Building facilities

How should a newly appointed facilities manager approach life in their new organisation? It doesn't matter how much we find out about our new employer – or the manner in which facilities services have been handled in the past – we still arrive on that first morning feeling excited, but also a little fearful, of the task ahead.

It is at this stage, if we are lucky, that we discover just how many of the typical facilities management responsibilities lie with us, how many lie with others in the organisation and what demarcation lines exist.

But what comes next for the facilities manager eager to win influence in, and add value to, their new organisation?

People first
Let us assume that your responsibilities at the new organisation cover the following typical functions:

• property management and landlord liaison
  
• mechanical and electrical services
  
• security
  
• cleaning and waste management
  
• reprographicsvmail and distribution
  
• catering and vending
  
• other activities that nobody else wants to deal with.

If a number of individuals are already running these functions, you may have to establish yourself as the senior manager responsible for them. You'll need to plan your approach carefully if you wish to avoid alienating your new staff.

Key to this process is ensuring that you maintain their involvement and commitment at all stages. If you have a human resources department available to you, make that your first port of call after meeting your team. Use your personnel manager as a sounding board to test out your ideas. Gain their commitment to the goals you have set for yourself.

Once this is done you can begin assimilating the information relating to the existing roles and responsibilities and then you can begin putting your strategy together.

What is the service expectation?
The next task is to consider each of the functions mentioned above and the value attached to them. We need to discover what type of service is currently sought within each one and the current standard of performance.

For mechanical and electrical services, for instance, we should ask:

• is there a planned preventative maintenance system and what plant is covered by it?
  
• is there a priority system of maintenance in operation anywhere based on the effect of failure of plant on the organisation?
  
• what standards are applied currently, and are they performance measured?

Some of this information can be gained from the contract specification, if the mechanical and electrical service is outsourced.

Does service delivery meet the requirements laid out in the specification? We also need to know costings and the system used to record them. Is invoicing transparent enough to allow us to see charges for ad hoc works (often quite large) as well as routine maintenance? Having evaluated service standards, costs and whether or not they meet existing specifications, the facilities manager has the necessary information to undertake the next move which is to discover what the real service needs are.

To do this we need to carry out a simple survey of customers to discover whether;

• service standards are too low or higher than they need be
  
• extra services are needed that are currently unavailable
  
• some delivered services are unnecessary
  
• the customer care process meets the needs of the customer

Meetings then need to be held with heads of departments where the subjects of budget and cost can be introduced into the discussion within which their views of service provision can be sought.

Board liaison
Armed with this knowledge the facilities manager is in a position to ask the board its views, for example, on the role facilities management should play within the organisation, and to gain an assessment of board requirements. This is an ideal opportunity to gain insight into board strategy which has a bearing on the facilities function, and to promote the facilities role.

If we can educate the board into accepting that facilities management can have a profound influence on the well being of the organisation, then the function becomes more valued within it.

Having gained the required information from the board, the facilities manager is in a position to evaluate the various needs, take into account requirements such as health and safety, resources, current contractual arrangements, landlord/tenant arrangements and constraints, etc., and to balance them in order to create a basic plan.

Basic facilities plan
The basic facilities plan will allow for a rationalisation of existing services, administrative arrangements and, quite possibly, a restructuring of facilities resources.

Throughout the task so far, the facilities manager will have been networking with peers who can provide ideas and information on which ploys have been successful and which unsuccessful. But the facilities manager should also have gathered benchkmarking information – on comparative cleaning costs and space standards for example – that will assist in the creation of a report for the board.

This report to the board will outline the current situation and any failings. But even more critical, is the creation of a draft strategic plan that encompasses financial resources. The board will appreciate any plan that reduces revenue expenditure while improving services – often possible with a fresh look from the new, professional, facilities manager. If, at this stage, the facilities manager can make an investment case by offering revenue reductions in return for capital investment, the board is likely to respond positively.

Both the report to the board, and the draft strategic plan must be written in language the board understands. If possible, give options in certain areas. The board directors will then focus on these areas, making a positive outcome more likely.

Having discussed the draft strategic plan with the board, the facilities manager needs to return to the heads of department to negotiate new service levels, which have been based on their requirements but reflect available resources.

Service level agreements can be particularly useful at this stage. They illustrate clearly the services and standards that can be expected, and which the facilities manager believes can be delivered, within any constraints. Not only do service level agreements focus and therefore aid discussion, they become a blueprint for facilities service delivery.

There will, naturally, be some negotiating, and possibly some compromise, which will necessitate a final board paper seeking agreement. This final board paper will have the support of department heads and as it will not have detracted from the overall board position, should gain approval.

Implementation
Now the facilities manager knows what changes are required, the next step is to plan how to implement the new strategic approach. Implementation can, of course, take some time.

First, the facilities manager needs to decide whether to negotiate any changes to existing contracts with service providers or whether contracts should be re-tendered to demonstrate a changed approach. In the first instance, changes to existing contracts will require the facilities manager to persuade the supplier that changes to the specifications (from requirement specific to output specific for example) and costs, will be beneficial to both sides.

It may also be necessary to get the existing team on board and a change of management expertise will be a valuable skill to introduce.

It is desirable to generate some quick wins. These are useful to show customer departments and the board that their wishes are being acted upon. Many facilities managers will therefore negotiate with the current suppliers, but have in mind a market test in the not too distant future.

With re-tendering, longer term contracts can be sought with 'partnership working' very much in mind. True partnership working enables the facilities manager and the contractor to concentrate on costs rather than price.

Changing systems and structures is more speedily achieved and should be positively sought. Systems should be designed to make life easier for the customer and to assist the facilities manager in daily routines, these include:

• help desk – not just to facilitate easy access to the team but to track events, offer feedback and produce reports
  
• computer aided drafting systems (CAD) to provide a quick turn around service to customers on moves, and to reduce time spent by the team on hand drawing layouts
  
• the asset register through which it is possible to show that the building asset value is maintained if not increased
  
• building management system, to help control mechanical and electrical plant and to respond to problems quickly
  
• security systems to reduce the need for guarding labour and to offer greater protection to staff at work

Each of these systems and others can be inter-linked to provide a seamless input and retrieval service.

Any restructuring of the team will have been designed to suit the organisation and the service rather than individuals.

Monitoring
Having implemented the strategy, the facilities manager must monitor progress. Performance measurement is a continuous process without which it is impossible to identifygaps in service delivery.

Contractors and customers can support the facilities manager in measuring performance and should be drawn into the process. Key performance indicators will be taken from specifications and will include:

• output measures to demonstrate task achievement
  
• input measures to help identify why gaps occur
  
• process measures to monitor systems and a customer care approach

Measurements need to be evaluated regularly and gaps identified. Repair measures can be taken or adjustments made to close the gaps. Further monitoring ensures that the gaps remain closed. This process is known as the 'FM cycle'.

Facilities management cycle
Throughout the process from implementation, the facilities manager will continue to have regular communication with departmental heads to keep them in touch with progress. These communications can also be used to track change within customer departments that will affect service delivery in the future.

Equally important is the need to report to the board regularly on the progress of change and, in particular, provide a demonstration of success.

In addition to improved service delivery, this demonstration is often in the form of a specified 'pay back' that you will, no doubt have been asked for when you obtained board approval of your plan!