When a cleaner is sick: a backup plan in 15 minutes

What you need

• A list of your team and the places you clean
• One short job card per place (you will write it below)
• Any AI chat assistant
• A spreadsheet or a sheet of paper for the backup list

1. Write the backup list on a calm day

   For every person on the team: which jobs they can take over, which areas they can reach, and the best way to reach them early in the morning. Ask before you put anyone on the list.

2. Mark what cannot move

   For each regular job, write whether it has a fixed time (a guest check-in, an inspection, an office that opens) or can move to another day. Fixed jobs are covered first.

3. Keep one job card per place

   A stand-in should not have to call you. One card says how to get in, what done looks like and where the supplies are.

   Weak

   Clean flat 4.

   Better

   Flat 4: key from the key box, code with the owner. Change the beds, bathroom first. Supplies in the hall cupboard. Send a photo of the kitchen when done.

4. When the call comes, paste and plan

   Paste the backup list, today’s jobs and who is off into the prompt below. You get a new plan, the order of jobs and a draft message for each person and each client.

5. Tell clients early and plainly

   A short honest message before the usual start time keeps trust. Say who is coming instead and what stays the same. Do not share why the person is off: “unwell” is enough.

   Weak

   Small delay today, sorry.

   Better

   Our usual cleaner is unwell today. [Name] from our team will come at [time] instead, with the same checklist. If that time does not suit you, reply and we will move it.

6. Fix the list the same evening

   Write down what was missing: a code nobody had, a job card that was unclear, a person who could not be reached. Update the list while you still remember.

Copy it into any AI chat assistant and change only the first line.

Change only this line: OFF_TODAY = [the morning cleaner on the north route]

You help a cleaning business reorganise the day because OFF_TODAY is off sick.
Below I paste the team and backup list (name, jobs they can do, areas they reach, hours they can work today) and today's jobs (place, start time, fixed or can move, how long it usually takes). If I do not give travel times between places, treat them as unknown.

Do four things, in this order:
1. PLAN: give every fixed job to someone who can reach it in time. Then place the jobs that can move. If a job cannot be covered, say so clearly instead of squeezing it in.
2. ORDER: for each person, list their jobs today in order with start times.
3. MESSAGES: write one short message to each team member with their new jobs, and one message to each affected client: who comes instead, when, and that the checklist is the same. Do not mention health details.
4. CHECK: list anything I must confirm before sending: keys, codes, a client who must agree to a new time.

Use only the information I give you. Do not invent people, times or travel distances. Ask me up to three questions first if something is missing.

Paste your material below this line:

Copy the instruction

A backup list and job cards you write once, and a fifteen-minute routine on the morning someone calls in sick: new plan, clear messages, no client left guessing.

• Waiting until the job should start before telling the client.
• Sending a stand-in without a job card, so they have to call you from the door.
• Telling clients why the person is off. Their health is private.
• Putting someone on the backup list without asking them first.