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I think it's ill-mannered to tell someone that is cleaning for you to do a better job. However, how can I tell them that they probably missed a spot, without offending them? For example, when they sweep the floor and miss bread crumbs.

I'm a student in university with my own office, so the cleaning person is not paid by me personally.

Em C
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infinitezero
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  • @EmC - for multiple reasons. For instance, there's no culture information. There's no mention of the OP's relation with the cleaning person. – Mithical Dec 07 '17 at 14:15
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    @ArwenUndómiel If there's not enough detail in the question, it's customary to ask for it in the comments before closing it down. Just stabbing the VTC button with no feedback does nothing to tell the questioner what details to add in order for their question to be answered. –  Dec 07 '17 at 14:42
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    Right now it seems like a legit question, with the addition of the circumstances (university student, cleaning staff) – Maxim Dec 07 '17 at 20:04
  • Before reopening, can you add where this is located? US, I presume? Because I think people there can take blunt feedback better than Asian culture. – Vylix Dec 08 '17 at 02:53
  • It depends very much on the country or region and the nationality (or similar) of the persons. I.e. if this would happen in Germany or in Thailand with people from those countries the answer would be very different. –  Dec 08 '17 at 10:10

2 Answers2

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If there are any serious health concerns, like if your office is adjacent to a lab that works with biological materials (and therefore probably warrants a more thorough cleaning process), it would be worthwhile finding the facilities manager or administrator of the building and asking them to remind the cleaners to take more care.

If it's something a little less dangerous, it might be worth waiting to see if they miss it again, to see if they are deliberately doing so. Instead of saying "this is something you should be doing", ask them if it is something they CAN do, so as to not come across as accusing. If the answer is no, have a word with the people above.

It will vary between university or what country you're in; when I was at university, we had cleaners that would clean the curtains, floor etc. but were not permitted to touch the electronics in any way. For some Health & Safety rule, specific cleaners were needed for those. Ask around and find out if any such rules apply for you.

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Normally you'd go through the department involved.

For us, it's the facilities department. If something wasn't cleaned that should have been, I'll tell them. It's then up to them how they convey that to the cleaning team.

If the cleaner is in the room with you and you see them missing something, then you could ask them if they could work a little harder on "that" spot. Otherwise the cleaner might say "Well, he/she watched me do that and didn't say anything".