This article is a continuation of BSCAI’s Bidding and Estimating content series, helping you learn how to bid commercial cleaning jobs. Read the introduction to the series from Steve Shuchat and a guide for evaluating requests for proposals (RFPs) from Curtis McLemore.
When acquiring new customers, contract cleaning and janitorial companies follow several crucial steps in the bidding and estimating process. Pricing for services is determined, as well as reviewing requests for proposals (RFPs), where you evaluate cash flow, operational bandwidth and other criteria to decide if your contract cleaning company qualifies for the RFP.
After you have thoroughly reviewed the RFP, you will have a clear understanding of all services your cleaning company will be expected to complete and the frequency of those services. From this, you will calculate the production rates your cleaning associates will work to complete all services. The next step is to determine the specifics around exactly how the work will be completed. This step is called work loading.
Organizing Your Services
A major part of work loading is determining how the services your company will provide will be organized and completed by your crews. In the commercial and contract cleaning industry, there are two systems most commonly used for organizing this work: zone cleaning and team cleaning.
Zone cleaning divides a building into specific areas, with each area assigned to an individual cleaner who is responsible for all cleaning tasks in that space. This approach ensures accountability and fosters a sense of ownership, as the same cleaner maintains the same zone. It works well in environments where consistency and attention to detail are essential. However, it can be less efficient for large buildings with varied cleaning needs, as cleaners may need to carry a wide range of tools and supplies to handle all tasks.
Team cleaning organizes workers into specialized cleaning teams, with each member focusing on a specific task, such as vacuuming, dusting or trash removal, across the entire building. This specialization allows for increased efficiency and quicker cleaning times, particularly in large facilities. Team cleaning minimizes equipment redundancy and supports a streamlined workflow, but it requires careful coordination and can be less personalized compared to the zone cleaning method.
Questions to Consider During the Work Loading Step
It is necessary to answer critical questions that will help determine exactly how each cleaning professional in a facility will complete all tasks assigned to them during each shift they work. Examples of these questions include:
What equipment will be used by each cleaning associate? This should have been determined during the production rate step of the bidding and estimating process and will be specified and accounted for during the work loading step.
Where will each associate’s assigned equipment be stored within the facility and therefore return to at the end of each shift? For your cleaning crews to complete all specified tasks in the least amount of time with the highest amount of quality, it will be important that they are efficient and do not waste time going back and forth between the area they are servicing and their equipment closet. This should be clearly communicated to each cleaning crew member. A system should be established around this objective.
How will building security be achieved by each associate throughout the shift? Which cleaning professional within the crew is responsible for arming and disarming the alarm? Who is responsible for unlocking and locking each door? Who is responsible for turning on and off lights?
How will infrequent special work be completed? If these types of tasks are monthly, quarterly, semiannual and annual and part of the specifications within the RFP, this work often requires specially equipment to be completed. Examples of this work are scrubbing and recoating tile floors, cleaning carpet, windows, vents and furniture legs. These specified tasks can be completed by the cleaning associates that are in your daily crew, or you can bring in a specialty team on a regular basis to complete these tasks.
What should you do if you bring a specialty cleaning crew into your facility? Many things will need to be determined. From your production rate calculation, how much time will not be allotted to your daily cleaning crew and therefore allotted to the specialty cleaning crew? What equipment will the specialty crew need to complete all the assigned tasks? Often this crew will start in the same place each night and drive a company vehicle to the assigned facility and complete the assigned tasks.
Developing a Clear Plan
The specific cleaning tasks that are required by your customer to be completed in each facility that a commercial cleaning company serves will significantly impact the way each building is work loaded, and therefore the way and order that each cleaning professional completes their assigned janitorial services. It is critical that during the bidding and estimating process a clear plan is developed that shows step-by-step how each cleaning associate will complete their assigned tasks in an organized and collaborative manner. Properly work loading a facility will provide you with that plan.
This article is a continuation of BSCAI’s Bidding and Estimating content series, helping you learn how to bid commercial cleaning jobs. Read more in the series here: