The Scandinavians have a lot to teach us. The ground crew are ALWAYS waiting when you come onto stand so you have the confidence not to start the APU at all. As soon as the brakes go on, the cable is hooked up within seconds, and you can shut down engines. It saves 50% cycles on APUs which are quite unreliable anyway.
I watched the groundcrew de-icing at ARN a few months ago. Quick, efficient, and the moment the plane pushed, a truck went in ever decreasing circles cleaning up the residue, then went bombing off to the next de-icing. Highly efficient, cheerful, totally helpful, I love operating up there (except for the weather).......they've got to do something wrong sometime! It's the best working environment in the world! They smile too. We need to send the BAA up there and put them right!