business plan for facilities management services

How to write a business plan for a facility maintenance company?

Putting together a business plan for a facility maintenance company can be daunting - especially if you're creating a business for the first time - but with this comprehensive guide, you'll have the necessary tools to do it confidently.

We will explore why writing one is so important in both starting up and growing an existing facility maintenance company, as well as what should go into making an effective plan - from its structure to content - and what tools can be used to streamline the process and avoid errors.

Without further ado, let us begin!

In this guide:

Why write a business plan for a facility maintenance company?

• What information is needed to create a business plan for a facility maintenance company?
• How do I build a financial forecast for a facility maintenance company?

The written part of a facility maintenance company business plan

• What tool should I use to write my facility maintenance company business plan?

Understanding the document's scope and goals will help you easily grasp its structure and content. Before diving into the specifics of the plan, let's take a moment to explore the key reasons why having a facility maintenance company business plan is so crucial.

To have a clear roadmap to grow the business

It's rarely business as usual for small businesses. The economy follows cycles where years of growth are followed by recessions, and the business environment is always changing with new technologies, new regulations, new competitors, and new consumer behaviours appearing all the time...

In this context, running a business without a clear roadmap is like driving blindfolded: it's dangerous at best. That's why writing a business plan for a facility maintenance company is essential to create successful and sustainable businesses.

To write an effective business plan, you will need to take stock of where you are (if you are already in business) and where you want the business to go in the next three to five years.

Once you know where you want your facility maintenance company to be, you'll have to identify:

• what resources (human, equipment, and capital) are needed to get there,
• at what pace the business needs to progress to get there in time,
• and what risks you'll face along the way.

Going through this process regularly is beneficial, both for startups and existing companies, as it helps make informed decisions about how best to allocate resources to ensure the long-term success of the business.

To anticipate future cash flows

Regularly comparing your actual financial performance to the projections in the financial forecast of your facility maintenance company's business plan gives you the ability to monitor your business's financial health and make necessary adjustments as needed.

This practice allows you to detect potential financial issues, such as unexpected cash shortfalls before they escalate into major problems. Giving you time to find additional financing or put in place corrective measures.

Additionally, it helps you identify growth opportunities, like excess cash flow that could be allocated to launch new products and services or expand into new markets.

Staying on track with these regular comparisons enables you to make well-informed decisions about the amount of financing your business might require, or the excess cash flow you can expect to generate from your main business activities.

To secure financing

Whether you are a startup or an existing business, writing a detailed facility maintenance company business plan is essential when seeking financing from banks or investors.

This makes sense given what we've just seen: financiers want to ensure you have a clear roadmap and visibility on your future cash flows.

Banks will use the information included in the plan to assess your borrowing capacity (how much debt your business can support) and your ability to repay the loan before deciding whether they will extend credit to your business and on what terms.

Similarly, investors will review your plan carefully to assess if their investment can generate an attractive return on investment.

To do so, they will be looking for evidence that your facility maintenance company has the potential for healthy growth, profitability, and cash flow generation over time.

Now that you understand why it is important to create a business plan for a facility maintenance company, let's take a look at what information is needed to create one.

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Information needed to create a business plan for a facility maintenance company

Drafting a facility maintenance company business plan requires research so that you can project sales, investments and cost accurately in your financial forecast, and convince the reader that there is a viable commercial opportunity to be seized.

Below, we'll focus on three critical pieces of information you should gather before starting to write your plan.

Carrying out market research for a facility maintenance company

As you consider writing your business plan for a facility maintenance company, conducting market research becomes a vital step to ensure accurate and realistic financial projections.

Market research provides valuable insights into your target customer base, competitors, pricing strategies, and other key factors that can significantly impact the commercial success of your business.

Through this research, you may uncover trends that could influence your facility maintenance company.

Your facility maintenance company may discover that customers are increasingly expecting personalized services tailored to their specific needs. Your facility maintenance company may find that customers are increasingly looking for eco-friendly services or products that could reduce their environmental impact.

Such market trends play a significant role in forecasting revenue, as they offer valuable data about potential customers' spending habits and preferences.

By incorporating these findings into your financial projections, you can present investors with more accurate information, helping them make informed decisions about investing in your facility maintenance company.

Developing the sales and marketing plan for a facility maintenance company

As you embark on creating your facility maintenance company business plan, it is crucial to budget sales and marketing expenses beforehand.

A well-defined sales and marketing plan should include precise projections of the actions required to acquire and retain customers. It will also outline the necessary workforce to execute these initiatives and the budget required for promotions, advertising, and other marketing efforts.

This approach ensures that the appropriate amount of resources is allocated to these activities, aligning with the sales and growth objectives outlined in your business plan.

The staffing and capital expenditure requirements of a facility maintenance company

Whether you are starting or expanding a facility maintenance company, it is important to have a clear plan for recruitment and capital expenditures (investment in equipment and real estate) in order to ensure the success of the business.

Both the recruitment and investment plans need to be coherent with the timing and level of growth planned in your forecast, and require appropriate funding.

A facility maintenance company might incur staffing costs such as wages for laborers, electricians, plumbers, and other specialized craftsmen. They may also have to pay for equipment such as ladders, power tools, and vehicles for transporting personnel and supplies. Additionally, they may have to pay for protective gear, cleaning supplies, and other materials necessary to perform the job.

In order to create a realistic financial forecast, you will also need to consider the other operating expenses associated with running the business on a day-to-day basis (insurance, bookkeeping, etc.). 

Once you have all the necessary information to create a business plan for your facility maintenance company, it is time to start creating your financial forecast.

What goes into your facility maintenance company's financial forecast?

The financial forecast of your facility maintenance company will enable you to assess the profitability potential of your business in the coming years and how much capital is required to fund the actions planned in the business plan.

The four key outputs of a financial forecast for a facility maintenance company are:

• The profit and loss (P&L) statement ,
• The projected balance sheet ,
• The cash flow forecast ,
• And the sources and uses table .

Let's take a closer look at each of these.

The projected P&L statement

Your facility maintenance company forecasted P&L statement enables the reader of your business plan to get an idea of how much revenue and profits your business is expected to make in the near future.

Ideally, your reader will want to see:

• Growth above the inflation level
• Expanding profit margins
• Positive net profit throughout the plan

Expectations for an established facility maintenance company will of course be different than for a startup. Existing businesses which have reached their cruising altitude might have slower growth and higher margins than ventures just being started.

The forecasted balance sheet of your facility maintenance company

The projected balance sheet of your facility maintenance company will enable the reader of your business plan to assess the overall financial health of your business.

It shows three elements: assets, liabilities and equity:

• Assets: are productive resources owned by the business, such as equipment, cash, and accounts receivable (money owed by clients).
• Liabilities: are debts owed to creditors, lenders, and other entities, such as accounts payable (money owed to suppliers).
• Equity: includes the sums invested by the shareholders or business owners and the profits and losses accumulated by the business to date (which are called retained earnings). It is a proxy for the value of the owner's stake in the business.

Analysing your facility maintenance company projected balance sheet provides an understanding of your facility maintenance company's working capital structure, investment and financing policies.

In particular, the readers of your plan can compare the level of financial debt on the balance sheet to the equity value to measure the level of financial risk (equity doesn't need to be reimbursed, while financial debt must be repaid, making it riskier).

They can also use your balance sheet to assess your facility maintenance company's liquidity and solvency:

• A liquidity analysis: focuses on whether or not your business has sufficient cash and short-term assets to cover its liabilities due in the next 12 months.
• A solvency analysis: takes and longer view to assess whether or not your business has the capacity to repay its debts over the medium-term.

The cash flow forecast

A projected cash flow statement for a facility maintenance company is used to show how much cash the business is generating or consuming.

The cash flow forecast is usually organized by nature to show three key metrics:

• The operating cash flow: do the core business activities generate or consume cash?
• The investing cash flow: how much is the business investing in long-term assets (this is usually compared to the level of fixed assets on the balance sheet to assess whether the business is regularly maintaining and renewing its equipment)?
• The financing cash flow: is the business raising new financing or repaying financiers (debt repayment, dividends)?

As we discussed earlier, cash is king and keeping an eye on future cash flows an imperative for running a successful business. Therefore, you can expect the reader of your facility maintenance company business plan to pay close attention to your cash flow forecast.

Also, note that it is customary to provide both yearly and monthly cash flow forecasts in a business plan - so that the reader can analyze seasonal variation and ensure the facility maintenance company is appropriately funded.

The initial financing plan

The sources and uses table or initial financing plan is a key component of your business plan when starting a facility maintenance company.

It shows where the capital needed to set up the business will come from (sources) and how it will be spent (uses).

This table helps size the investment required to set up the facility maintenance company, and understand how risks will be distributed between the business owners, and the financiers.

The sources and uses table also highlights what the starting cash position will be. This is key for startups as the business needs to have sufficient funding to sustain operations until the break-even point is reached.

Now that you have a clear understanding of what will go into the financial forecast of your facility maintenance company business plan, let's have a look at the written part of the plan.

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The written part of a facility maintenance company business plan plays a key role: it lays out the plan of action you intend to execute to seize the commercial opportunity you've identified on the market and provides the context needed for the reader to decide if they believe your plan to be achievable and your financial forecast to be realistic.

The written part of a facility maintenance company business plan is composed of 7 main sections:

• The executive summary
• The presentation of the company
• The products and services
• The market analysis
• The strategy
• The operations
• The financial plan

Let's go through the content of each section in more detail!

1. The executive summary

The executive summary, the first section of your facility maintenance company's business plan, serves as an inviting snapshot of your entire plan, leaving readers eager to know more about your business.

To compose an effective executive summary, start with a concise introduction of your business, covering its name, concept, location, history, and unique aspects. Share insights about the services or products you intend to offer and your target customer base.

Subsequently, provide an overview of your facility maintenance company's addressable market, highlighting current trends and potential growth opportunities.

Then, present a summary of critical financial figures, such as projected revenues, profits, and cash flows.

You should then include a summary of your key financial figures such as projected revenues, profits, and cash flows.

Lastly, address any funding needs in the "ask" section of your executive summary.

2. The presentation of the company

The second section in your facility maintenance company's business plan should focus on the structure and ownership, location, and management team of the company.

The structure and ownership part provides an overview of the legal structure of the business, who the owners are and how much each has invested and owns. If you are seeking financing it is important that the reader gets a clear picture of which legal entity is receiving the funds, and who controls the business.

The location part should give an overview of the premises from which the company is operating, and why that location is of particular interest (catchment area, accessibility, amenities nearby, etc.).

When describing the location of your facility maintenance company, you may want to emphasize the potential customer base that could be accessed by the company. You could emphasize the proximity to major population centers and the access to transportation networks that could make it easy for the company to reach its customers. You might point out the availability of skilled labor in the area, as well as the potential for new business opportunities in the future. Additionally, you may want to discuss the potential for cost savings that your company could enjoy in the area due to lower overhead or tax incentives.

Finally, you should introduce the management team. Explain each member's role, background, and experience.

It is also important to emphasize any past successes that the members of the management team have achieved, and how long they've been working together, as this will help potential lenders or investors understand why they should trust in their leadership.

3. The products and services section

The products and services section of your business plan should include a detailed description of the offerings that your company provides to its customers. 

For example, your facility maintenance company may offer customers a range of services such as maintenance and repair of lighting and plumbing, cleaning and janitorial services, as well as landscaping and snow removal. These services are important to keep a facility running smoothly and in good condition for those who use it. Additionally, your company may also offer preventative maintenance services to ensure that all equipment and systems are running optimally and efficiently for the long term.

