Perfect Office: Clean Keyboards

This is the first installment of my plan to write entries about my perfect office, e.g. the dream. My friend April and I were talking about our fantasy company a couple of weeks ago and we kept coming back to the environment we'd provide for our employees. It seemed to us that as part of treating them like professionals, the office itself plays a huge role. So without further ado ...

I've always been rather disappointed with the janitorial services provided in all of the offices I've worked in, whether it be work study at a college, a shared office at Microsoft, co-workers taking turns at a dot bomb, or my current place at a growing corporation. What typically happens is the floors get cleaned and maybe they dust the furniture. By the way, I'm not going to go into the restrooms ... that's a whole other entry.

In the perfect building, cubes/offices are cleaned weekly while workers are away. This would presumably be early in the morning, say around 3:00am when even the most stalwart subject is passed out on a bunk in one of the quiet rooms. Cleaners would refrain from shifting anything around on peoples' desks while carefully working their magic. Keyboards will be switched for fresh ones of the same make and model so that they can be thoroughly disinfected and made almost new. For keyboards without doubles this will be done in place as best as possible. Monitors are also wiped down and machinery is tenderly vacuumed to remove dust from fans, drives, etc.

Now when you start your week, your work area is pristine and the keys are not sticky beneath your touch. You'll be healthier in the long run and fresh in the short, ready to churn out some quality work.