in the long run.
4. Exercise
Office cleaning is also an opportunity for your employees to get some physical exercise. That is good for their health since they normally have to sit at their desks for hours on end. Just walking around the office, taking files from drawers and cases, and arranging papers will break this harmful routine.
5. Hygiene
Probably the main benefit of office cleaning is the prevention of germs spreading around. Although professional office cleaners will definitely make your office sterile, employees themselves can also kill their share of microbes by cleaning their desks and computers.
Tips for employees
1. Declutter your desk
No one will organize the papers on your desks but you. There can be papers that you need and those you don’t. If papers are still necessary, label them and put them into drawers and cabinets. Recycle or shred old papers you no longer need.
2. Remove unnecessary files from your computer
The next step in office cleaning is removing any unnecessary files from your computer. That will help you find files that you do need faster after the New Year and contribute to a better performance of your computer. Also, clean your monitor, keyboard, and mouse thoroughly with a disinfectant to remove any germs, dirt, or food remnants.
3. Clean the desk
Now, it’s time to take a wet cloth and clean the top and sides of your desk, as well as the inside of the drawers. Don’t forget about the objects on your desk either. That can be your phone, a framed photo of your kid, or a sand clock. Everything should be cleaned properly.
4. Replace your calendar
With the bulk of office cleaning drudgery out of the way, you can throw your old calendar with dozens of ink marks made throughout the year to a trash bin and put a brand new calendar for the next year on your desk. Then, when you return to the office, you are ready to start afresh.
Office cleaning before the New Year is a necessity. It gives employees a chance to forget about complicated working tasks for a while, get some physical exercise, and improve their relationships within the team. While office workers can declutter their desks and organize files in their computers, it is cleaning professionals who make the workplace pristinely clean and ready for the next year.
