Support service or lifeline?

Those that speculate on facilities management futures tend to work from two contrary positions. The first is that facilities management will continue to develop as a set of important but 'non-core' support services; the second is that the business will become a resource management platform delivering an extensive range of strategic services – perhaps becoming part of core business strategy. But what is the reality? And can these two viewpoints co-exist? Facilities management has been ill defined and its achievements underestimated. It is undervalued by business and seen as a marginal service by the construction industry. Strange that today the facilities spin-off is a business opportunity for many construction firms.

In reality, today's picture is robust and growth continues. According to online service i.fm.net, the top 32 facilities firms produce a combined turnover of £3.5 billion, with average pre-tax profits of 5.4%.

We face fundamental changes to the way we work. Shorter business cycles, more diverse working practices and the global dispersal of work lie behind the fashionable notion of 'flexible working' – work that is time flexible, place flexible and location variable.

To support a flexible working culture, facilities managers must embrace location, place and time. Facilities teams will need to manage time-flexible, place-flexible and multi-locational facilities and services to provide real-time logistics support for project teams.

This is far more complicated than traditional place-fixed facilities management. It requires a shift from a property-based to a people-based focus, with responsive workplace strategies and support systems to match.

Facilities management will need to be more closely integrated with business strategy if it is to be part of the core business resource. The distinction between core and non-core activity could become redundant.

Already, private finance initiatives, which link finance, design, construction, and facilities management in a single package, offer challenging prospects for the sector with their focus on the operational life of a facility. The operational facility brief, rather than the design and construction brief, will drive PFI development, with the facilities management team becoming the ring master of the future. PFIs have also seen a shift in financial priorities towards 'use value', with operational issues becoming a centre of concern.

While the ‘birth’ of construction is critical, it is the ‘life’ of the facility that will give true value

Dynamic changes of this kind were largely ignored in 1998's Egan Report – despite its title, Rethinking Construction. It took a construction industry position, choosing not to address the issues that really matter to the property consumer. None of the report's targets for improvement were directed at the need for more effective, efficient and flexible property and facilities support for business.

What is really needed is an integrated supply-chain arrangement to face changing demand-chain needs over the life of a facility – life-cycle briefing, life-cycle design, life-cycle management, property adaptation and change of use. While the 'birth' of design and construction is critical, it is the 'life' of the facility in use that will give a true measure of success.

The occupancy business will be the common ground of the future, straddling organisations, customers, consumers, and HR management. In this demand-led market, design and construction services will be an essential but only occasional component of the occupancy business. The life knowledge of facilities management and its occupational experience place it in a key client-oriented position. This 'occupancy intelligence' can be exploited now, for strategic advantage.

In securing the common ground, the big challenge for facilities management will be to pioneer business innovations for improved infrastructure, facilities and services to provide better support for our businesses and public endeavours. Key areas of business opportunity will lie between, rather than within, traditional boundaries.

New alignments will need to be forged between those in management and those in design, between business and property, between managers of HR and business operations, facilities logistics and services support. Diversification will be the key to the futures market in facilities management.