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Who’s responsible of cleaning office on a small creativity business ?
This had been a critical issue for me …
I run a small media production business ( less than 10 e ) , and because of the limited resources on such firms , usually it’s the staff who do the general cleaning of the offices every week or every 2 weeks … But because of massive work we do especially during editing period , and because of the time and rest they need to concentrate and think on new creative ideas, employees usually ignore cleaning process .
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Question : Do media creativity firms apply different workflow plan because employees there need a creative environment where they can’t spend their energy on tiresome activities like cleaning ? Thus : Do I have to hire a professional cleaning stuff to maintain my staff creativity energy ?.
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20 Replies
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Sometimes, very small-scale operations do things a little differently than regular companies. I guess I can see where in a family-owned shop, everybody pitches-in to handle whatever needs doing, in support of the team and the overall enterprise.
That being said, my initial reaction to your situation is twofold:
If your team are real professionals, you are wasting their time and your money by diverting them from editing, which contributes to the bottom line, to do general housekeeping duties. My take on the management/worker situation is that the workers are there to work at a specific service or product, and the management is there to support that work, to enable it to be done, and direct it. IF anybody should be mopping floors and cleaning carpets in that tiny group situation, then, it should be the manager/owner, leaving his people to do what they’ve been hired to do. Whether you look at manuals for corporate leadership, military command, or the Bible, true management, true leaders, earn the respect of the managed, by not making them do anything they themselves wouldn’t do. The first will be last, the last will be first, and so on. Making the staff do menial, off-topic work of such a trivial nature, tells them you don’t value their contribution, that they are just human capital you choose to use in any way you want. I’m not even going to ask if you pay them extra for the off-topic duty.
My second reaction is that if your budget is so tight you can’t afford to find part-time cleaning staff from Craigslist or some local shelter/halfway house to do the scutwork, you have more serious problems than dirty rugs or unwashed dishes in the break room. People are standing in the streets everywhere, begging for any kind of honest work, and you can’t find someone affordable to clean the shop twice a month? Really? No young students willing to take minimum wage? No single moms? No retirees needing a little extra side income? No sheltered workshop for good, hard-working people with developmental disabilities? No unemployed veterans? No ex-cons needing a fresh start? No homeless, just needing a hand up?
The “creativity” of your staff is not in question here. And how messy their work environment might be, is not the issue.
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I hesitate to use a sports metaphor here, but in line with Mark’s first paragraph, when you’ve got editors doing housekeeping, in baseball terms, you have your pitchers selling peanuts in the stands. Not a great idea, and not cost-effective – however – in terms of things such as cleaning the monitors, and keeping the editing work area policed for empty bottles, food wrappers, etc., they should indeed be expected to keep their specific work area clean.
Depending on how dusty and dirty the air is in your area, it might be a good idea to do some daily light dusting (I have always kept a small 1.5 inch paintbrush hanging near audio boards, keyboards, and control surfaces for regular daily intricate dusting that you don’t want a vacuum cleaner near) in the technical work area. If this is done daily, by you or by each shift of editors, the work will be very light, and you won’t run the risk of having your monitors cleaned with Bon-Ami.
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
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Fair Enough , Very respectable point , thank you both.
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Hey Osama,
My take on this; if you want the staff to do share the cleaning duties, take the lead, be a leader, and pick up the broom first and show them that you are willing to share.
Although, I must admit that I thought that your post was initially a joke: As in the having that amount of people in the office, it would be a Health and Safety issue if cleaning office/toilets/kitchen, emptying bins and general tidy up was not done daily…
You may find that not employing a cleaner will in the long run have more of your employees go off ill and thereby slowing down or even stopping money earning projects. Which I’m sure that even you can see, would be a false economy.
All the Best
Mads@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk -
Thank you Mad .
Well , daily cleaning duties you mentioned are usually done , … but still : There is always a need for general cleaning of the floors and carpets because of the dust .. etc ; .. it might not take more than 2 hours .. , but it takes a lot of energy so you can’t work for the rest of the day ..
I am saying that because I was an employee too , .. and an energy consuming process like this ( physical and psychological) will make me either playing games for the rest 2 days , or maybe surfing web without any goal … ; because media industry needs creativity , and my mind stops creating new ideas when the body energy is too low ..
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[Osama Ommey] “Question : Do media creativity firms apply different workflow plan because employees there need a creative environment where they can’t spend their energy on tiresome activities like cleaning ? Thus : Do I have to hire a professional cleaning stuff to maintain my staff creativity energy ?”
In my case, staff of 6, we clean the offices ourselves. Generally Friday afternoon. My Production Manager and Media Specialist take care of the “big floors” (hallway / kitchen) and the bathrooms. The general staff clean their rooms and the other creative spaces. That includes me.
The appearance of the space is the first impression a client has when they walk in the door whether they’re a new client or returning client. The space HAS to look good. If a cleaning is required any morning before a client arrives, it’s all hands on deck to clean up.
For the outdoors we have a landscaping crew that comes in every two weeks to take care of the lawns, but inside, it’s all us.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative MediaCraft and Career Advice & Training from real Working Creative Professionals
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all good answers, my only additions to this is it might depend on how the company is structured. If you are making all the profits, and the editors are simply hired hourly, or per job, it’s really your job to hire a cleaning crew, or do it yourself. If these folks are all partners in this business, and share in the profits, then it either should be a joint effort, or you should all agree to pay for a cleaning service. Remember that Gandhi cleaned toilets too.
Your comments of, “cleaning is so hard that a few hours of it makes me tired for the rest of the day.” sounds like whining. I’ve known too many women who wake up at dawn, get a bunch of kids off to school, clean all day and take care of dinner, to hear you say that you are ‘tired out’ from cleaning a small office for a few hours. That comment should be kept to yourself.
I always cleaned my studio myself, frankly. But I ended up marrying a woman who was crazy about cleaning so she always beats me to it at home (G). Lucky me.
Al
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Hey Al , thank you for reply
Well , I am the owner and the others are employees , they work by salary but there is no shifts , there are just deadlines and they’re free to work whenever they want : Morning , noon , night ….
I know many women similar to the one you mentioned , but the difference is : They don’t have other work to concentrate on ! Their full time job is housekeeping … And yes it makes you tired because this job is not like carpentry , blacksmithing , or even walmart cashier … , It’s a very sensitive job which needs full concentration and full body energy and perfect mental state to give the best creativity you have … , so you might not be tired physically , but such activity makes your will to work very low !
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[Osama Ommey] “I know many women similar to the one you mentioned , but the difference is : They don’t have other work to concentrate on !”
Wow… if this weren’t such a predominantly-male forum I’d say that someone just kicked a hornet’s nest. Hard.
Just glad it wasn’t me. 🙂
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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[Osama Ommey] ” It’s a very sensitive job which needs full concentration and full body energy and perfect mental state to give the best creativity you have … , so you might not be tired physically , but such activity makes your will to work very low !”
This is also a job that requires you to get out of the office and the edit suites multiple times per day to stay fresh. That’s why we have four different types of coffee makers, oversized kitchen / game room, 1 acre backyard and so on. To allow our creatives the opportunity to take a 5 – 15 minute break to re-fresh their mental slate.
Cleaning the office is part of that. My employees take ownership of the facility and they take pride in just how well the facility shows to our clients, both new and old. The weekly cleaning re-enforces that we are a family, all working together, all helping to keep each other’s back.
Editors and Creatives are not prima donnas, they can pick up a broom and a mop if need be.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative MediaCraft and Career Advice & Training from real Working Creative Professionals
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