Soft Service Solutions

19/09/2023

I've just completed this free course as part of my research to recommend an auditing system for a client.

An interesting auditing system from BICSc, not to be confused with a cleaning inspection also often referred to as a cleaning audit.

Have a look and when you are looking for support with setting up a contract or company auditing system and need someone to do it for you, get in touch.

It's all part of the Soft Service Solutions Limited service.

Looking at the basis of a cleaning and hygiene audit and how to record your findings using the BICSc Cleaning and Hygiene Audit App - from creating an account through to understanding the auto-generated, downloadable report at the end.

19/07/2023

And today's guest for Chris Guilfoyle's podcast is.
Me.

Here's a taster of what's going live at 1pm today.

I'd never met Chris before the day I went to his offices in Sittingbourne to record the episode.

It is part of his strategy because there are no misconceptions or history between him and his guests, which means the conversation is as natural as it can be.

He made me very comfortable and although he had a basic agenda the conversation flowed easily and before I knew it time aas up.

I haven't seen or heard any of it until yesterday when this taster arrived and I'm looking forward to seeing the finished podcast.

Anyone who knows me will know that I'm open and honest, so there are things in here that tell my journey through over 30 years in the cleaning industry, the highs and lows, the success and failure that have shaped my career and the person I am today.

Look out for the full podcast, in the meantime enjoy this snippet of our conversation.

30/12/2022

How the Brussels Sprouts you buy affect your approach to sustainability.

Soft Service Solutions provide specialist technical and interim support to the FM industry, with a particular focus on how services can be achieved sustainably.

09/11/2022

Yesterday I was one of the few, six people including me were invited to the THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANERS Court Meeting to be presented with my Award Certificate as a Chartered Environmental Cleaner.

I'll try not to bore you but it's one step towards improving recognition for the cleaning industry and for the people in it.

To say I'm proud is understating it slightly.

29/10/2022

Why plastic is a problem, no matter what we do or where we do it plastic is involved somewhere.

22/09/2022

Real Living Wage announced, is it enough?

The Living Wage Foundation has announced an increase in the Real Living Wage in London to £11.95 (7.5%) per hour and outside London to £10.90 (9.1%) effective...

26/06/2022

Something that has been bothering me for a while now.

Quite a few people when mentioning parkrun capitalise the 'p' or write it as two words.

parkrun should be spelt as one word with the 'p' in lower case.

Why?

Here's the official reason: 'parkrun is written as one word with a lowercase ‘p’, representing the simplicity and inclusivity of the organization and the events.

Everyone plays a part in creating the distinctive parkrun environment.'

You can see it for yourself by following the link.

https://blog.parkrun.com/us/2018/03/06/the-little-p-mentality/ #:~:text=parkrun%20is%20written%20as%20one,creating%20the%20distinctive%20parkrun%20environment.

It's the attention to detail that will set you apart from your competitors, that will win or lose you business.

Small things like how or when a letter on a word is capitalised will give you the edge you might be looking for.

Most people involved with parkrun want to shout about it from the rooftops because they want everyone to know how much they like it — as an event, a community, a concept. But the culture and ethos of parkrun is more reserved and humble, reflecting the nature of its founder. parkrun is written as o...

13/06/2022

Today should be the worst day of discomfort following Saturday's Saxon Shore Relay, where I ran four legs of between 1.8 and 3 miles.

Each one was over an hour apart, which meant that getting going again with no time to prepare (warm up) before them - in one case jump out of the drivers seat to be tagged and set off.

I have been a runner for nearly 30 years, nearly as long as I have been in the Cleaning/Soft Facility Services industry.

Being a competative runner (top 10% in my area/age) I have needed to learn a lot about running, how to run, when to and when not to run, running technique and style, diet, supliments, drinks, when to drink and when not to, how much to drink, the risk of drinking too much water, and a whole lot more learned from experience and just as importantly the experience of other runners.

I have had to learn about my body and how to treat it, how to treat injuries, how to be patient while injuries heal, or how to be patient and not train too fast/hard too soon.

In my world of work, I have applied the same principles.

I won't go into detail, however I have learnt about the technicalities of cleaning, window cleaning, waste management, pest management/control, ground maintenence, laundry systems, workwear, flag and flag pole maintenence.

