What is the first thing you do in an office cleaning job? Some technicians might say dust and organise the desks, others – clean the computers and office equipment. Very few, if any, however, would think of the general areas on corporate premises – and it is the difference between the novices and the real professionals in the business.

I always advise inexperienced office cleaning teams to start small – you do not want your first customer to be an international corporation with hundreds of employees on multiple floors in an office skyscraper in the City. However, at a certain stage, you have to make the next step and take on a big client. The problem is that small-scale offices rarely have general areas. An IT startup with five programmers is not likely to feature a conference room, not even a staff room for rest. So how do you make the transition effectively?

First and foremost, do your homework. Visit the premises of your prospective customer and discuss their cleaning requirements for the general areas. These may include conference rooms, restrooms, washrooms, hallways, staircases, canteens, meeting rooms, waiting areas, lobbies, etc. Make a detailed list of all rooms, their size, and the expected task sheet. Do not forget to instruct your crews on the additional work – if this is a first-time large-scale office cleaning for the cleaners, they might not be used to some of the chores.

Second, do not panic about the workload. Most of these general areas (especially the hallways, conference and meeting rooms) are very easy to clean and do not take too much of your crew’s time. Besides, experienced office managers know about the extra job and will not expect you to finish everything in a couple of hours.