As a facility manager, you can do things to help your organization entice and retain talented employees. Don’t wait for HR to approach you about this, take the initiative to recommend these perks and demonstrate your value to the organization you work for. Of course you should make sure they are efficient and cost-effective like…
DetailsCMMS is a maintenance management system that keeps a computerized database of an organization’s planned and corrective maintenance information associated to facility equipment. It is used to generate, schedule and prioritize work orders for the maintenance staff, allowing them to perform periodic preventative activities. This allows facility managers to effectively execute their asset management strategy.…
DetailsAs a Facility Manager, you should take an interest in the entire work envirionment, not just the physical space. You can implement or recommend perks or benefits that all employees can enjoy. And for your own staff and employees, you can to motivate them with benefits and perks that cost little or nothing. Perks in…
DetailsFirst, it is important to understand what resiliency means. According to Merriam-Webster, it is “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change” Since the facilities we manage provide space for the occupants to conduct their business, we must consider resiliency from their perspective, not just from a building perspective. This is…
DetailsMany Facility Managers are focused on reacting to and solving problems, not being strategic. It can be fun and rewarding as well as supporting our organization in the short term. That was my approach in the beginning of my career – the belief that I was being paid to do things. Over time and particularly…
DetailsTo get results, you need to get attention and approval for your initiatives from the decision makers at your company such as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). To do this, you need to see facilities the way your chief financial officer and the finance department do. Since facilities cost money and money is the bottom…
DetailsFacility Managers do a lot of things and sometimes those things get in the way of what they should be doing. They get re-directed by the latest trends and concepts and neglect to focus on the fundamental things that drive results and improve what we do. Instead of spending so much effort always responding immediately…
DetailsI recently held a Program Advisory Committee (PAC) meeting for the Certificate in Facility Management at Ryerson University for which I am the Academic Coordinator. It is a continuing education program for people in the Facility Management industry to develop and upgrade their skills. The PAC was formed for a program review to identify changes…
DetailsThe role of a Facility Manager has been transforming yet it still has a long way to go. As an important yet somewhat invisible function of most organizations, the Facility Manager has a significant impact on their organization’s success and financial results. Yet often, the role of the Facilities Manager is seen as being just…
DetailsIt’s a common misconception that Facility Managers need a seat at the C-Suite table along with the COO, CEO, CFO, CIO, and the other top executives. Quite simply you don’t. And in most organizations, you won’t. The nature of what we do as Facility Managers, while important to your organization’s success, simply won’t warrant a…
DetailsI was discussing the issues of design not working well for operations with a very experienced Facility Manager I know and he gave me a great example of how he got the Architect on-board with operational design requirements for a new Facility. You may have seen my previous posting “Architects Dream – Facility Managers…
DetailsYou’ve probably heard about Big Data. That’s what your credit card company collects, Google has and even your grocery store uses. For Facilities Management, it’s best to start smaller. Many FM’s don’t even have the basic information they need to manage and make good decisions, mostly because they either don’t have an FM system or…
DetailsFacility Managers are always getting things done around their facility, whether its responding to a complaint, dealing with space issue, organizing a move, coordinating maintenance or delivering customer service. It almost feels like you are on a treadmill, moving ahead but never really getting to the end. It’s a fact of life in the Facilities…
DetailsThere is nothing special about cleaning hard to reach windows with a pole system, and this looks pretty typical until you look closer. (see the full size image below) This is in the new and very beautiful Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar. I transited through the airport on my way from Kuala Lumpur where…
DetailsBudgeting is a crucial task for Facility Managers. Since we manage a significant part of our organization’s costs, the budget is important to the organization both to validate the amount spent and to manage it. When I talk to Facility Managers, the annual budget process they have to go through is always a tedious, time…
DetailsManaging facilities is by its nature financially driven. The high costs of real estate, the cost of energy and maintenance and the perception that an organization’s facilities are a cost drag rather than a value to the organization are contributing factors. If you don’t have enough information and aren’t able to analyze that information, you…
DetailsReal Estate costs money, and money is the bottom line for any company. Facilities Managers who recognize this fact are in a better position to raise the profile of the Facilities department and contribute to the success of the company by accurately establishing facility related costs and positioning the information for better corporate decisions. With…
DetailsCleaning is one of the top two services in its importance to your occupant’s satisfaction, just behind HVAC. It can also represent a significant portion of your annual facilities costs. The key to successfully procuring a Janitorial Service Provider is to understand how the business works. When selecting a janitorial service provider, the first step…
DetailsFacility Managers can take a leadership role in reducing costs for their organizations by examining areas that may not have received much attention before. Here are key things you can do. A key responsibility of Facility Managers has been to provide the physical environment and related services that enables your corporation to be successful at…
DetailsFacilities Management has evolved from maintaining & reacting to the increasingly important role of contributing to the productivity of the employees of the organizations we work for. This shift from the physical to the people element has been happening gradually over time in the Facilities Management profession, but as the cost of people, both recruitment,…
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