Each one of those services has a great many individual topics to learn, understand and manage.

Each one is an ever changing, ever evolving service that has to be kept up with for me to be conversant with the latest technologies and thchniques so that I know those that will best suit the people I work with and for, whether they be a small or big operation.

So, like today's run, there are different ways of approching how an event is trained for, or a soft service managed.

Thirty years of accumulated learning and experience gives me the knowlage and understanding of what to do to get the best result.

To find out more about what I do please visit my website https://lnkd.in/eqKwkj4.



Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/1IOg7ii4Oqb

Check out my run on Strava.

06/06/2022

I updated my screens today from the two that I had in addition to my Laptop/tablet.

One (right) was from a family computer that we bought at least 15 years ago, the other I salvaged from a room where it had been dumped while working as the Soft Service Manager at the University of London over ten years ago.

They've served me well but with ever developing technologies the definition that they had was not keeping up with the modern world, which is one reason for the upgrade.

The other reason was to upgrade to more environmentally sustainable technologies because the new ones are more energy efficient.

One other reason, which is purely aesthetic is that it evens up my office setup.

28/04/2022

Today was one of those 'just do it' days.

I was debating going for a short run, did I have time, should I start working instead, was it too cold (nearly tipped the balance) will I be able to run later.

Then, I gave myself a talking to and went out into the chilly bright morning that I really don't have the kit for but was so worthwhile.

When mobilising a contract I yoyo through the highs of achievement and the frustrating lows of other peoples decisions, decisions that I have no control over, just like I have no control over their expectation.

While I can usually manage their expectation, it is less likely that I can influence a decision that I have had no part in being made.

It is still a frustration, particularly when a lot of work has to be undone, or in the case of yesterday amending to include the decision of someone else that could with just five days to go have left us floundering.

However, the concerns have been overcome for nor and it's on to another busy day mobilising this contract for Q3 Services.

I do still need several cleaning operatives for the Brighton and Hove area, so please tell people you know to search 'Q3 services' and 'Brighton' on Indeed to see the advertisement.

To find out more about what I do please visit my website www.softservicesolutions.co.uk and please click like and subscribe to my YouTube Channel.



https://youtu.be/Ioc11NjQflw

I am Adam Cowper-Smith, the owner and principal consultant for Soft Service Solutions - a Company that gives practical consultancy advice and support within ...

19/02/2022

After the joys and after math of storm Eunice yesterday today is a bit calmer and it's my wife's birthday.

A quite morning with a visit from some friends who used to be next door neighbours and more work on my ( ) submission.

My plans for tomorrow were thwarted this afternoon when the race I was expecting to run was cancelled, which means a rethink of my training plans, although it might be a blessing in disguise with next weeks longer tougher cross country race on Saturday.

Interestingly I am writing about the need to re-evaluate and adjust a mobilisation that I was working on two years ago and the outcome of it.

Also, I was amazed at the number of people that viewed a post I shared about the app, over 1150 people viewed it I'm pleased to say, that and another one for which became a phenomenon in an afternoon.

When you watch the video update, which is on YouTube so that you can see subtitles, please like and subscribe to my channel so that you are informed of future updates.

https://youtu.be/oepS69lb8jA

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I am Adam Cowper-Smith, the owner and principal consultant for Soft Service Solutions - a Company that gives practical consultancy advice and support within ...

11/12/2021

On Wednesday one of my colleagues tested positive for Covid-19.

On the day they were working from home but had been into the office on Tuesday and in close proximity to me.

They thought they had a cold and as they were coughing and sneezing I wore a mask as a precaution.

This person has refused to have a vaccination despite my encouragement to do so, particularly as it puts a team of over 50 people at risk either directly or indirectly.

However, with all we do as managers of people, it is how we respond to situations rather than looking to apportion blame.

Following Government guidance, I am leading by example.

The guidance since Wednesday is for anyone who has been in close contact to someone who has tested positive to take a Lateral Flow Test daily from the day that they could have become infected themselves.

I have also given instruction to the managers and supervisors to tell all of our colleagues on the contract to test daily, although I have stopped short of insisting that checks are made to ensure that they have but have it in reserve if needed.

As I didn't find out until late on Wednesday, I have taken one for the last three days and I'm pleased to day that they are all negative, which means I can get my booster today as planned.