When drafting this section, you should be precise about the categories of products or services you sell, the types of customers you are targeting and how customers can buy them.

4. The market analysis

When outlining your market analysis in the facility maintenance company business plan, it's essential to include comprehensive details about customers' demographics and segmentation, target market, competition, barriers to entry, and relevant regulations.

The primary aim of this section is to give the reader an understanding of the market size and appeal while demonstrating your expertise in the industry.

To begin, delve into the demographics and segmentation subsection, providing an overview of the addressable market for your facility maintenance company, key marketplace trends, and introducing various customer segments and their preferences in terms of purchasing habits and budgets.

Next, shift your focus to the target market subsection, where you can zoom in on the specific customer segments your facility maintenance company targets. Explain how your products and services are tailored to meet the unique needs of these customers.

For example, your target market might include businesses that need regular maintenance on their property. This could include restaurants, office buildings, retail stores, and other commercial properties. These customers will have a need for regular services such as cleaning, repairs, and preventive maintenance.

In the competition subsection, introduce your main competitors and explain what sets your facility maintenance company apart from them.

Finally, round off your market analysis by providing an overview of the main regulations that apply to your facility maintenance company.

5. The strategy section

When writing the strategy section of a business plan for your facility maintenance company, it is essential to include information about your competitive edge, pricing strategy, sales & marketing plan, milestones, and risks and mitigants.

The competitive edge subsection should explain what sets your company apart from its competitors. This part is especially key if you are writing the business plan of a startup, as you have to make a name for yourself in the marketplace against established players.

The pricing strategy subsection should demonstrate how you intend to remain profitable while still offering competitive prices to your customers.

The sales & marketing plan should outline how you intend to reach out and acquire new customers, as well as retain existing ones with loyalty programs or special offers. 

The milestones subsection should outline what your company has achieved to date, and its main objectives for the years to come - along with dates so that everyone involved has clear expectations of when progress can be expected.

The risks and mitigants subsection should list the main risks that jeopardize the execution of your plan and explain what measures you have taken to minimize these. This is essential in order for investors or lenders to feel secure in investing in your venture.

Your facility maintenance company could face financial risks. If the company experiences a downturn in the economy, it might not have the resources to continue providing services. Additionally, your company could face operational risks. For example, if a key piece of equipment malfunctions, it could lead to a disruption in services and may cause customer dissatisfaction.

6. The operations section

The operations of your facility maintenance company must be presented in detail in your business plan.

Begin by addressing your staff, specifying the main roles and your recruitment plan to support the anticipated growth. Outline the qualifications and experience needed for each role and discuss your recruitment strategies, which may involve using job boards, referrals, or headhunters.

Next, clearly state your facility maintenance company's operating hours, allowing the reader to gauge the adequacy of your staffing levels. Additionally, mention any considerations for varying opening times during peak seasons and your approach to handling customer queries outside regular operating hours.

The key assets and intellectual property (IP) required to run your business should also be highlighted. If you rely on licenses, trademarks, physical structures like equipment or property, or lease agreements, ensure they are well-documented in this section.

You could have key assets such as the maintenance tools used by employees and the vehicles used to transport them to the job sites. You might also have intellectual property such as the company’s logo and the maintenance protocols and processes that your employees use to complete their work.

Finally, provide a comprehensive list of suppliers you intend to collaborate with, along with a breakdown of their services and main commercial terms, such as price, payment terms, break clauses and contract duration. Investors often seek insight into the reasons behind your supplier choices, which may include a preference for higher-quality products or established relationships from past ventures.

7. The presentation of the financial plan

The financial plan section is where we will include the financial forecast we talked about earlier in this guide.

Now that you have a clear idea of the content of a facility maintenance company business plan, let's look at some of the tools you can use to create yours.

What tool should I use to write my facility maintenance company's business plan?

In this section, we will be reviewing the two main solutions for creating a facility maintenance company business plan:

• Using specialized online business plan software,
• Outsourcing the plan to the business plan writer.

Using an online business plan software for your facility maintenance company's business plan

Using online business planning software is the most efficient and modern way to create a facility maintenance company business plan.

There are several advantages to using specialized software:

• You can easily create your financial forecast by letting the software take care of the financial calculations for you without errors
• You are guided through the writing process by detailed instructions and examples for each part of the plan
• You can access a library of dozens of complete business plan samples and templates for inspiration
• You get a professional business plan, formatted and ready to be sent to your bank or investors
• You can easily track your actual financial performance against your financial forecast
• You can create scenarios to stress test your forecast's main assumptions
• You can easily update your forecast as time goes by to maintain visibility on future cash flows
• You have a friendly support team on standby to assist you when you are stuck

If you're interested in using this type of solution, you can try The Business Plan Shop for free by signing up here .

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Hiring a business plan writer to write your facility maintenance company's business plan

Outsourcing your facility maintenance company business plan to a business plan writer can also be a viable option.

Business plan writers are experienced in writing business plans and adept at creating financial forecasts without errors. Furthermore, hiring a consultant can save you time and allow you to focus on the day-to-day operations of your business.

However, hiring business plan writers is expensive as you are paying for the software used by the consultant, plus their time, and their profit margin of course.

From experience, you need to budget at least £1.5k ($2.0k) excluding tax for a complete business plan, more if you need to make changes after the initial version (which happens frequently after the initial meetings with lenders or investors).

You also need to be careful when seeking investment. Investors want their money to be used to grow the business, not spent on consulting fees. Therefore, the amount you spend on business plan writing services (and other consulting services such as legal services) needs to be negligible relative to the amount raised.

The other drawback is that you usually don't own the business plan itself: you just get the output, while the actual document is saved in the consultant's business plan software - which makes it difficult to maintain the document up to date without hiring the consultant on a retainer.

For these reasons, outsourcing the facility maintenance company business plan to a business plan writer should be considered carefully, weighing both the advantages and disadvantages of hiring outside help.

Ultimately, it may be the right decision for some businesses, while others may find it beneficial to write their business plan using online software.

Why not create your facility maintenance company's business plan using Word or Excel?

I must advise against using Microsoft Excel and Word (or their Google, Apple, or open-source equivalents) to write your facility maintenance company business plan. Let me explain why.

Firstly, creating an accurate and error-free financial forecast on Excel (or any spreadsheet) is highly technical and requires a strong grasp of accounting principles and financial modelling skills. It is, therefore, unlikely that anyone will fully trust your numbers unless you have both a degree in finance and accounting and significant financial modelling experience, like us at The Business Plan Shop.

Secondly, relying on spreadsheets is inefficient. While it may have been the only option in the past, technology has advanced significantly, and software can now perform these tasks much faster and with greater accuracy. With the rise of AI, software can even help us detect mistakes in forecasts and analyze the numbers for better decision-making.

And with the rise of AI, software is also becoming smarter at helping us detect mistakes in our forecasts and helping us analyse the numbers to make better decisions.

Moreover, software makes it easier to compare actuals versus forecasts and maintain up-to-date forecasts to keep visibility on future cash flows, as we discussed earlier in this guide. This task is cumbersome when using spreadsheets.

Now, let's talk about the written part of your facility maintenance company business plan. While it may be less error-prone, using software can bring tremendous gains in productivity. Word processors, for example, lack instructions and examples for each part of your business plan. They also won't automatically update your numbers when changes occur in your forecast, and they don't handle formatting for you.

Overall, while Word or Excel may seem viable for some entrepreneurs to create a business plan, it's by far becoming an antiquated way of doing things.

• Having an up-to-date business plan is key to maintaining visibility on your future cash flows.
• A business plan has 2 parts: a financial forecast highlighting the expected growth, profitability and cash generation of the business; and a written part which provides the context needed to interpret and assess the quality of the forecast.
• Using business plan software is the modern way of writing and maintaining business plans.

We hope that this guide helped you to better understand how to write the business plan for a facility maintenance company. If you still have questions, do not hesitate to contact us.

Also on The Business Plan Shop

• How to write a 5 years business plan
• Business plan myths

Know someone who owns or wants to start a facility maintenance company? Share this article with them!

Founder & CEO at The Business Plan Shop Ltd

Guillaume Le Brouster is a seasoned entrepreneur and financier.

Guillaume has been an entrepreneur for more than a decade and has first-hand experience of starting, running, and growing a successful business.

Prior to being a business owner, Guillaume worked in investment banking and private equity, where he spent most of his time creating complex financial forecasts, writing business plans, and analysing financial statements to make financing and investment decisions.

Guillaume holds a Master's Degree in Finance from ESCP Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Business & Management from Paris Dauphine University.

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Complete Guide to Facilities Management

“Keep your team safe and working faster,” they said. “And let’s make sure to keep that all under budget, too.” No big deal, right? Wrong. When it comes to facilities maintenance , you’ve got a lot of juggling to do to keep everybody happy.

In this post, we’ll cover how you can make your department work more efficiently, serve the company better, and get more influence with the people that matter so you can keep being awesome at your job.

What if Facilities Management didn’t exist? 

As humans, we occupy space, and we are accustomed to our spaces working for us, not against us. We need these areas to be safe, functional, and comfortable. And there’s a lot to that. 

When everything goes to plan, this means that your job as a facilities manager is less stressful. No emergencies, easy-to-manage workloads, and fewer incidences.  A boost in productivity and reductions in absenteeism, downtime and wastage, not to mention the lack of accidents. 

It’s clear how important it is to have a well-maintained facility, but what if you don’t? What happens if you don’t have the resources you need to make it happen: adequate staffing, budget, training, equipment, etc.?

The impact on the Company

Your facilities management team is responsible for the overall well-being and functioning of the entire facility. You touch each and every department. Without you, equipment lifespans are reduced, inventory controls can fall by the wayside, bulbs can burn out, machines can overheat. Even worse, problems can get so bad that they bring your revenue-generating activities to a screeching halt. Facility safety also becomes an issue. You manage the security systems, fire systems, ventilation systems, and tricky and often risky elevator systems. If something is out of order, people’s safety is at risk. If someone gets hurt, that bill the company receives is going to hurt.  Depending on the situation, that bill could come in the form of a lawsuit, an expensive settlement, fines from a regulatory agency, and a whole lot of bad PR….or all of the above. It’s not worth the risk. The workspace becomes a non-working space very quickly. 

The impact on the Employee

No employee wants to feel unsafe or uncomfortable at work. Imagine working in an organization that has recurring equipment failures, or worse yet, extremely high incidents of injury at work. That would be terrible, but the same is true If employees can’t do their jobs because there is no space to work, the building is too hot or too cold, and the network keeps failing.  If these issues go on for long enough the company would have a hard time keeping employees too.

The impact on the Customer

Employees are not the only ones who suffer from poor facility management. Customers notice things, too. If buildings are in bad shape, equipment breaks down more often than it works. Orders can get delayed, the quality of your products and service decreases. Injuries become a regular occurrence. Your customers are going to pick up on this.  Their user experience will not be as good as it should be. Your brand, your reputation, and your source of income will be destroyed very quickly. Get it right, and your customer satisfaction jumps up too.

The scope of Facilities Management

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• Real estate management: Your role here intersects with the property manager. You keep the building safe, repairs up to date, and oversee the teams that keep it running.
• Occupancy management: You use data and analytics to balance operational costs, effective use of space, employee well-being, productivity, and energy saving.
• Maintenance management: You and your team plan and carry out the maintenance for all assets in the company. You also deal with any unplanned work that comes up.  
• Asset management: The lifecycle of all assets falls under you. You are responsible for the installation and training to maintenance and repairs and ultimately working with senior management and Finance to determine the best time to replace assets. 
• Financial and performance management: Using the information gathered in your CMMS, you can manage your inventory, budgets and have a clear line of sight into how each asset is performing and the costs incurred each month. With Limble, you’ll get automatically generated maintenance reports for the most important data you’ll ever need. If you want to take it a step further, you can generate custom reports based on the criteria you choose.
• Building systems: Each building is unique. The majority of buildings come with fire systems and security systems, as well as HVAC. Some may have elevators, while others have been specially designed to suit your company’s needs. The management, condition assessments , and maintenance of these systems are up to you. 

Another popular way to look at facility management roles is to split them into two groups: Hard Facilities Management (Hard FM) and Soft Facilities Management (Soft FM) .

Hard facilities management services (space and infrastructure)

Hard FM services focus on the physical components of the work environment and infrastructure. Most of them fall under the maintenance department. Here is an overview of hard facilities management services:

• The plumbing system: This system plays an essential role in bringing water to a building and removing waste. Over time, blockages can occur, pressure builds up, and fixtures/piping must be replaced. As the Facility Manager, it’s your job to ensure that the plumbing system is regularly maintained and that the possible issues are fixed as quickly as possible. 
• Lighting and HVAC systems: You will work with your team to see if the lighting and heating fixtures need repair or replacement. It’s up to the team to decide the best solutions for cost and energy savings, comfort, and functionality. 
• Fire safety regulation compliance: Fire safety systems are required in most countries and must be regularly maintained and checked for compliance issues.
• Mechanical & electrical systems: Keeping the electrical system running well to keep up with other building operations. The same goes for mechanical systems like elevators and water pumps. You and your team ensure they work properly and do not cause safety incidents. 
• Structural maintenance: Regular usage or even poor design can lead to structural issues over time. When it comes to buildings, weather and other elements can start to take a toll on the structures. Wind, sun, salt, and extreme temperature changes all play their part. As a part of facility management, there should be a structural maintenance plan to identify, classify, and deal with possible structural problems. 

To successfully schedule, track, and manage all maintenance activities and work orders , facility management teams will often seek the help of computerized maintenance management software (CMMS) or Computer-aided facilities management (CAFM) software. We will discuss available software solutions in more detail towards the end of the article.

Soft facilities management services (people and organization)

On the flip side, soft facility management focuses on people and organizations. It includes services that create a more comfortable, healthier, safer, and visually appealing environment.  Common examples include:

• Waste management: If waste is not managed, garbage bins become overloaded, and things become smelly. This is never a good thing. Waste management gets the garbage into the correct containers. It sends it away to make sure that you stay within regulatory requirements and prevent trash overcrowding.
• Cleaning services: Custodial teams come in to clean common areas and perform other janitorial duties. Many companies will have their own janitorial staff, while others will choose to outsource.
• Space planning: Space planning and management is an important part of facilities management. Whenever your company hires more people, expands to a new floor, buys new assets that take a big chunk of space, and wants to remodel the existing space, they will turn to you to help organize the space so that it remains comfortable, safe, and functional. 
• Landscaping: Well-maintained grounds improve curb appeal and signal top-notch property management. Your team takes care of the seasonal and non-seasonal changes, such as planting flowers in the spring, trimming the grass during the summer, removing falling leaves during the autumn, or removing excess snow from the walkway in the winter.
• Pest control: These fall under your domain, be it scheduling seasonal pest controls or managing pest outbreaks if they ever happen.
• Building security: Having control of people going in and out of the facility is something that almost every building these days requires. It can also involve the management of restricted access areas inside the facility.
• EHS compliance: Defining and maintaining acceptable standards of comfort that might include temperature, noise, seating standards, and visual cues is imperative in every company. For example, selecting specific chairs that guarantee employee comfort for desk workers. Depending on the industry, EHS standards can differ widely. In a typical office setting, they may seem relatively tame. Still, in a pharmaceutical company where employees may be handling dangerous substances, standards will be different. EHS standards will change from business to business depending on the needs of the company. 

Free Building Maintenance Checklist

13 simple steps to improved productivity and reliability.

What do Facilities Managers do?

You have to be a jack of all trades to do this job well. The support of a great team and the right software will help take you to the next level of your career.  A facilities manager can have a dozen balls up in the air on any given day. As a facility manager, you touch so many areas: 

• Property strategy: What’s the current property portfolio of the company? Do you lease or own? As the world turns, more and more companies are adopting remote work policies where employees can work from home at least some of the time. How your company approaches this major shift in the culture of work will also impact your needs for employee-occupied space into the future.
• Space management: To piggyback on what was said above, are employees required to be in office? If not, there’s room for some creativity in space management. Perhaps changing to an “open office” layout where employees can “check out” a workspace as needed is a solution your company considers if employees work in a hybrid format.
• Communications infrastructure: We’re talking phones (no pun intended), network cabling, server storage, and beyond.
• General building maintenance : Depending on if your company leases or owns the building, maintenance responsibilities may shift. Many commercial building owners push a lot of maintenance responsibilities to the lease-holder, not everything and not all the time.
• Testing and inspections: This is a part of routine maintenance . You regularly check in on assets and alarms to ensure that everything is up to code and working correctly. You also need to make sure that you are compliant with OSHA and other regulatory agencies (like FDA, if applicable to your industry).
• Contract management : You have several service providers, and those contracts and relationships need to be managed. It’s your job to make sure these are kept up. Using Lmble makes managing vendors and their contracts easy!
• EHS(environment, health, safety): Health and safety live with you, and it’s your job to make sure that the workplace is safe for everyone in it. 
• Security: Be it the locks on the doors, the security monitoring team or cameras, and any other part of security, these all fall under your jurisdiction. 
• Facility Maintenance planning : Predictive and preventative maintenance are best practices to keep your organization’s assets in working order. The planning of these is a crucial part of your role. Using Limble, you can plan, schedule, and report on your maintenance and use this information to collaborate with Finance on budget forecasting.
• Managing renovations and refurbishments: The workplace is ever-changing. Offices get bigger or smaller, paint colors change, boardrooms are built. Renovations and refurbishments sit squarely with the facility professionals to manage. The same is true for capital projects. You will work with teams to build new facilities and expand the campus.
• Inventory management: Knowing what you have and what you need, and the value of your inventory is an integral part of maintenance and cost management. Limble makes it possible to see the value of your stock at the click of a button, and the customized reporting helps you break it down any way you need to.

And in case you wanted more, you’re not done yet! You are also responsible for: 

• Advising businesses on measures to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the facility.
• Supervising teams of staff across different divisions.
• Dealing with emergencies as they arise.
• Managing budgets; Planning for the future by forecasting the facility’s upcoming needs and requirements.
• Helping with office relocations.
• Drafting maintenance reports.

Should you bring FM in-house or outsource? 

Making the decision to outsource or keep your facilities management in-house is a complex one. It depends on the factors like the type of facility you run, the size of your maintenance budget, and existing team.

In-house Facilities Management 

Advantages:

• Oversight : You have complete oversight of everything happening and can make split-second decisions about how you and your team react. 
• Cost control : you can control the costs (to an extent) of the repairs by keeping inventory in stock or shopping around for preferred pricing when you need something. You are also paying your team at your rate, not contractor rates. 
• Planning ahead : You can use preventive maintenance to manage upgrades and cut back on unexpected breakdowns. Ideally, this helps with budget forecasting too. Having an in-house team can help connect the dots between systems across the company, so everything is accounted for when budgeting.
• Collaboration : Keeping your team in-house means that you can work with Finance to decide when the best time to replace equipment is based on performance and depreciation. This minimizes unnecessary spending and maximizes tax credits.  

Disadvantages:

• Specialized skills : As technology advances, maintenance work becomes more and more specialized. It’s hard to build a team with the right set of core competencies precisely because you will not have a guy for every little thing. This makes some outsourcing almost a necessity.
• Waste : You can potentially wind up having a ton of unused equipment and expertise in your team just to fix a few highly specialized assets. Seeing expertise and equipment not being used doesn’t bode well for you. 
• Lots of management : Building the right team and hiring the right people to do the job takes time and needs constant oversight. You are no longer just a Facility Manager. You are now a people manager, expected to lead and develop others. You’ll also be responsible for contractor relationships and management, not to mention the possibility of additional insurance needed. 

Outsourcing Facilities Management

• Cost savings : Cutting costs is often the biggest benefit of outsourcing facilities management. When you outsource, you are not paying for round-the-clock employees on your team who may not be needed daily. 
• Less risk : Reduce your risk and liability if something goes wrong. Outsourcing puts the risk on another organization. Make sure that you do your homework and partner with a team you can trust. 
• Flexibility : Bringing in the experts with their hyper-specialized equipment as and when you need them instead of trying to do it yourself and potentially causing more damage or having expensive resources on your budget. You save time and money. 
• More expensive than you think : Ironically, outsourcing can cause costs to get out of control. You can run into situations where you have multiple vendors working on the same problem. You have little oversight of the work, who’s delivering on what, and you are left with multiple invoices to pay. If the impetus behind outsourcing is cost-saving, it may not work out that way. Having great partners with solid communication is your best line of defense here. 
• Still requires internal management : There are vendors to manage — lots of them! Someone on your internal team will still have to keep track of the work that needs to be done, who the right vendors are, inventory, etc. It’s almost like you can’t get away from FM no matter what you do!

Some say that the best approach is a hybrid of in-house to manage the day-to-day with outsourcing for highly specialized projects. For example, your team can change the bulbs and fix the heating, cooling, and electrical issues that crop up. Still, you’ll bring in a plumber or machine repair technician for the big stuff. 

What could your facilities management department look like? 

Software solutions that make Facility Management simpler, better, and faster

There are a lot of software solutions out there to help you plan and execute facility management. Let’s walk through some of the better options out there so that you can make an informed decision about the one that’s right for you, your team, and your organization.  Don’t be worried if you do not see a clear difference between some of them at first sight. They do have a lot of overlapping features.

As with every other software on this list, different software vendors offer different levels of functionality. It makes more sense to look at the exact features you need than to focus on labels like IWMS, CMMS, or CAFM.

CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System)

A CMMS is at the top of the list.  Using a CMMS like Limble can be a great way to help keep all your ducks in a row. You’ll be able to track workflows, report on repairs, easily keep an eye on the budget and find ways to cut costs if you need to.  Imagine how great it will be to be called into a meeting last minute and easily give feedback on the FM team’s work. It makes maintenance vastly easier by streamlining and automating all maintenance processes.  Use your CMMS to: 

• Streamline your work order management
• Schedule and monitor all maintenance work
• Track spare parts inventory and forecast future inventory needs
• Effectively manage your assets
• Easily manage vendors and contracts
• Run any report you need or can imagine from your custom dashboards 

CAFM (Computer-Aided Facilities Management)

CAFM is software that helps facility managers execute core functions. CAFM technology combines business administration, behavioral science, architecture, and engineering concepts to optimize the functioning of your organization. It can be helpful to think of computer-aided facility management as a comprehensive commercial facility or building maintenance tool with many different facets and functions. It uses several different models to cover:

• information management
• maintenance management 
• physical building administration
• floor plans and space management
• leasing and real-estate management
• asset lifecycle management
• and administrative support

The core difference between a CAFM and CMMS is that a CAFM focuses on the physical space and things. In contrast, a CMMS focuses on the management of maintenance.  If you need more from your CAFM, you can combine it with a CMMS to give your team more support. 

