In our last two posts, we discussed the challenges businesses are facing during this pandemic, and how the digitization of the supporting industries, particularly the cleaning industry holds the solution for overcoming this challenge.

But before we list out any possible solution, let’s make sure we understand the challenge holistically. We’ll then take a deep dive into the cleaning industry to dissect the specific challenges they face,

“A problem well stated is a problem half-solved.”
- Charles Kettering

To clearly understand the obstacles faced by the cleaning industry, we need to understand two things:

• a) The traditional structure of the cleaning industry
• b) The norms that have changed after the spread of COVID-19

Current processes utilized by commercial cleaning companies violate new WHO guidelines and health and safety regulations.

Task Management

The de facto method of assigning tasks to team members is in-person. While other industries have adopted sophisticated technologies for task assignment and management, the cleaning industry still works traditionally. The current process violates social distancing guidelines put in place because of the spread of COVID-19.

Documentation

The traditional method of documentation relies extensively on paper. Paper is used daily to document the updates of the cleaning site. The same sheet of paper is regularly updated by multiple people throughout the day, including workers and supervisors, for logging and inspections purposes. Since COVID-19 also spreads through indirect contact, any surface that is touched by multiple people could become a risk for spreading the virus.

Team Communication/Information Broadcast

Whether it is relaying instructions to team members, keeping all stakeholders informed, or managing threads of communication between stakeholders, all of the activities in a traditional setup requires people to be physically present, which again violates social distancing guidelines.

These are only some of the challenges of the cleaning industry that need to be addressed so that we can help get the economy back on track and people back to work.

In our next post, we will discuss how CleanPlan has addressed these challenges faced by the industry and can help transform your business. So that your business can survive, grown, and thrive during and after these tumultuous times.