Cottage Season Is Here: Maintaining Your Office While Staff Take Holidays

The air smells of sunscreen, Slack statuses are dotted with little tent icons, and Friday afternoons feel suspiciously quiet—welcome to cottage season. In Canada, July and August come with a mass exodus to lakeside docks and family road trips, leaving office managers juggling lighter headcounts, flexible schedules, and the very real need to keep the workplace running smoothly. At Arelli Cleaning, we understand the Value of Clean and the calm efficiency it brings to businesses year-round. Below, we’ve pulled together practical ways to keep your facility spotless and your team productive—even when half of them share photos from Muskoka.

1. Map the Summer Workflow Before the Rush

If you’ve ever tried to arrange coverage after everyone’s booked their holidays, you know how quickly internal chaos can spiral into a visible mess: overflowing bins, dusty reception areas, and no one around who “usually takes care of that.” Get ahead of the rush by:

• Gather vacation calendars early. Ask department heads for confirmed time-off dates by the end of May.
• Highlighting peak traffic weeks. Customer-facing teams often stagger holidays differently from back-office staff. Overlay these calendars to identify true low-occupancy days.
• Creating "skeleton crew" job aids. A concise checklist—where cleaning supplies are stored, whom to call for HVAC issues, and how to report spills—reduces friction when fewer people are on site.

Early visibility lets you match cleaning frequency to real-world foot traffic, reducing unnecessary service calls while ensuring the office never dips below your hygiene standards.

2. Flex Your Cleaning Schedule, Don't Slash It

It’s tempting to cancel cleanings altogether when desks sit empty. Still, dusty workstations and stale air undermine morale the minute everyone returns, not to mention the pollen and picnic crumbs that inevitably hitch a ride back from cottage country. Instead:

Flex-scheduling keeps costs proportional to usage while ensuring critical tasks, like washroom sanitization and garbage removal, never lapse. Ask your provider if they can scale crews week-to-week; Arelli Cleaning’s “system-based & empowered” crews were designed for precisely this kind of agility.

3. Prevent 'Return-to-Work Whiplash' With Strategic Deep Cleans

The week before headcount spikes again is your golden window to tackle projects that are too disruptive during normal operations:

1. Carpet extraction to lift embedded sand and allergens.
2. HVAC vent dust-downs for fresher air and fewer late-summer sniffles.
3. Strip & wax hard floors to erase scuffs from rolling luggage and patio furniture.
4. High-dusting light fixtures - spider webs love a quiet office ceiling.

By scheduling these one-off tasks while hallways are quiet, you avoid overtime premiums and Monday-morning chemical smells, presenting returning staff with a brand-new space.

4. Keep Productivity Blooming (Even When People Are Poolside)

Cleanliness and productivity travel hand-in-hand year-round, but summer adds unique friction points:

• Hot-desk hygiene kits. Stock each workstation cluster with disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer so rotating employees can reset their area quickly.
• Clear-desk policy reminders. Encourage staff to file paperwork and food wrappers before leaving on holiday; it deters both pests and privacy headaches.
• Touch-point wipe-downs at midday. Door handles, elevator buttons, and shared fridges see higher use from gig-workers and visitors popping in—short burst cleans keep germs in check.
• Out-of-office auto-replies that redirect. Fewer internal delays equal fewer abandoned coffee mugs.

A tidy, predictable environment supports focus for those still on the clock, and it signals respect for colleagues covering extra workload.

5. Communicate Like a Lakeside Host

The most immaculate cleaning routine fails if staff don’t know what to expect. Borrow from cottage hospitality:

• Pre-holiday memos outlining any adjusted washroom or kitchenette hours.
• Digital signage in the lobby announcing deep-clean dates to prepare sensitive departments (think: IT server rooms).
• Feedback channels - Arelli’s app allows real-time ticketing so remaining employees can flag spills or supply shortages without chasing supervisors.

Transparency prevents "I thought facilities had it" excuses and keeps minor issues from snowballing.

6. Partner With Cleaners Who Care®

Summer is a sprint for office managers; reliable partners take half the baton. By choosing a provider that:

• Offers no-contract flexibility (ideal for fluctuating schedules)
• Trains local crews for ownership of your unique space, and
• Uses quality-control checklists compliant with industry standards

You ensure professional oversight while freeing internal staff to tackle core business. As the Cleaners Who Care, Arelli Cleaning backs every service with “free sample cleans” so you can see the difference before committing. Check out our office cleaning services to see how we can help.

7. Quick Checklist: Your Summer Office Action Plan

1. Collect all vacation dates by June 30^th.
2. Match cleaning frequency to projected occupancy.
3. Book deep-clean add-ons for low-traffic weeks.
4. Equip hot-desks with hygiene kits and remind staff to clear surfaces.
5. Notify employees of schedule changes via email and lobby screens.
6. Escalate unexpected issues through a real-time app.
7. Welcome everyone back to a fresh, energized workspace.

The Bottom Line

Cottage season shouldn’t mean cutting corners. With proactive planning, flexible cleaning schedules, and open communication, you can safeguard hygiene and productivity, keeping operations humming while your team recharges by the lake. And when September rolls around, your sparkling carpets and spotless kitchens will say, "Welcome back—let’s hit the ground running."

Ready to tailor a summer-proof cleaning strategy? Request your free sample clean today and discover how Arelli’s crews turn quiet months into standout first impressions.