EAM (Enterprise Asset Management) software

EAM software sits somewhere in between CMMS and CAFM. It gives a broader range of features than a CMMS, but most of them are focused on the maintenance department:

• work management
• labor management
• MRO inventory management
• contract management
• financial management
• reporting and analytics 

Enterprise asset management can be used by production-oriented organizations to plan, optimize, execute, and track all maintenance activities with the associated priorities, skills, materials, tools, and cost. And EAM software is designed to support that idea.

IWMS (Integrated Workplace Management System)

The easiest way to describe it is that it usually offers everything you can find in a CAFM software, and then some. You can think of it as an all-in-one solution for facilities management. Aside from the CAFM features listed above, IWMS can also include:

• flexible real estate and lease management features
• project management features
• environmental management features
• mailroom management features
• visitor management features

On its own, this software solution would be lacking. But when paired with another more comprehensive tool, implementing an IWMS has the potential to be powerful.

BMS/BAS/BEMS 

Let’s first explain the acronyms:

• BMS = building management system
• BAS = building automation system
• BEMS = building energy management system

BMS and BAS are often used interchangeably because they serve the same purpose. They combine hardware and software solutions to control different building systems like lighting, heating, HVAC, access control, etc. They can also be used to measure the performance and energy consumption of HVAC systems and other assets.  Facility managers have to keep an eye on energy consumption because it accounts for a big chunk of their facility’s operational costs. Building energy management systems help them measure energy consumption across the whole facility and find problematic systems and assets.  While BEMS and BMS can come together, they are usually standalone systems, implemented separately. That being said, they do work very well together. BMS/BAM primary function is to control building systems and assets. BEMS’ primary role is to collect and analyze energy consumption data (it can track everything from device electricity usage to water, gas, and steam consumption). Want to know more? Here is an article that discusses the differences between these systems in more detail. 

Building security systems

Security systems also come in different forms and offer a lot of diverse functionalities. You can use them to detect risks, record incidents, and perform risk analysis. They offer visitor management features ranging from facial recognition and badge scanning to video surveillance and capacity and occupancy tracking. As with most things, different software offers different functions. Rather than looking at the labels, think about the exact features you need and use those to help you decide what’s best for your team and organization. 

Moving your career in Facilities Management forward

Professional development in FM is just as important as it is in any other career. More now than ever, facilities professionals need an evolving set of skills to keep them sharp in a modern workforce.  Consider seeking out further training with online certification and degree programs to keep you competitive in today’s job market.  The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) offers training programs that are widely recognized by employers across the United States that have helped facilities managers get raises, promotions, and move their career forward. (For what it’s worth, Limble’s helped our customers get promotions too).

Facilities Management for today: Why it’s more important than ever

As the world continues to evolve, so does the need for better facility management. People don’t just go to an office with a desk and a chair; they go to a workspace focussed on employee well-being, automation, sustainability and impact, and evolving real estate models.  While all this growth and change occurs, software and other technologies are being developed to optimize building operations and create hyper-connectivity, regardless of where employees are.  Facility management for the modern world is now responsible for our spaces, physical and cyber security, well-being, resource consumption, and risk management. The work you do as a facility manager is vital to our future success.  COVID-19 has further proven the point of how essential it is. Facility management means that you need to be dynamic and flexible enough to install home offices remotely, set up workspaces that promote healthier lifestyles, or give enough space to distance from one another safely. You need to understand your organization’s sustainability requirements and environmental impact and find ways to reduce them.  The demand to be greener, safer, and more cost-effective trickles straight down to facilities management. Your ability to be agile and show your value will help bridge the gap between the C-suite, Finance, and Facilities. (We know you can do it)!

Before you go

We know that facilities management is one of the biggest and most critical roles in any company. You touch every department and more. Without you and your team, buildings could break, the equipment could fail, and employees and customers would be unhappy and at risk. Even though much of your work is behind the scenes, it is the lifeblood that keeps organizations running.  You really are our MVP! Want to know more about Limble CMMS ? Find out how it can support you and the work you do? Get in touch with us to set up a demo or start your free trial .

I am interested, pls whattsapp me 00971558984428

Good presentation. I want to start a career in facility management after retirement from a microfinance bank at 60,what steps do I need to take?

That is a really specific question 🙂 I’d suggest you read the following guide to get you started: https://limblecmms.com/blog/facilities-manager-roles-and-responsibilities/ . Good luck!

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Facility Management Plan Template

What is a Facility Management Plan?

A facility management plan outlines the focus areas, objectives, and actions a facility manager and team need to take in order to maintain and manage their facilities. It includes measurable goals, or key performance indicators (KPIs), to track the progress of each objective, as well as projects and actions necessary to achieve the objectives.

What's included in this Facility Management Plan template?

• 3 focus areas
• 6 objectives

Each focus area has its own objectives, projects, and KPIs to ensure that the strategy is comprehensive and effective.

Who is the Facility Management Plan template for?

This facility management plan template is designed to help facility managers and teams create a plan to successfully manage and maintain their facilities and reach their goals. It is suitable for any size organization, from small businesses to large corporations.

1. Define clear examples of your focus areas

Focus areas are the main categories or topics of your facility management plan. Examples of focus areas may include maintenance, security, health and safety, energy efficiency, and sustainability. Depending on the size and needs of your facility, you can create as many focus areas as necessary.

2. Think about the objectives that could fall under that focus area

Objectives are goals or outcomes that you want to achieve in your facility management plan. They should be specific, measurable, and achievable. For each focus area, you should define multiple objectives that will help you reach your overall goals. Examples of some objectives for the focus area of Facility Maintenance could be: Increase Facility Efficiency, and Improve Facility Reliability.

3. Set measurable targets (KPIs) to tackle the objective

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are measurable targets used to track the progress of your objectives. For each objective, you should set an initial value and a target value. You should also specify a unit of measure, such as days or people, depending on the nature of the KPI. An example of a KPI for the focus area of Facility Maintenance could be: Reduce Total Number of Maintenance Interventions.

4. Implement related projects to achieve the KPIs

Projects are the actions or initiatives that are necessary to achieve your objectives and KPIs. For each KPI, you should define one or more projects that will help you reach your goal. These projects should be specific and achievable. An example of a project related to Facility Maintenance could be: Implement Preventive Maintenance Program.

5. Utilize Cascade Strategy Execution Platform to see faster results from your strategy

Cascade Strategy Execution Platform helps facility managers and teams create, track, and monitor their facility management plans. With Cascade, you can easily set objectives and KPIs, track progress, and see faster results from your strategy.

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How to Develop a Successful Facility Management Plan

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Published March 3, 2023.

Facility management refers to planning and overseeing all the physical resources of your organization, such as buildings, equipment, furniture, and more. To ensure good facility management, you first need to create a plan to design, construct, maintain, and upgrade your facilities to maximize their value and achieve your business goals.

A facility management plan is a specific document that outlines the strategies and goals for managing your organization's physical resources.

A successful facility management plan can help you minimize costs and efficiently manage your physical resources. For example, a facility management plan can help in real estate decision-making by providing insight into your planning, design, and space management operations.

What Should You Consider for Your Facility Management Plan?

Developing a good facility management plan is easier said than done, as the factors around it can differ based on your company's goals. Nevertheless, you should consider these universal tips:

Provide Safety and Security

The safety and security of your employees, visitors, and assets should be your top priority when developing a facility management plan. You can achieve your organization's safety goals by implementing access control measures such as key cards, alarm systems, and CCTV cameras throughout the facility.

Another important element of creating a safe and comfortable workspace is adhering to safety regulations such as having fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, and wayfinding maps to exits in case of emergency.

■ Create an efficient wayfinding system with these best practices

Improve Communication

It's essential to ensure open communication between occupants, stakeholders, and other parties involved in your facility management. This can help clarify everyone's objectives and establish an open dialogue so that everyone's informed of any changes or improvements to the facilities.

In addition to boosting employee satisfaction , open communication will also allow your collaborators to express their concerns and doubts so you can address them before they turn into bigger issues.

Ensure Maintenance and Business Continuity

Planning for preventative maintenance, analyzing the elements that need maintenance or repair, creating budgets for these tasks, and preparing for unexpected problems are all key aspects to ensure your operations are uninterrupted.

To plan for maintenance and potential issues, you should consider implementing advanced maintenance management systems to better track and manage your assets. This will help to reduce costs and unexpected breakdowns to keep your business running smoothly.

■ Regular maintenance can allow for better facility management reports 

Optimize Space Utilization

 Space utilization is an important factor to consider when developing a facility management plan because optimizing space usage within your facility can boost employee productivity and reduce costs. Important space usage factors you should consider include:

• Office layout : Choose either an open or closed office layout based on your specific business needs.
• Design choices : Ensure your design creates an inviting environment within your facility while making the most out of the space.
• Eco-friendly spaces : Green workspaces can lower costs with more efficient energy use .
• Furniture and equipment : Make sure these elements are placed in the best positions where employees can easily access them and actually use them.
• Space flexibility : Opt for flexible workspaces that can easily be changed depending on your needs.

Taking these factors into account when calculating your space utilization rate can help ensure all areas of your facility are used to their full potential.

■ Ensure maximum space utilization using these key metrics 

4 Basic Steps for a Successful Facility Management Plan

If you're not sure where to start, take a look at these four basic steps for creating a successful facility management plan:

1. Identify the Current State of the Facility

By identifying the current state of the facility first, you create a baseline from which you can make decisions about budgeting, repair needs, and space utilization. It also provides insight into areas that need improvement, enabling you to focus your efforts on these critical points and maximize efficiency.

2. Prioritize Objectives

When developing a facility management plan, it's important to ensure it aligns with your overall business objectives to prevent wasting resources and halting progress.

If your business goal is to become more energy efficient, any facility improvements you make should reflect this goal. This could involve changes to the facility layout and implementing green workspaces.

By prioritizing your objectives, you can make sure your organization's efforts are focused on the right areas and your facility management contributes to your goals.

■ Improve your facility management with these essential KPIs 

3. Create and Implement a Plan

Once you've identified your objectives, you should conceive an actionable plan and set achievable timeframes.

If one of your goals is to switch to an open layout due to the benefits of open-space offices , your plan should outline the design choices, budgeting requirements, and furniture and equipment placement while specifying the expected completion dates for each point.

Once you have a plan in place, you should communicate it to everyone involved so they can perform their duties mindfully and with clear direction, thereby maximizing productivity and ensuring your objectives are met within the established timeline.

4. Monitor the Plan

Regularly monitoring the facility management plan is important to identify any shortcomings or inefficiencies and establish a success rate. This should involve regular check-ins with employees, creating maintenance reports, and changing the layout as necessary.

These steps will ensure that you can identify any issue early on and take corrective action quickly and efficiently while allowing for better decision-making in the future.

Automated Software Can Assist In Your Success

POC System: Office Space Management

When implementing a facility management plan, automated software like POC System's Space Management Software can be an invaluable asset. This useful tool offers the following features:

• Visual simulations to help with floor plan design 
• Streamlined booking of desks and meeting rooms
• Creating custom seating plans for maximum employee productivity
• Advanced analytics to evaluate the success of your objectives
• Real-time tracking of your current seating and office layout

These features can provide you with the tools you need to maximize space utilization and ensure your objectives are met within the set timeline.

