Among the roughly 215 linen, uniform and facility services operator and supplier partners who attended five, 90-minute online TRSA Regional Town Hall sessions on March 30, 31 and April 1, pretty much everyone could agree on two things. First, they’re relieved that the economy in most parts of the U.S. has begun to emerge from last year’s COVID-19-related shutdowns. However, there also were widespread concerns expressed that a severe labor shortage could stymie the recovery.

If you want to achieve continuous improvement for your linen, uniform and facility services company, a good place to start is developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and work instructions. The benefits of having SOPs in place include standardization, communication and clarity between departments, plus a regular process for training and onboarding new employees. SOPs also can help your company show customers that your quality system is sound. Another plus is that they can help staff meet qualifications for certification programs, such as Hygienically Clean.

Every Friday, John Ross, president and CEO at Mission Linen Supply, Santa Barbara, CA, kicks off his COVID-19 response team meeting with the same question: “Who has good news?”

This is about a cover up – get it –  planning with a mask … had to say that. A chance to be silly – we need that. The challenging times continue with the kids at home, you at home, things shutting down or not, office workers working at the office in shifts, bathrooms restricted by zones. Doing business is difficult. Do not forget about the wearing of the mask … and then there is Zoom, GoToMeeting, Skype and it all goes on. For the holidays, we generated some kind of gathering and for most of us it was not a typical holiday.

TRSA recently held a webinar titled, “Applying Experience Driven Design® to Drive Revenue and Profit Growth.” The hour-long webinar was hosted by Barbara Lawrence, co-founder and managing partner of Lubin Lawrence Inc., a growth strategy consultancy based in New York.

January’s Textile Services magazine will feature an article on developing quality manuals, a key element of certification programs, such as TRSA’s Hygienically Clean program. An abbreviated version of the article, written by Audrey Carmichael, senior client consultant for Six Disciplines, appears below.