I’ve been batching non-urgent work orders into a 3-hour block from 10–1 on turnover days, and it’s cut idle vendor time about 20% while keeping overtime near zero… Curious if anyone has a better way to schedule preventive tasks and small repairs so we hit same-day turns without paying rush rates.
We run a 9:45 triage call before a 10–12:30 block so techs lock the sequence and pre-stage parts; anything estimated over 25 minutes gets bumped to the next PM window, and a strict “no parts, no start” rule with unit bins keeps the wrench from chasing its tail. Small caveat: ending by 12:30 gives us buffer for surprises and supply-house runs without rush rates — worth trying?
I’d split your 10–1 into ‘wet first, dry later’: hit anything needing a shutoff or P-trap at 10:00 before cleaners return, then sweep quick dry tasks (filters, GFCIs, doorstops) by floor stack. We cap those to 12 minutes each and auto-deflect anything longer into the next PM window, which cut idle time about 20% and kept same-day turns above 90%. Only caveat: hold a 12:45 parts buffer so the last unit doesn’t bleed into OT, @david_gre13.
I tried batching similar tasks and found that handling appliance repairs in the earlier block before cleaning helps keep things flowing. It’s tricky to fit everything within a tight schedule, but separating by trade really helps. Curious if @david_gre13 has had similar luck with appliance timing?