TIME & MOTION STUDY | How to Improve Housekeeping Efficiency

By Standard Textile
This article was published in WHLA's 2025 InnTouch with WHLA Magazine and repurposed from an article originally published by Standard Textile.

Reducing the time a task takes to complete, even slightly, can significantly boost productivity. For instance, if a housekeeper reduces room cleaning time by just 1 minute, they save 3,900 minutes or 65 hours yearly (assuming 5 workdays per week, 15 rooms per day). That’s over 8 full workdays saved per year from just a 1-minute improvement.

Given ongoing staffing shortages, hospitality professionals should continually seek ways to enhance housekeeping efficiency. One effective approach is conducting a housekeeping time and motion study to evaluate and improve processes.

What is a Housekeeping Time and Motion Study?

Time studies involve observing a repetitive task and recording how the task was performed and how long the task took to complete. Studies observe a variety of workers completing the same set of tasks, allowing for the calculation of an average time to completion.

To take the study even further, you can also record the body movements and distance a worker traveled during each step. This is what’s known as a time & motion study, and it allows for a greater opportunity to identify inefficiencies, since it helps tell the story behind the time stamps.
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Time and motion studies are common in manufacturing due to the repetitive nature of tasks. Similarly, housekeeping, with its predictable patterns and consistent tasks, is an ideal candidate for these studies.

Benefits of Housekeeping Time and Motion Studies

Time and motion studies offer numerous benefits, such as:
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• Identifying Training Opportunities: They reveal inconsistencies in task performance, highlighting areas for additional training and standardization.
  
  
• Reducing Injuries: By pinpointing activities that contribute to common injuries (e.g., back or wrist issues), studies help refine procedures to prioritize safety.
  
  
• Enhancing Guest Experience: Streamlining room cleaning ensures consistent cleanliness and reduces delays, leading to greater guest satisfaction.
  
  
• Improving Staff Morale: Involving housekeeping staff in process improvements fosters collaboration, making their work simpler and more rewarding.
  
  
• Identifying Bottlenecks: Studies identify the most time-consuming tasks, enabling targeted improvements. For example, one study found bed-making accounted for nearly 23% of housekeepers’ time, twice as much as the next task.

Steps to Conduct a Time and Motion Study

To maximize the effectiveness of a time and motion study, follow these steps:
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1. Define Your Goal: Clearly outline what you aim to achieve, such as understanding task durations, assessing staffing levels, or identifying training needs.
   
   
2. Determine the Scope: Decide how many rooms, room types, or floors to observe, and whether to gather detailed notes or focus solely on timing tasks.
   
   
3. Create an Observation Form: Standardized forms ensure consistency, particularly if multiple observers are involved.
   
   
4. Select Participants: Choose trained, experienced staff representative of your team. Conduct the study during a typical day to ensure realistic observations.
   
   
5. Avoid the Hawthorne Effect: The Hawthorne Effect is when subjects alter their behavior because they know they are being watched. To minimize this, explain the study’s purpose to staff beforehand, emphasizing its benefits for efficiency and their daily routines.

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Post-Study Actions

After completing the study, analyze the data for patterns and outliers. Use the findings to address inefficiencies, develop training programs, and refine processes. Engage your staff by discussing the results and inviting their input on potential improvements.
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Additionally, plan for regular time and motion studies. Continuous observation helps track the impact of changes and uncovers new opportunities for refinement, ensuring ongoing improvements in efficiency and productivity.

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This article was originally featured in the 2025 InnTouch with WHLA magazine.

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