let’s talk shop The Importance Of O Operating in today’s business environment and keeping those operations healthy re-quires data — volumes of it. So much that you might ask yourself, “Why bother?” You have to bother, because knowing, reliably, where you are and where you are going requires complete and accurate infor-mation about every facet of your business. In several of the articles in this series, we’ve discussed “space inventory” as it re-lates to workloading. This article focuses on what to do with the space inventory once you’ve gone to the trouble of capturing it. Specifically, keeping the space inventory current is critical to the success of the op-eration. You can’t keep operations up to date with outdated information. As it turned out, on the floor plan, her of-fice was shown as a storeroom. The employee was assured that a correc-tion would be made and that she could ex-pect housekeeping services from then on. By: Lance Witschen Maintaining facility data is the only way to make informed decisions. SPACE Inventories Even seemingly insignificant changes to a floor plan impact everyone in the facility. Those floor plan drawings were over six years old. Most sites have some changes every year. So, it stood to reason that there would be more than a few inconsistencies. Unfortunately, the process to communi-cate changes was deficient at this site. Aside from some areas not getting cleaned, those inconsistencies made work-loading under their old system more than a little suspect. housekeeping and maintenance. Keeping everyone in the loop and operat-ing efficiently requires a system for commu-nicating changes on a timely basis. To work well the process needs to involve: ■ Documentation of all changes ■ A flow of information to all impacted parts of the organization ■ Updating workloading software accordingly. Our example is one in which the EVS de-partment consisted of in-house staff. However, one can imagine how improper information could impact cost and service. Since the tasks can differ depending on what a room is used for, the only way to maintain control of human resources, and know where best to utilize them, is to main-tain the information that governs the output of the software. That is the space inventory, and it has to stay accurate and current. In Behind The Broom, A Manager’s Guide to a Professional Cleaning Operation , my co-authors and I use the phrase “garbage in-garbage out” when referring to the quality and reliability of information being used to make decisions about our facility. Having the right data and maintaining that data is the only way to make informed deci-sions you can stand behind. CM Healthcare And Housekeeping One example I can give is a large healthcare organization. The site had purchased a workloading program that required a space inventory in order to fairly assign rooms and tasks to the housekeeping staff. A test sample using the site’s floor plans revealed some inconsistency between what was on the floor plan versus what was actu-ally on the floor. It was decided that a complete physical inventory would be required in order to vali-date the floor drawings. One day, an employee in a small, three-cubicle office approached the person con-ducting the inventory for the environmental services group (EVS). She asked why the EVS always skipped her office. Establishing A Process This example highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date information/data. It’s easy to underestimate the ramifica-tions of a small change in a floor plan. Removing a wall to convert a patient room into a nurse’s station impacts more than just the nursing staff. It impacts everyone from admitting to Lance Witschen, president of 1ClassConsulting, uses his years of experience to provide solutions for a variety of clients. Scout Management Solutions, which he recently co-founded, allows clients one-stop shopping for programs address-ing profesionalism and recognition of the cleaning industry. Witschen is the author of Behind the Broom along with Judy Gillies, The SurgeGroup. com, and Kevin Keeler, KeelerConsulting.net. Visit www.BehindTheBroom.com for information. www.CMMOnline.com 13
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