Last week we suggested that working with an outside party to develop a ready-to-use quality program is the route we’d recommend. Today we’ll discuss some of the advantages of such a decision and what they could mean for your organization.

It’s all about resources, resources, resources. When you develop your own program, you may intend to save money without realizing the large commitment of resources that such programs require. A ready-to-use quality program will (if it’s a good program) include introductory training, automated data collection devices (iPads & other handheld devices), and online access to reporting. In other words, a good program will provide you with its own resources, so you don’t have to tie up any of your own.

Another mark of a good quality assurance program: it will be developed by professionals with a similar background to yours. The program should be designed specifically for the cleaning industry/custodial industry and it should have input from people who have actually worked in this field. Otherwise, you’ll waste time adjusting the program to fit your needs.

Another advantage: professional developers will keep you on the cutting edge of technology. Developers of quality assurance programs will compete with one another to stay up-to-date with their use of technology. The benefits get passed along to you.

Lastly, the program should be customizable. Just as you shouldn’t waste your time with programs developed by people unfamiliar with the cleaning industry, you shouldn’t buy a program that can’t be fitted to your facility’s needs. A good developer will help tailor your program without sapping any of your internal resources, and that’s the ultimate goal: to achieve the best possible quality assurance program, one that meets your exact needs, without draining valuable resources from your own department.

In the next installment, we’ll talk about the challenges of working with an outside developer to make a quality assurance program, and how you can navigate those challenges. Thanks for sticking with us!