Office Cleaning Checklist To Boost Productivity

Spring is the perfect time for an office deep clean. It’s when we re-evaluate old habits, nurture change, and give rise to the new. For employers navigating the ‘new normal’, and with employees travelling to the office more regularly, this idea couldn’t be more pertinent.

It’s shown that being in an office environment can help improve focus and the psychological benefits of a clean and tidy workspace shouldn’t be overlooked either. Post-Covid it’s more important than ever to maintain high standards of hygiene, not only to keep yourself and your workforce healthy but to encourage productivity and collaboration. 

Cleaning checklist for offices

In this blog we’ve created a checklist for cleaning and refreshing your office and workspace, to help promote a productive and healthy workforce.

Clean your desk space 

Your desk space is where you spend the most time so having an organised and hygienic workstation is an important first step to take. 

Declutter your desk

Mementos from team nights out, stacks of Post-it notes, old lanyards and birthday cards; we can all agree it’s nice to personalise the areas we work at regularly but after a while the clutter around us translates to clutter in the mind. For optimal productivity and a clear head, it’s a good idea to declutter your desk space once a month.

Organise your papers and notepads

While most working professionals tend to digitalise their note taking, many still prefer to put pen to paper and if writing down important actions helps solidify them in your mind, all the better. But in order to keep your papers, notepads and journals useful they need to be organised. File away single papers and documents by month in plastic wallets and folders, and ensure notepads that aren’t in use are appropriately labelled on the front or spine, and sorted away. 

Clean out your desk drawers

Having desk drawers can be a blessing and a curse. On the one hand you have a place to store everyday essentials and work documents, and on the other it can end up being a dumping ground for paperclips, old documents and spare jumpers. Remove every item from each drawer, give the inside of each a wipe down, and be strict with what you allow back into the drawers.

Sanitise your desk, keyboard and mouse

Your desktop, keyboard and mouse have to be the most heavily used items in your belongings (phone aside!) so it’s a matter of good hygiene to keep them clean. At a minimum you should be wiping them down with an antibacterial wipe once a week. And if you eat lunch at your desk? Make it twice a week.

Clean or update your furnishings 

Furniture and decor are essential elements of any functioning office space and simply cleaning them or treating your team (or yourself!) to an update can spark fresh motivation.

Reassess your desk chair

If you’re someone who does hybrid working you’ll want to review the ergonomics of your at-home office, because while sofas and cushions are comfortable to sit on, they may not be doing your back any favours. While in office, it’s important to give your arm rests a wipe down every few weeks (more in the summer) and if possible, use an antibacterial fabric spray - who knows what you could be bringing in from your commute!

Wash and replace soft furnishings

Soft furnishings are a great way to bring a level of home comfort to breakout areas and informal offices, but make sure to remove, wash and replace cushion covers and blankets at least once a month, depending on the volume of people in the office.  

Deep clean carpets and rugs

If there is one thing that truly requires office deep cleaning, it’s the carpets and rugs. Running a hover over them two or three times a week will pick up debris but to truly clean out bacteria and dirt you’ll want to hire a carpet cleaner and send the rug to a dry cleaners. 

Clean the breakroom or kitchen

The kitchen is the one area of the office that should be kept pristine at all times, due to it being a shared area where food is prepared.

Clear out and deep clean the fridge

In tough economic times one of the first things to go is expensive shop bought lunches, so it’s important to be mindful of the influx of food and containers in the fridge. On a weekly basis, clear out and clean the fridge, removing every shelf and drawer and, if possible, giving them a soak in warm soapy water.

Clean the coffee machine

Whether it’s a coffee pod machine or you’re lucky enough to have a bean-to-cup coffee machine, it’s vital to office productivity (and alertness!) your coffee machine is well maintained and hygienic. 

Introduce green plants

In case you weren’t aware, plants can improve the air quality of a room and have been found to improve productivity by as much as 15%, so introducing some greenery to your workspace can only be a good thing. Find out which are the best office plants in our blog. 

Clear out digital clutter

Conducting a digital clearout of your desktop, folders and junk files is guaranteed to make you feel more on top of your workload. 

Organise your desktop

A cluttered desktop is a very modern problem but there are very modern solutions available to help! Creating folders by month, client or activity is a quick way to minimise large volumes of files strewn across your desktop. Additionally, moving to Cloud based storage will alleviate this issue in the future and provide better security for sensitive information. 

Create folders or tags for emails

Staying on top of your inbox can be a herculean feat but the struggle can be eased by creating sub folders for clients, teams and projects. If you’re using Outlook, Microsoft has created a great guide here while Gmail users can find a simple guide here. There’s nothing like that organised inbox feeling.

Update and secure your passwords

In today’s day and age, data security is of the utmost importance so taking the time to update and secure your passwords is important. Password management tools like Norton and LastPass make login and security processes a breeze, giving you and your team peace of mind.

Whether you’re looking for your next office space or hoping to go hybrid, get in touch with our Flexible Office Solutions team. With access to some of the most sought-after locations in London, Knight Frank is on hand to help with your hunt, whenever you’re ready.