How to get the best out of your daily/weekly/monthly service provider?

People tend to think that the role of an office manager is simply to get quotes and find outsourced maintenance solutions for the workplace. Everything else is hands off apart from attending into emergency maintenance type situations.

This is far from the truth.

There are numerous key skills needed to be an effective office manager. One is to develop strong relationship-building skills with your service providers to gather the necessary information in order to make decisions for the office and to have a strong problem-solving mindset.

Great office managers work in cooperation with their service providers and see it as a mutually-reinforcing partnership. Both parties need each other to succeed.

Here are some things office managers should do when working with a new service provider.

Orientate

When you onboard new service providers, conduct a short orientation for them to familiarise themselves with different areas of the office. Offices like Unilever spread multiple floors and can be a challenge navigating for anyone new. Besides, some areas in the workplace are “out of bounds”. You do not want your service staff entering restricted areas.

Identify Key Areas In Advance

It’s always helpful to work with your service provider on a fixed daily job scope. Develop a to-do list that is reasonable and achievable. At Nimbus, we will work closely with you to set the daily task list with you on day one. However, it is essential you identify and tell us key areas that you would like us to prioritise, before proceeding to other items. Be clear in your communication. If you tell your service provider to “clean everything every day”, this is unfavourable as their work scope could be too unrealistic, and you could end up with slipshod efforts from your service providers.

Set Targets for What Constitutes Success

Set clear expectations for your service providers and motivate them to achieve those targets. Treat any worker that enters your premises with respect, like how you treat the rest of your staff members. If a janitor is failing to deliver on their targets, speak to the account manager. At Nimbus, we provide all our clients with a dedicated accounts manager and a chat system to get your feedback on our service quality. If you are unhappy with our service, the next spring cleaning is on us. Our relationship with your company matters a lot to us.

Provide Feedback

Every quarter, it is good to arrange regular conversations with your service providers to provide feedback on their work. Identify areas that can be improved, and complement their efforts if they have done well in specific areas. Running an office is a team effort which requires excellent communication between client and service providers. At Nimbus, our mission is to create happy workspaces for everyone. We make it a practice to arrange for regular quarterly catch ups with our clients to chat about your workspace and how we can further improve the cleanliness environment.

One quick way to identify quality service providers is their sincerity in giving you a free consultation when they first visit your space. Be suspicious of service providers who are able to quote you a price even before inspecting your space or asking salient and relevant questions about your job site. As David Ogilvy once said “Every client gets what they deserve. … A bargain never really is one; you get what you pay for.”  Cheap work will cost more in the long run.  Spend a little bit more on a good maintenance company and you will get back a disproportionate amount of return on your investment – stress-free office management, happy employees, and a beautiful workspace.

If you’d like to get a free workspace consultation, do drop us an email at hello@nimbusforwork.com

How to get the best out of your daily/weekly/monthly service provider?

People tend to think that the role of an office manager is simply to get quotes and find outsourced maintenance solutions for the workplace. Everything else is hands off apart from attending into emergency maintenance type situations.

This is far from the truth.

There are numerous key skills needed to be an effective office manager. One is to develop strong relationship-building skills with your service providers to gather the necessary information in order to make decisions for the office and to have a strong problem-solving mindset.

Great office managers work in cooperation with their service providers and see it as a mutually-reinforcing partnership. Both parties need each other to succeed.

Here are some things office managers should do when working with a new service provider.

Orientate

When you onboard new service providers, conduct a short orientation for them to familiarise themselves with different areas of the office. Offices like Unilever spread multiple floors and can be a challenge navigating for anyone new. Besides, some areas in the workplace are “out of bounds”. You do not want your service staff entering restricted areas.

Identify Key Areas In Advance

It’s always helpful to work with your service provider on a fixed daily job scope. Develop a to-do list that is reasonable and achievable. At Nimbus, we will work closely with you to set the daily task list with you on day one. However, it is essential you identify and tell us key areas that you would like us to prioritise, before proceeding to other items. Be clear in your communication. If you tell your service provider to “clean everything every day”, this is unfavourable as their work scope could be too unrealistic, and you could end up with slipshod efforts from your service providers.

Set Targets for What Constitutes Success

Set clear expectations for your service providers and motivate them to achieve those targets. Treat any worker that enters your premises with respect, like how you treat the rest of your staff members. If a janitor is failing to deliver on their targets, speak to the account manager. At Nimbus, we provide all our clients with a dedicated accounts manager and a chat system to get your feedback on our service quality. If you are unhappy with our service, the next spring cleaning is on us. Our relationship with your company matters a lot to us.

Provide Feedback

Every quarter, it is good to arrange regular conversations with your service providers to provide feedback on their work. Identify areas that can be improved, and complement their efforts if they have done well in specific areas. Running an office is a team effort which requires excellent communication between client and service providers. At Nimbus, our mission is to create happy workspaces for everyone. We make it a practice to arrange for regular quarterly catch ups with our clients to chat about your workspace and how we can further improve the cleanliness environment.

One quick way to identify quality service providers is their sincerity in giving you a free consultation when they first visit your space. Be suspicious of service providers who are able to quote you a price even before inspecting your space or asking salient and relevant questions about your job site. As David Ogilvy once said “Every client gets what they deserve. … A bargain never really is one; you get what you pay for.”  Cheap work will cost more in the long run.  Spend a little bit more on a good maintenance company and you will get back a disproportionate amount of return on your investment – stress-free office management, happy employees, and a beautiful workspace.

If you’d like to get a free workspace consultation, do drop us an email at hello@nimbusforwork.com

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