The reality of the Facility and Property Management industry is that most managers and staff have strong technical skills but less experience and training in the management and business skills they need to fully benefit from their technical knowledge, improve their careers and benefit their employers. The need to focus on non-technical aspects of Facility…
DetailsIf you are like most Property and Facility Managers, you are inundated with data and information on a daily basis yet not much of it helps you make decisions.
There is a growing trend to implement effective performance measurement systems and frameworks (KPI’s and SLA’s) for subcontracted and outsourced functions, but very few organizations measure their internal services with the same tools.
These Top 10 issues come from an association that focuses on educational facilities, but as you can see, they can apply to anyone managing properties.They confirm that managing physical space is essentially the same regardless of whether you are managing corporate facilities or commercial properties. The list was put forward by APPA, the North American…
DetailsMy recent magazine article on getting the right service level from your outsourced (or subcontracted) service provider has been published and already I’ve received positive feedback. This article came from a startling statistic from a recent IFMA research report that said getting the right service was an issue with 78% of the facility executives surveyed.
Some recent discussions with senior facility managers at an IFMA networking event really hit home. In my latest article, which appears in the September issue of Canadian Facility Management and Design, I talk about implementing leading practices used by the largest and most successful professional FM companies.
DetailsOn a forum recently, a Facility Manager was looking for ways to save costs at his facility due to the current economic pressures. He identified a few things he was doing, mostly the common low hanging fruit items, and asked for ideas. Having been in that situation as an FM and responded to it as…
DetailsSome people simply use benchmarking results to justify the status quo. Since raw benchmarking results can be deceptive, this is easy to accomplish. Unfortunately, this is not what Benchmarking is meant to do. Really, Benchmarking is the just the first step in an important process to improve what you do.
DetailsEffective Facility Management is all about communications. Whether you are managing office space, maintaining building systems, developing strategic asset plans or all of the above, good communication skills are essential.
(First, my apologies to the Property Managers out there – your function and role is much clearer and has a much more obvious and measurable impact to your company) The demands of the job are intense, the stakes high and the credit often elusive, but we all know how important the job is and I…
DetailsFM is a complex, issues based role. I’ve learned along the way that nobody in the industry knows it all, and the best way to be successful is to leverage the knowledge and great ideas of others, including your staff, colleagues and suppliers. Recently, I delivered a 3 day workshop on Strategic Facilities Management in…
DetailsIn the Facility and Property Management profession, I see an important ingredient missing from many organizations – good information. That’s information you can use to make decisions and improvements both with internally delivered services and with your suppliers. An excellent example of the value of information, even if not directly related, is Wal-Mart. Their retail…
DetailsIs the 2009 H1N1 pandemic scare good for us? Definitely. The bad thing is that people became sick or died because of the flu, yet there are a few good things that came from this recent scare. First, to put in in perspective, according to the Center for Disease Control, 36,000 people die in the…
DetailsI was pleasantly surprised at how many people attended my seminar on Benchmarking at IFMA’s World Workplace in Orlando earlier this month. As usual, I brought some take-home material for the audience, but I ran out. In fact, a number of people had to stand at the back of the room. I think it’s because…
DetailsBuilding a professional career in facility or property management means more than simply doing a good job for your employer. It also means getting involved in associations that represent your industry to expand your knowledge and learn from others. And, it doesn’t help to network with other professionals and service providers. If you look at…
DetailsWhen’s the last time you got out of your office? If you don’t attend Facility Management or Property Management related trade shows and conferences, you aren’t keeping up with the industry and your colleagues and you aren’t discovering solutions and products that will benefit your company.
My latest article “Make Your Memos Hit The Mark” is the cover article for the January issue of Buildings Magazine. This is a great US based magazine for both Facilities Managers and Building Managers.
While it’s nice to have your ideas and concepts features by a magazine like Buildings, I’m glad that Buildings is putting focus on the non-technical skills in the industry.
I recently conducted a benchmarking exercise using my Intelligent Benchmarking principles. The study clearly demonstrated why implementing change is how leaders in Facility Management beat their peers and deliver results for their organization.
Having been on the supplier and the client side in the past, I know that Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) themselves don’t result in performance. While some people like the carrot and stick approach, you need a management approach that uses measurements (and other techniques, not just KPI’s) to get performance. Don’t just rely on a…
DetailsWhile I deal with many Facilities clients who have little if any documented processes, policies and procedures, simply writing detailed documents isn’t the answer. Having them will definitely improve results, improve consistency, enable training and cross-training, make it easier for someone to fill in for an absence and provide a means of explaining / defending…
DetailsNecessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.