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Easily Create a Successful Facility Management Plan

Creating a successful facility management plan that aligns with your overall business objectives can be highly beneficial to your organization's bottom line. This process should involve prioritizing objectives, creating and implementing an actionable plan, and regularly monitoring the facility space usage.

While this can be a daunting task, automated software like POC System's Space Management Software can make it a whole lot easier. With this tool, you can quickly develop an effective facility management plan and ensure your resources are being used in the most efficient manner.

■ Book a demo to explore POC's features

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Tips for Drafting a Facilities Management Strategy

How to make a facilities management strategy right for your business.

Strategy is important in everything from board games to business planning. In the latter, strategy is often the key to success—a concentrated effort toward a measurable goal. If your goal is to leverage facilities into business success, strategic facility management is paramount. It’s a combination of facility management and facility planning, stitched together with a set of clear-cut outcomes in mind. 

Strategic facility management is all about focusing on the long-term. Applying strategy to facility management gives purpose to the workplace, making it a focal part of broader company initiatives. But, like all strategies, one involving facilities management needs clear motive. 

The best thing an FM can do to keep pace is pay close attention to the needs of facilities and the people using them. The demands of people and the way they work perpetuate trends within facilities management. It’s the duty of a facility manager to see that they’re adopted, optimized, and measured. 

What is Facility Management?  

Facility management is a broad term to describe the responsibilities focusing on building operations, workplace management, space planning, maintenance, security, asset management, and several other areas of real estate or real property.  

Using tools and technology like software solutions, facilities managers are tasked with keeping the environment around staff and the building itself running smoothly. Keeping an eye on maintenance schedules, carbon emissions, occupancy rates and data allow facilities managers to weigh in on decisions with insightful data on how a workplace is functioning. 

Supporting the Company Goals & Values  

Ideally, facilities management strategies are set up in such a way that they support the internal and business goals of the organization while aligning with stakeholder sentiments. Internal goals may focus on employee experience, lowering carbon emissions or optimizing the design of an office space/floor.  

Facilities management is often the unsung heroes of a company, supporting employees and the operations through their work with the building and collecting data on the one of several aspects they are responsible for.  

If your company values creating a workspace that is conducive to productivity and supporting the people within it, then facilities management efforts should reflect that and be aimed at giving their people the best environment possible. 

Key Considerations when Building a FM Strategy  

Now for the checklist you’ve been waiting for. 

1. Focus not only on cost savings but value creation  

Businesses traditionally operate from a standpoint of ROI and wanting to lower costs from any means necessary. Facilities management can do that, and often this is a product of good facilities management, but it should not be the only foundational reason for why you are doing what you’re doing. 

Creating value through your work can take many shapes and forms , whether it be changing the way a space is used, how maintenance is done so it costs less, or elevating how your organization uses and sees technology by introducing innovative processes or tools. 

Value creation uplifts the entire organization, not just accounting and facilities. Your strategies should have a goal to always improve some aspect of the workplace, leaving it better than it was prior. 

2. Implement a sustainable facility design plan.   

Sustainability might be starting to sound like a bit of a buzzword by now, but it’s far from it. The impact and the importance sustainability has on organizational success is prevalent across every industry. Many tips for improving facilities management plans revolve around creating sustainable business practices.  

Committing to initiatives like proactive maintenance, energy use, building operations and technology, are all physical asset focused things that can help the longevity of systems in the workplace.  

Design goes beyond the HVAC and lighting though; facilities management also encompasses space planning, space management, and workplace tools. Stuff like desk hotelling and reservations that leverage occupancy data to show a big picture of how the office is designed and being used. Designing an office to be best suited for the needs staff and people have has a compounding effect on what is put into work and the culture of a business. 

In some cases, such as manufacturing , sustainability is a main driver of growth and innovation as it gives a company the opportunity to evolve and adapt without expensive process overhauls. 

3. Know the total cost of all facility work done both directly and indirectly.  

At the end of the day most things do, in fact come down to costs and the bottom line. A successful facilities management strategy that is focused on the long run will have to consider costs and how much is being spent over time to make accurate assessments.  

Indirect costs can add up over time and should be tracked just as closely as direct costs to give yourself a clear picture of where your expenses are coming from and how your facilities might be responsible for certain downstream costs. 

Direct costs are the ones you see and handle from a cause-and-effect standpoint. HVAC maintenance? Repair invoice is a direct cost that goes into the long-term costs of your buildings life cycle. 

4. Consider the entire life cycle costs of a building.  

Buildings are long-term investments, and if you are the sole organization using yours, then the long-term life cycle costs are going to add up overtime.  

Considering things like leasing, maintenance, how your space use will evolve over time, and potential technology integrations are all going to be a part of the life cycle that adds to the list of costs. 

Considering short-, medium-, and long-term costs over the course of the life cycle forecasts budgets while giving you a look at the full scope of costs. Further, highlighting areas where investments might need to be made to make up for areas that are lagging or are experiencing issues.  

5. Optimize the use of available workspace by increasing ROI, not people per square foot.  

How you use your office space will be a key factor in if you are getting the best ROI, not how many people you fit into the office. That way of thinking that more people = more ROI, is simply not true anymore.  

Increasing your ROI on your workspace can mean investing in your workspace to give your staff what they need from an office . The use of a space management solution can help you on your way to optimizing this. Outfitting your space with everything your people need and keeping it that way is the best avenue to getting a better ROI on the space, by empowering people to get the most from it. 

6. Be the master of your company’s physical assets.   

Facilities management needs oversight of all assets and systems, from HVAC to lighting to office space and floorplan. Mastering these and the rest of your assets, knowing the reporting metrics and maintenance schedules means keeping everything in running order.  

Mastery means staying on top of things and keeping assets and their life cycles in line with business goals and values. Planning, operations, maintenance built into a robust strategy will eliminate headaches and unforeseen issues down the line.   

7. Automate automate automate!  

Successful and proper automation takes significant load off your team while streamlining processes surrounding maintenance, asset management, and even long-term costs. 

If you can ensure that you receive notifications, updates and scheduling reminders from a software solution regarding your ventilation system or the energy use from your lighting, that takes any guesswork out of it. You now have more bandwidth to address other areas and conduct analysis on reporting. In terms of cost, this gives you a clearer picture over the long and short term of where costs are going to be arising from and how often.  

This expands into total building automation, where the internet of things (IoT) and smart spaces are creating self-monitoring environments and systems to control things such as carbon emissions or energy use. Keeping levels under a certain amount without constant adjustment and checking of data makes reaching net-zero goals a more attainable end line. 

8. Introduce IoT to reduce costs and enhance capabilities.  

IoT systems are still relatively new, and their adaptation in a mainstream sense is yet to be realized. However, their benefits and application are readily apparent.  

Leveraging an IoT system in the future enhances what facilities managers can do as their network of interconnected tools grows as a result. Self-monitoring and data collecting IoT networks give greater reach and insight into how a building or workplace is interacting on a facilities level.  

In an increasingly digital dependent age, introducing IoT into your toolkit could be the catalyst to complete control and facilities optimization in your office using data on the connected areas. 

9. Ensure KPIs highlight both errors and opportunities.   

Analytics, data, reporting, all this information without context and clear KPIs loses some of its importance. Developing clear KPIs in your facilities management strategy that highlights both shortcomings and errors, as well as opportunities for improvement gives direction and purpose to your goals.  

What these look like is going to differ with each organization, but some core principles can include monitoring all areas, including those which your organization is actively working on improving. From there, establishing what constitutes the difference between an “error” and an area of opportunity in both a quantifiable and qualifiable way.  

What levels reflected in a system should be marked as a red flag? Where are areas that are not at their peak performance and could benefit from optimization? Optimize KPIs and your ROI will improve as a result, getting the most out of your facilities. 

10. Understand how workplace digitization plays a role in lowering costs.  

You’ve likely heard this term thrown around a lot during the last couple of years, with digitization rising to the top of priority lists in organizations to navigate a remote world. Digitization and the integration of in-house data and servers means less expenses through third parties as well as access to all data when needed and can be used as needed. 

Digitization leads to better decision making and innovation , which obviously leads to better IT decisions and business decisions to improving ROI on things such as infrastructure and usage. Integrating this into a strategy will optimize your facilities approach. 

More efficient processes and decisions will lead to lower expenses and better outcomes if things such as facilities management are digitized, as automation and better maintenance means more regular preventative action and less reactive action that could cost significant downtime, repairs, or replacement. 

11. Keep industry evolution in mind  

Things are changing and evolving every day, it may not be a groundbreaking piece of tech every week that changes an industry, but the gradual adoption of ideas and ways of doing things that lead to true evolution. To effectively draft a facilities strategy with this in mind, digitization and being open to new technologies is an important step.  

Understanding that things will change means keeping an open mind and staying up to date with trends. A good way to do this is subscribing to reporting entities like Verdantix for industry reports and trends that are developed with the help of key players in your space.  

Using these resources and listening to professionals around you who are in the same role can shape your outlook and have a forward-facing goal in mind when creating a facilities management strategy rather than only focusing on managing day to day tasks.  

Integration of a workplace management system to keep things in line, as well as visualization software or digital twins for asset management and insightful data collection only adds to your arsenal of tools to help get your facilities management strategy to where you and your business want it to be.  

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Plan template bundle, 8+ facility management plan templates in pdf, 1. simple facility management plan template, 2. free facility management plan template, 3. free facility management business plan template, 4. facility management infrastructure plan template, 5. climate research facility management plan template, 6. free facility management service plan template, 7. free facility asset management plan template, 8. property facility management work force plan template, 9. facilities strategic asset management plan template, how to create the facility management plan, what are the uses of the facility management plan, what are the benefits of the facility management plan, what are the purposes of the facility management plan.

The facility management plan is the formal planning instrument used by the organization to manage the current and future operations of the club facility. The plan is to put together to make sure the efficiency of operation is increased, saving them money over the life of your facility and even expand the overall lifespan of your facility. The quality, safety, and sustainability of the plan must be in the facility management plan. And, the plan to achieve these strategies.

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Facility Management Strategic Plan Template

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Effective facility management is crucial for organizations to ensure smooth operations and maximize the use of resources. But developing a comprehensive strategic plan for facility management can be a daunting task. That's where ClickUp's Facility Management Strategic Plan Template comes in!

With ClickUp's template, facility managers and management teams can:

• Set clear goals, objectives, and strategies for facility management
• Streamline communication and collaboration among team members
• Track progress and make data-driven decisions to optimize facility utilization

Whether you're responsible for maintaining a single building or managing a portfolio of facilities, ClickUp's Facility Management Strategic Plan Template will help you streamline your processes and achieve your facility management goals. Start planning for success today!

Benefits of Facility Management Strategic Plan Template

When using the Facility Management Strategic Plan Template, you can experience a range of benefits, including:

• Improved efficiency and cost-effectiveness in facility operations and maintenance
• Increased productivity and satisfaction among facility users and occupants
• Optimal utilization of resources and assets, leading to reduced waste and improved sustainability
• Enhanced safety and compliance with regulations and standards
• Clear communication and alignment of facility management goals and strategies with overall organizational objectives

Main Elements of Facility Management Strategic Plan Template

Streamline your facility management strategic planning with ClickUp's Facility Management Strategic Plan Template.

