Imagine you’re on the phone with a prospective employee, trying to find a good time for an interview. They throw out some dates, and you check to make sure you’re free. Once you pick a time, you jot it down — whether it’s on your calendar, your phone, or a notepad — before you even hang up.

Why? Because if you didn’t, you’d forget. External reminders make sure things get done.

The same is true for inspections.

For janitorial and facilities teams, inspections are the heart of quality control. They’re how you know your team is doing a great job. Rather than having a nagging thought in the back of your mind that you should inspect more often, you’ll know (and be able to prove) you’re managing quality control effectively.

Here are a few other ways that scheduling inspections helps teams succeed, plus some tips for getting started.

Scheduling inspections gives you a big-picture plan.

How often do each of your sites and areas need to be inspected? Which forms should the inspectors use? Who’s responsible for getting each inspection done?

Sit down and answer those three questions. Done? Congratulations: you’ve just created the framework for your team’s quality control process.

Of course, you can always adjust things later, or schedule one-off inspections when you hear about a problem or want to double-check a certain area. But when you have a big-picture schedule of inspections, it helps you ensure you’ve set aside the right resources.

Scheduling gets everyone on the same page.

A good schedule eliminates confusion so that everyone can do their jobs well. Inspectors know exactly what they’re responsible for doing, and when it needs to be done by, without any micromanaging.

A scheduling system paired with your inspection software puts all the data in one place; for example, in OrangeQC, inspectors can find a list of all the inspections they have due soon. You can also use tools like shared online calendars, although they won’t be linked to the inspections themselves.

Scheduling creates accountability.

When you have a written record of where an inspection should be done, who it needs to be done by, and when it’s due, there’s no room for confusion. Things are either done on time or not.

There are three parts to this accountability:

  • Management is accountable for making sure inspectors have the time they need to get their inspections done.
  • Inspectors are accountable for getting the inspections done on time.
  • Cleaners are accountable for making sure their areas pass routine inspections.

This clarity empowers team members to own the quality control process. Everyone can focus on their piece of the puzzle and know when they’ve done a good job.

Scheduling helps you deliver excellent service.

And isn’t that the whole point? Any tool you use should support your team’s mission to make sure facilities are well maintained.

When you routinely inspect your facilities, you ensure things are up to your promised standards. You catch problems before anyone else even notices them. You can help cleaners improve by letting them know when they’re doing a great job, or when they’re dropping the ball on certain tasks. And you leave a paper trail that proves to clients or partners that you’re on top of things.

Scheduling inspections doesn’t take long, but it’s hard to overstate its impact. If you’re not an OrangeQC customer, we hope you’ll sign up for your free trial and see for yourself how a simple scheduling tool can be a game-changer. And if you’re already using OrangeQC but haven’t started scheduling your inspections, check out our guide to scheduling inspections to get started quickly.