2022 is here, which opens up the doors for new possibilities with your maintenance department. The slate is wiped clean with a renewed budget and an opportunity to improve your maintenance practices. One of the biggest New Year’s resolutions you can make for your facility this year is to clear out your maintenance backlog before the end of winter.
The maintenance backlog is one of the trickiest things for a facility manager to handle. A completely empty backlog can invite just as much trouble as one that is backed up for six months. Below are some tips to clean up your backlog and bring it back to a manageable level:
Step 1 – Remove outdated work orders.
If your backlog has been sitting idly for several months, there are likely service requests that have either been completed, need modifications, or are duplicated due to multiple unanswered requests. Take a fine-toothed comb to your backlog to ensure everything in there is relevant to your maintenance team.
Step 2 – Update all work order information.
Some maintenance requests may have been skipped because the work order had incomplete information. If you see work orders that are incomplete or lack information for your maintenance team to use, contact the original requester to complete the order and get it back on the service list.
Step 3 – Prioritize
Once you’ve cleared away all of the incomplete and irrelevant work order requests, you must sit down and prioritize them by importance and date of request. This should be done with your maintenance team to determine what will take the most time and resources versus what can be knocked out easily or is not actually a priority.
Step 4 – Execute
With an organized backlog in place, it’s time to start scheduling your services. This can take some time but is worth the effort to take that stress off of you in the new year. Your maintenance team can knock out different services for your HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and roofing systems in a matter of days or weeks, and can help you start fresh with a new backlog of relevant preventative repairs.
Step 5 – Reflect and schedule preventative maintenance
With a cleared backlog from 2021, you can start refilling your maintenance requests with future services based on your preventative maintenance schedule. This turns your backlog into a tool for scheduling and sticking to your maintenance plan, rather than a constant reminder of all you still have to get done. If you follow this plan, you’ll actually be happy to use your backlog for the maintenance schedule in 2022.
MaintenX can help you organize your maintenance schedule for a more seamless experience in preventative care. To learn more about our preventative services, contact your local MaintenX!