Key elements of this template include:

• Custom Statuses: Track the progress of different tasks with statuses such as Cancelled, Complete, In Progress, On Hold, and To Do, ensuring transparency and accountability throughout the planning process.
• Custom Fields: Utilize 8 custom fields like Duration Days, Impact, Progress, and Team Members to capture relevant information about each task, enabling you to make informed decisions and track the impact of your strategic plan.
• Custom Views: Access 6 different views, including Progress, Gantt, Workload, Timeline, Initiatives, and Getting Started Guide, to visualize and manage your facility management projects in a way that suits your needs.
• Collaboration Tools: Leverage ClickUp's collaboration features like assigning team members, adding project leads, and organizing tasks into departments to ensure effective communication and coordination within your facility management team.

How to Use Strategic Plan for Facility Management

When it comes to managing facilities efficiently and effectively, having a strategic plan in place is crucial. Here are five steps to help you make the most of the Facility Management Strategic Plan Template in ClickUp:

1. Assess the current state

Before diving into the strategic planning process, it's important to assess the current state of your facilities. This includes evaluating the condition of the physical infrastructure, identifying any maintenance or repair needs, and analyzing the utilization of space.

Use the Dashboards feature in ClickUp to gather data and visualize key metrics related to your facilities.

2. Define your goals and objectives

Next, determine the goals and objectives you want to achieve through your facility management strategic plan. These could include improving energy efficiency, enhancing safety measures, optimizing space utilization, or reducing maintenance costs.

Create tasks in ClickUp to outline specific goals and assign them to the relevant team members.

3. Develop strategies and action plans

Once you have defined your goals, it's time to develop strategies and action plans to achieve them. This may involve implementing preventive maintenance programs, investing in smart building technologies, optimizing workflows, or streamlining procurement processes.

Use the Gantt chart feature in ClickUp to create a visual timeline and allocate tasks to team members based on priority and dependencies.

4. Assign responsibilities and resources

To ensure the successful implementation of your facility management strategic plan, it's important to assign responsibilities and allocate necessary resources. Identify the team members or departments responsible for each strategy or action plan, and provide them with the resources they need to execute their tasks effectively.

Utilize the Workload view in ClickUp to manage and balance workloads across your team, ensuring that everyone has a clear understanding of their responsibilities.

5. Monitor progress and make adjustments

Once your facility management strategic plan is in motion, it's crucial to regularly monitor progress and make adjustments as needed. Keep track of key performance indicators, such as energy consumption, maintenance costs, and customer satisfaction, and compare them against your defined goals and objectives.

Set up Automations in ClickUp to receive automated notifications and reminders for progress updates, and use the Dashboards feature to visualize real-time data and identify areas that require attention.

By following these five steps and utilizing the Facility Management Strategic Plan Template in ClickUp, you can streamline your facility management processes, improve efficiency, and achieve your desired outcomes.

Get Started with ClickUp’s Facility Management Strategic Plan Template

Facility managers and management teams can use this Facility Management Strategic Plan Template to create a comprehensive roadmap for effectively managing and maintaining facilities.

First, hit “Add Template” to sign up for ClickUp and add the template to your Workspace. Make sure you designate which Space or location in your Workspace you’d like this template applied.

Next, invite relevant members or guests to your Workspace to start collaborating.

Now you can take advantage of the full potential of this template to create a strategic plan for facility management:

• Use the Progress View to track the progress of each task and ensure that the strategic plan is on track
• The Gantt View will help you visualize the timeline and dependencies of each task in the plan
• Use the Workload View to balance the workload and resources among team members
• The Timeline View will provide a clear overview of the project timeline and milestones
• Use the Initiatives View to list and prioritize key initiatives and projects within the plan
• The Getting Started Guide View will provide step-by-step instructions and guidance for implementing the strategic plan
• Organize tasks into five different statuses: Cancelled, Complete, In Progress, On Hold, To Do, to track the progress and status of each task
• Update statuses as you complete tasks to keep stakeholders informed of progress
• Monitor and analyze tasks to ensure the successful implementation of the strategic plan

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Elevating operations: a strategic approach to facilities management strategy.

A company's productivity is significantly affected by its facilities' operations and planning.  

Strategic solutions derived from effective facility design are essential for firms to sustain structure and productivity in the face of increasing use of remote, hybrid, and flexible work arrangements. 

Although, it could be difficult for a facilities manager to actively participate in f acilities management strategy discussions, doing so has been known to reportedly provide benefits in the long run.

In a way, it is all about making the workplace future-proof via data-driven research and solutions that concentrate on people. 

Having said that, any type of facilities maintenance strategy, whether it's confined to a set of offices, or more of a braod-range operation, calls for meticulous planning and execution at multiple levels.

Understanding this process from an operational efficiency point of view is crucial to whatever the term: "facilities management strategy" entails on your turf!

Here's an in-depth look at everything you need to know to get started in a hassle-free manner.

What is a Facilities Management Strategy?

Facility Maintenance Definition: Organizations utilize facility planning as a strategy to arrange their resources and physical spaces. It guarantees that workers have access to sufficient space and resources to carry out their jobs effectively and accomplish the company's objectives.

To implement strategic management of facilities , a company, and its facilities staff must shift their attention from short-term fixes to more long-term strategies and activities.

Rather than haphazardly assigning tools and workspace, this proactive method necessitates defining a plan for managing space and resources. To get insight into a space's use, it is common practice to gather statistics on occupancy and usage rates. 

The end purpose of facility planning is to make sure that businesses succeed by making sure that offices are good places to work.

The first step in f acilities management strategy that really helps your company succeed is figuring out how your workplace contributes to the bigger picture. Additional reasons for implementing strategic facilities management might include:

• Making the switch to hybrid work
• Bringing in and keeping the best talent
• Promoting a more cooperative and trustworthy culture
• Using environmentally friendly procedures at work

What is Integrated Facilities Management?

A comprehensive strategy for overseeing a company's infrastructure and physical assets is known as integrated facilities management (IFM).

Planned maintenance and repairs , energy management, space utilization, health and safety compliance, and property and asset management are just a few of the facility services that are integrated by IFM.

Organizations can now centralize operations and monitor their F acilities management strategy data from anywhere thanks to cloud-based technologies like Facilio.

What is a Strategic Facility Plan (SFP)

The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) recommends that managers familiarize themselves with the following three things before putting together a thorough Strategic Facility Plan (SFP): 

• The organization's core values (or evolving values) and how facilities should reflect those values; 
• A thorough evaluation of the facility (including its location, capabilities, and condition); 
• And, lastly, a basic comprehension of how the organization's objectives could lead to expansion or contraction in terms of facilities.

Managers will be functioning as a "strategic" support system if they can verify each of these benchmarks with the relevant departments and figure out how to back their organization's facilities maintenance goals and objectives while implementing efficient day-to-day protocols. 

This synthesis of "current" and "future" enables all stakeholders to optimally deal with incoming changes.

Key Pillars of Effective Facility Management Strategy

When creating a facilities management strategy , the following should be prioritized: 

• People: how can you meet the demands of your workers in this space so that they can give their all at work? What do your employees anticipate from this area?
• ‍ Technology: what are the necessary resources to improve efficiency, collect data for better-informed judgments, and organize the space?
• ‍ Building and landscaping: how does the actual location appear and work, with regard to the meeting rooms and workstations included?
• ‍ Methods and procedures: how might one go about implementing facilities management strategy in an organization to properly distribute space and resources?

Why is Facilities Management Strategy So Important?

In virtually every aspect of your company, including marketing, financial planning, product/service development, recruiting, etc., you exhibit a high level of strategic thinking.

Then why not turn your workplace into something you can track, evaluate, and get additional benefits from?

A f acilities management strategy should be implemented by businesses for many reasons, particularly when new methods of working become the norm. 

Hybrid work, for instance, can be accommodated by these groups. Utilizing appropriate facilities management strategies is essential for effectively overseeing on-site collaborative work. All it takes is the correct equipment to keep track of workers' whereabouts and when they clock in. 

• Boosting Your Workplace ROI

Renting or buying office space isn't inexpensive.

You want your investment to be worthwhile, especially in the hybrid workplace when fewer workers are physically present at the office on a daily basis.

A facilities management strategy can be beneficial.

One strategy to make your day-to-day work more relevant to your long-term objectives is to connect your workplace design and use it to a specific company goal or goals. What changes must be made in your workplace to improve the bottom line?

• Improve Workforce Productivity

When your facilities assist or hinder the efficiency of your workforce, it's easy to see how they contribute to your bottom line.

Keep in mind that the term "facilities" encompasses a wide range of components, such as thermostats, light switches, cleaning supplies, the reception desk, property upkeep, electrical testing, and much more.

Workers won't be as productive if they're either too hot or too cold. Warm workplaces are especially bad for productivity, which drops 2-4% for every degree Celsius over 27 degrees.  

Negligible electrical testing can result in serious consequences, including decreased productivity and trust in the area, when gadgets malfunction or become unsafe to use. 

Facilities management strategies, on the other hand, allow you to stay ahead of these problems by ensuring that your employees have the resources they need to thrive.

• Talent Acquisition

Attracting top talent doesn't need a ping-pong table or a slide in your workplace! Still, it must serve their purposes, be comfortable for them, and respect their beliefs and demands.

The pursuit of more diversity, equality, and inclusion makes this a priority. For some new workers, it's important to provide separate, private spaces where they can get some work done. 

To further promote a flat organizational structure, you can opt for a more casual, open-plan layout for your workplace. Office planning and facilities management are complementary processes; thus, you should first determine your facilities maintenance goals and objectives for the Employee Experience before developing a plan.

One other thing you can do to draw in new employees is to run your workplace sustainably.

After all, if given the chance to work for a more environmentally conscious company, 28% of US workers would think about leaving their present positions. Do you provide your facilities manager room to grow into a sustainable and strategic leader?

Of course, your company's flexibility to accommodate remote workers is a major selling point when it comes to attracting top talent. What the epidemic has shown us is that remote work is a huge selling feature, and companies should get on the bandwagon if they don't want to miss out.

How Do You Implement a Strategic Facility Management Plan?

Strategize your facilities management approach. It's a five-step process that takes into account all the people who have a stake in your office, their needs, and how your space can support your facilities maintenance goals and objectives

• Understand. Just think about where you are right now and where you want to be tomorrow.

The first thing to do when adopting strategic facilities management is to make a plan for how you will achieve your goals.

But just as crucial is figuring out how much money you have to put into the change, who has to be on board, and how long the process should take.

• ‍ Analyze. Your facilities management strategy requires an approach to implementation.

Utilize the wide variety of analytical tools and methodologies at your disposal to develop a plan for your operation. If you want to know how to contribute and what may go wrong with your strategy, a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis is a good place to start.

Including it in your strategy meetings and brainstorming sessions should make it easy to choose the next steps for the plan.

• ‍ Plan. Building an executable road plan requires using what you've learned in the previous two phases.

Outline the modifications you are making and the reasoning behind them in your plan.

After that, simplydocument the measures you will take to bring the project to fruition. Establish a timeline, define goals, and delegate responsibilities as necessary to ensure the strategy is carried out most efficiently. Think of it as a long-term plan that outlines how you will satisfy the requirements of the business.

• ‍ Act. Everything is set in motion after you have presented the f acilities management strategy and roadmap to top stakeholders and clarified the vision for them.

Just remember to highlight the advantages we discussed before to make your case more persuasive. But the hard work hasn't come to an end yet.

• ‍ Measure. In the long run, how can you tell whether your strategy for managing facilities is paying off?

What measures and benchmarks should be established to track the ongoing impact? Your facilities maintenance goals and objectives will dictate the metrics you use, but they will likely contain financial, cultural, and productivity-related data.

In the long run, the goal of strategic facilities management is to support your company's pursuit of excellence.

What are Your Typical Facility Management's Objectives?

There are a lot of moving parts in the management of facilities , but one of the most important is making sure the people who live or work in the building are safe, comfortable, and satisfied. All sorts of facilities can benefit from meeting the objectives set forth by facility management to achieve these facilities maintenance goals and objectives .

Communication with Stakeholders and Occupants

Managing a property effectively requires constant two-way contact with the building's tenants and other interested parties. Talking to them about their thoughts on the facility and getting their advice on how to make it safer and more comfortable is a great way to get to know them better.

Provide a Safe and Healthy Environment

We can save a lot of lives if we can identify potential hazards to people's health and figure out how to fix or eliminate them.

Because they are a necessary component of any structure, let's take restrooms as an example.

They can be made to feel as comfortable as possible throughout every visit by keeping them clean, smelling good, and providing enough amenities.

Be Mindful of Deficiencies

Over time, some issues might compromise a building's utility systems if not addressed. Inspections performed on a regular basis could reveal construction flaws and prevent more serious issues down the road. Performing these standard inspections every three to six months is the responsibility of the facility manager.

Improve and Endorse Energy Efficiency

It is possible to save money by making the building more energy efficient. The management can find out how much money is being wasted on water, gas, and electricity by reviewing the building's costs for these three things. 

Reduce and avoid more energy waste by investing in energy-saving equipment including energy-efficient light bulbs, upgrading current equipment, and closing up pipe leaks.

Business Continuity Planning

Running some facilities is dependent on machinery that is in good working order. An organization's critical assets and the risks that they face are detailed in a business continuity plan, which functions similarly to a backup plan. 

In addition to that, the f acilities management strategy outlines the potential impact on company operations in the event that the asset were to cease working.

If a company or institution has done its homework and has a solid strategy in place, it can keep running even if something unforeseen happens.

Building the Right Tech Stack To Support FM Initiatives with Xenia!

If you're using FM, your CMMS should make it easy to consolidate all facility management tasks.

You can't call it a comprehensive or integrated approach to facility management (FM) if your CMMS just supports asset management and proactive maintenance and suppliers and inventories need their software that won't interact with your CMMS.

The amount of human labor required to consolidate data across sheets or convert it into forms that the CMMS can read would still be twice as much for your teams. 

The results that FM guarantees would be difficult to get due to the delays, mistakes, and bottlenecks that would ensue.  

Thus, for an O&M ecosystem to be fully integrated, your CMMS should be thorough, adaptable, and user-friendly enough to link with all your current systems.

The following aspects and capabilities should be considered when evaluating CMMS software to implement your FM vision:

• Management of assets : Keep tabs on things like where assets are, what they're up to, and any warranty information with ease.
• ‍ Maintenance management: involves scheduling and tracking maintenance jobs, work orders, labor hours, and materials utilized.
• ‍ Work order management : create, assign, and monitor the progress, priority, and budget of all open work orders.
• ‍ Inventory management: includes keeping tabs on stock levels, where they are stored, and when they are due to expire.
• ‍ Reporting and analytics: Use data analysis and report generation to improve decision-making. Learn more about energy use, asset condition, and maintenance expenses.
• ‍ Collaboration: Coordinate closely with relevant parties across the company, including engineers, managers, and technicians.
• ‍ Optimization of assets: Identifying areas for improvement and making suggestions to optimize performance.
• ‍ Predictive maintenance : involves analyzing past data and current asset conditions to determine the likelihood of maintenance needs.

With a focus on f acility maintenance , Xenia's Connected CMMS allows for intelligent and real-time operations and maintenance through the use of modular solutions for managing facility conditions , assets, inventory, inspections, work orders, services, workplaces, and vendors.

With so many options, how does Xenia's Connected CMMS stand out from the competition?

By integrating people, procedures, and systems, Xenia's Connected CMMS allows you to manage operations on a portfolio scale from a single location with its multi-location capabilities.  

Next Steps 

To ensure your company's success, facility planning is essential.

Before diving into a facilities management plan, consider the needs of your team members to enable peak performance. Guaranteeing the effective execution of your f acilities management strategy requires the right technology and an employee-centric approach.

Successful businesses optimize their workplaces by setting measurable objectives, assessing their current state, staying abreast of emerging workplace trends, and implementing technological solutions. 

These steps naturally lead to increased productivity and efficiency. By taking these actions, your company can prepare for the future of work, characterized by more sustainable and adaptable environments desired by employees.

Interested in implementing these changes in your workplace? Optimize your office space and enhance staff satisfaction with Xenia. 

Try our software for free now!

Unify Team Operations, Maintenance and Safety Compliance with Xenia

Xenia unifies daily operations, maintenance management and quality assurance to help ensure teams and facilities are effective and efficient.

Our customers love Xenia's robust use cases including:

Operational Execution

✔️ checklists & sops.

Create checklists, SOPs, Inspections and Data Logs to power accountability, training and staff clarity on every task.

💪 Team Task Management

Assign work digitally to defeat pencil whipping and disorganized teams. Complete tasks, chat with teams on any device, track time, collect photos, and ensure high quality work.

📆 Recurring Tasks

Create recurring schedules for daily opening and closings, performance review meetings, inspections, cleanings and more.

📲 Chats & Announcements

Centralize team communications with in task chats, one-on-one chats, team messages and company wide announcements

📊 Team Performance Reporting

Use Xenia's analytics dashboards to view staff work reports. Filter by asset, location, category or due date and export the report in PDF or Excel

Maintenance Management

🛠️ work orders.

Create work orders with associated team, asset, location, priority, category and due date. View live progress reports on each work order, chat with teams, and review resulting template submission, images and notes to improve operations.

🧰 Preventive Maintenance

Create a preventive maintenance calendar to ensure asset uptime is not compromised. Attach images, templates, videos and notes to every task and assign to a team or individual for completion.

Generate and attach QR codes to equipment and facility locations to enable fast and accurate inspections and data logs.

⚙️ Work Order Requests

Receive, approve and assign work order requests from tenants, regular customers and vendors. Enable requesters to submit, track, and communicate with your team, without access to operations templates or unrelated work orders.

📁 Equipment Work History

View work history for every asset and sub asset in Xenia. Review performance data and enable corrective actions to improve your operation.

Safety Compliance & Quality Assurance

👍 concrete brand standards.

Put your brand standards in a clear and operational checklist to be attached to work assignments.

🔎 Smart Inspection Workflows

Xenia's operations template builder has built in conditional logic into each step. This allows you to trigger actions based on a form response such as creating a corrective action on a failed inspection step, sending a notification to management for out of range meter readings, and much more.

✨ Corrective Actions

Operationalize inspections with fast work order assignment arising from a failed inspection step. All corrective data is stored in the checklist submission for auditing and accountability.

📋 Analytics and Reports

View live dashboard summaries of tasks, employee performance, template submissions and more. Filter, organize and export compliance reports to PDF and Excel formats to simplify compliance management.

Why use Xenia in your operation?

Xenia is empowering hundreds of teams around the world to elevate their facility operations management. When implemented, Xenia offers benefits such as:

🦾 Reduce Manual Operations

With Xenia, you can schedule recurring tasks and work orders in minutes. Assigned employees will receive notifications and can complete work on their mobile device.

💯 Standardize Processes & Increase Accountability

Build custom checklists, SOPs, inspections, log books, surveys, meeting agendas and more with Xenia. Attach these to tasks and work orders to clarify work and collect crucial data such as photos, notes, time stamps and more.

🤩 Minimize Negative Reviews

Xenia's operations platform increases brand standards and speeds up issue resolution to ensure a positive guest experience. When things do go wrong, Xenia provides a central data suite to identify the root cause and execute intervention plans.

⚡ Speed Up Work Order Resolution Time

Enable any team member to report issues, damage or guest complaints directly on their mobile device. The necessary team will be notified and can resolve the issue immediately.

🏨 Minimize Equipment Downtime

With Xenia's preventive maintenance calendars and work order management, teams can centralize their asset maintenance and ensure every issue is prevented or corrected in short order. This saves teams thousands each year in avoidable repair fees.

🔐 Secure Data Storage

All data in Xenia is securely stored in the cloud for analysis and reporting. We do not delete historical data to ensure that you have a clear view of improvement over time.

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Facilities management helps ensure the functionality, comfort, safety and efficiency of buildings and grounds, infrastructure and real estate.

Facilities management includes:

• Lease management, including lease administration and accounting
• Capital project planning and management 
• Maintenance and operations
• Energy management
• Occupancy and space management 
• Employee and occupant experience 
• Emergency management and business continuity
• Real estate management

Types of facilities management:  There are two basic areas: Hard facilities management (Hard FM) and soft facilities management (Soft FM). 

• Hard FM deals with physical assets such as plumbing, wiring, elevators and heating and cooling.
• Soft FM focuses on tasks performed by people such as custodial services, lease accounting, catering, security and groundskeeping.

This guide summarizes what sustainability-forward organizations look for in their ESG software platform to help achieve their goals.

Register for the guide on sustainability trends

For people to do their best work and feel engaged in their environments, they need to be in buildings that are safe, welcoming and efficient. Facilities management has a hand in everything that surrounds the people in facilities and on the grounds. Where they work, play, learn and live should be comfortable, productive and sustainable.

Superior facilities management will contribute to your organization’s bottom line, impacting the short-and long-term value of property, buildings and equipment. Your efforts can be crucial to:

• Space optimization
• Guiding capital projects
• Energy management and maintenance
• Lease accounting
• Workplace experience

People spend 87% of their time in buildings. See how to improve your operations to make their lives more comfortable and maximize efficiencies.

In its first worldwide integrated workplace management system (IWMS) MarketScape report, market research firm IDC highlights TRIRIGA for its innovation, flexibility, functionality and industry expertise.

Real estate is the second-highest cost for an organization and effective space management can result in cost savings up to 30%. ¹

The average capital project is 80% over budget and 20 months behind schedule, but adopting capital project management technology can lead to up to a 45% reduction in overall project costs. ²

Companies that rank high in employee engagement have 59% less turnover, 17% more productivity and 41% less absenteeism. 3

A smart building with integrated systems can realize 30–50% savings in existing buildings that are otherwise inefficient. 4

The technology in facilities management includes both software and systems. Vast amounts of data are generated by built environments through Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, wifi, meters, gauges and smart devices.

The most effective solutions enable facilities management departments to make good use of this data by infusing analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) into an integrated workplace management system (IWMS). These technologies deliver cognitive capabilities that make computer-aided facilities management possible—so you can analyze and learn from data, enabling you to achieve real-time visibility, perform predictive facilities maintenance and create more productive, cost-efficient environments.

Across numerous industries and company sizes, facilities managers have a wide range of important day-to-day responsibilities. These managers need to both plan ahead and also be ready for various tasks within any given day. While the manager’s responsibilities often include:

• real estate management
• capital projects and planning
• occupancy and space management 
• lease administration and accounting
• workplace experience

There are also ways to improve the performance of each responsibility that will fill the manager's schedule:

• deliver operational efficiencies
• create an environment conducive to productivity
• find and adopt technological solutions 
• guarantee regulatory compliance
• minimize risks to facilities and employees
• reduce energy consumption costs
• reduce the carbon footprint of the real estate portfolio

As many enterprises return to their offices, the workplace ideally becomes a destination where employees want to gather and collaborate—connecting safely with each other.

The new workspace in the post-pandemic world must to satisfy even more needs. Does productivity mean keeping face-to-face working or saving employees commuting time? Have a look at the advantages and challenges of building a hybrid workspace model.

Give employees a better workplace experience. “A great place to work” is being redefined by COVID-19, employee expectations and technology. That experience can still mean the difference between engaged, productive employees and a company facing turnover and even more disruption. Learn how to create that new experience .

See how ISS is transforming the facilities management of more than 25,000 buildings worldwide using TRIRIGA. Specific facilities management examples show the value of IoT as buildings and environments become more personalized, intuitive and easy to use.

With the onset of COVID-19, GRE was able to move 95% of IBM’s global employees from the office to home by using our own solutions. Now we’re preparing for the move back to the office, with the ability to monitor adherence to pandemic-related protocols and to verify health credentials.

Learn how an integrated workplace management system (IWMS) can increase the operational, financial and environmental performance of facilities and real estate.

Use data to make better-informed and data-driven decisions for intelligent real estate and facilities management.

Get intelligent asset management, monitoring, predictive maintenance and reliability in a single platform.

Read how as artificial intelligence gets integrated with building management systems and IoT devices, it has the potential to improve occupant experience, increase operational efficiency and optimize space management and asset utilization.

Explore how the workplace as a destination is changing the way facilities managers are optimizing space for safety, productivity and improved experiences.

Data and AI are increasingly critical tools in how organizations are evolving their facilities management. Simple, fast and flexible, IBM TRIRIGA is an integrated workplace management system that has the right mix of applications in one modular solution to maximize your building lifecycle while preparing you to meet future needs.

¹  Research and Markets  (link resides outside ibm.com)

²  McKinsey & Company  (link resides outside ibm.com)

³  Gallup  (link resides outside ibm.com)

⁴  American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy  (link resides outside ibm.com)

Facility planning: A strategic approach to a better office

Facility planning is essential for the modern office, especially given the rapidly changing landscape of today’s workplace. With more and more companies embracing remote work , hybrid work , and more flexible working in general, they need strategic solutions that come from good facility planning in order to maintain structure and productivity. 

In this article, we explore why and how facility planning can help companies stay profitable and better support their workers. Even in the midst of new and changing realities on the ground. 

Panel Discussion

Top strategies for hybrid office space planning with CBRE’s Susan Wasmund

What is facility planning?

Facility planning is the systematic process that smart organizations use to ensure they have the facilities and related resources necessary to meet both their short and long term goals. Sometimes referred to as strategic facility planning, it’s the key decision-making that companies use to future-proof their workspaces. 

The reality is that simply following space management best practices isn’t always enough for your facility. Without good strategic planning and foresight, companies often stay stuck in problem-solving mode, instead of anticipating new problems before they arrive. 

On the other hand, when companies realistically assess their current and future space and facility needs, they can put themselves in a much better position to weather any new storms. 

In other words, facility planning is what helps companies take a proactive approach to their workplace strategy and real estate management , instead of a reactive one.  It’s about bringing business goals in line with facility goals. It’s also about ensuring both the business and its facilities are ready for the future. 

Who is responsible for facility planning?

The facility planning process is complex, requiring a high level of collaboration in the workplace .

That said, facility needs are typically handled by a facility manager (FM), or a facility management team. FMs make great planners, because they typically have both the data and resources at hand to make smart decisions for the office. And because keeping things running smoothly and anticipating needs is ultimately their main goal. 

FMs are responsible for all aspects of facility management, including ensuring employees have the tools and space they need to do their jobs properly.  As such, they are in the best position to understand facility goals. This is especially true when they collaborate with either an executive or growth team to stay up to speed on overarching business goals as well. 

Moreover, the roles and responsibilities of FMs have been evolving since the pandemic, so that they are more and more becoming leaders in their organizations—again, priming them to be in the best position to make good facility plans. 

This is also one of the main reasons why facility management services are usually best handled in-house—either by a dedicated FM, or by using facility management software to disperse these tasks among invested team members.  

What are the four steps in facilities planning?

No matter who manages facilities planning for your organization, this process works best when it follows the following four steps.

1. Understand your goals

As we’ve mentioned, facility planning is about bringing business goals in line with both current facilities and any planned expansions. So before any planning actually takes place, the planning task force needs to identify what demands are being placed on them from the business, coupled with the realities of their existing facility.

Thankfully, these two perspectives often dovetail. 

For example, cost-effective sustainability is quickly becoming a goal of virtually every business. 

Improving space utilization —which can dramatically cut back on the amount of corporate real estate needed—can therefore keep everyone happy. 

Remember, business drivers will vary from company to company. This ranges from responding to changing markets or demographics, adopting new information technology, preparing for potential mergers, or opening new offices or storefronts, just to name a few.

And of course, virtually every company is concerned with growth. 

Identifying which goals are most important now is the critical first step to planning. To make this process work, everyone on the facility planning team needs to understand the mission, vision, and company culture. 

FMs should therefore be given the tools and access they need to evaluate the entire real estate portfolio . Then, they can then understand how the business plan and other items coming down the pipeline will impact their space needs.

Only when they are armed with this critical data can they understand if current facilities will meet demand, or whether construction projects—or maybe just a better desk booking system—should be planned for the near future.

2. Analyze and set benchmarks

Of course, planning doesn’t stop with simply understanding your goals. You also need to understand how to actually make those goals a reality. 

To properly plan a facility, FMs need to leverage any and all existing data about the organization’s existing space management.

This isn’t just about knowing what your square footage is; it’s about figuring out how those square feet interact with staffing concerns and long term goals. 

Specifically, FM need three tools to strategically analyze their existing workspace and make plans for change:

• Comprehensive reports and analytics that provide actionable insights into the existing needs of employees and real-time use of existing space, including occupancy and portfolio reports
• Scenario planning software, which makes it easy to virtually test out the impacts of reconfigurations before having to manually implement them
• Stack plans , which provide a high-level picture of how space is currently being used

Of course, this assumes there is already an existing strategy in place to maximize the three basic elements of space management —effective space planning, effective office use, and effective space tracking. 

When these systems are in place, and the right data is being collected, FMs can use them to perform gap analysis and set benchmarks. This will guide future facility management in the best way possible. 

3. Start planning

Once FMs understand both their goals and their benchmarks, they can begin the actual work of creating their master plan. This is when the challenging work of translating a facility plan into a business plan happens. It will look different, depending on the business drivers for your organization. 

To plan properly, FMs should first document their primary objectives, and then conduct a risk assessment of any plans. This assessment should include cost analysis, which can be done using scenario reports. 

At this stage, FMs can also benefit immensely from move management software . They will also need to develop a method for both gaining approval and reporting on results. 

Especially if their plans will include new working policies (such as implementing flexible seating arrangements like hot desking or office neighborhoods ), they may also want to seek input from both human resources and the employees themselves. 

In fact, companies should look to include all stakeholders in all aspects of the strategic planning process. 

4. Start acting

The more FMs are able to maximize the first steps of facilities planning, the easier acting on their plan will be. 

This is also where the right tools become essential. The best way to implement any new changes to a workplace or facility is with the right facility management software. Ideally, this is one that can integrate with your company’s existing integrated workplace management system (IWMS).

Finally, remember that strategic facility planning isn’t a ‘one and done’ occurrence. 

This is an iterative process. Any plans will need to be assessed, adapted, and maybe even rewritten on an ongoing basis. This will include continually relying on real-time data and comparing it against financial reports and other benchmarks. This will provide a picture of what’s working and what isn’t. 

What is the importance of facilities planning? 

There is a rise in types of work environments , the growing reliance on the digital workspace , and greater competition. As a result, we can only expect facility planning to become more and more important. 

When managed properly with the right tools, companies can expect to see the following benefits from strategic facility planning:

• Cost savings and improved sustainability, usually in the form of requiring less office space
• Improved employee experience and engagement, derived from new working arrangements that make better use of office space and enhance the digital workspace as well—critically important now during the Great Resignation
• Greater efficiency, thanks to the thoughtful analysis of how resources can optimized

Better still, these new changes will likely benefit other departments, potentially improving all aspects of using an office. For example, when FMs bring in better wayfinding systems to support any of the hybrid work models we’re currently seeing, they’re actually making the office easier to navigate for anyone who walks through its doors. 

In other words, when organizations are planning their facility, they are actually planning to future-proof their facility.

What are the dangers of not having a plan? 

Like Benjamin Franklin famously said, if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. Winging it is simply not an option. Especially when you’re managing something as complex as even a small company—let alone complete enterprise facility management . 

As the pandemic taught us, things don’t always go to plan. But the companies that had a system in place for making and implementing plans were the ones that were able to more quickly adjust to the new reality. Companies that have the right approach to facility planning will always be more nimble and resilient than those that fail to plan in the first place. 

See OfficeSpace in Action

Get a personalized demo and create a hybrid workplace that works for everyone

OfficeSpace offers a software solution that makes facility planning easy. Reach out for a free demo. 

Photos: Thirdman , Sora Shimazaki , ANTONI SHKRABA production , Mikhail Nilov

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Integrated Facilities Management

CBRE delivers best-in-class integrated facilities management solutions to help you achieve your operational efficiency, sustainability, and workplace experience goals.

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Delivering faster and smarter transformative results at scale.

Optimize cost, reduce risk and improve overall service quality and safety for your facility through industry-leading people, processes and technology.

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Realizing Potential in Every Dimension™ of your facility.

Optimize your operating cost, reduce risk, improve safety, and enhance uptime through industry-leading technical talent, smart enabled technology, tools, and maintenance strategies. Learn More

Strategically action client goals for carbon abatement, energy efficiency, water conservation, and waste reduction across your entire operations. Learn More

Transform your workplace into a destination of choice through people-centric, technology-enabled experience services to increase employee engagement, optimize performance and deliver meaningful workspace insights. Learn More

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Offering integrated facilities management solutions for telecommunications, media and technology companies at every stage.

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Achieve measurably superior facilities management outcomes across all your industrial and logistics environments.

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Integrated facilities management within a globally consistent, auditable and safety-conscious operating model.

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Advancing mission and financial resilience through strategic management solutions.

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Facilities Management Cost Trends 2023

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Six emerging trends in facilities management sourcing

For companies with distributed operations—retailers, manufacturers, transportation and logistics—facilities management can represent 10 to 25 percent of total indirect spending. Several recent developments, including fears of a recession, trade conflicts, tech disruption, and rising wages, have made cost cutting a higher priority in this area. But business leaders must strike a tricky balance to reduce non-core costs without affecting the performance of core operations.

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Companies have no shortage of options at their disposal to optimize facilities management expenditures. Outsourcing is a well-established strategy that’s on the rise thanks to an influx of vendors, while integrated approaches to facilities management, workplace strategy, and technology all hold promise. The global market for in-house and outsourced facilities management is estimated to reach $1.9 trillion by 2024. The outsourced segment accounts for more than half the total and has attracted a growing number of vendors with new service offerings. Still, charting a clear path forward—one that enables companies to extract the most value—is an increasingly complex task.

How should companies proceed? As a first step, executives must familiarize themselves with how six emerging trends could reduce facilities management costs and improve productivity. The first three involve the application of existing strategies and approaches; the second three involve using technology to transform the way companies complete tasks. However, these trends aren’t plug and play; companies must have the right strategy and capabilities to get the most from them. Facilities management and sourcing leaders should focus on several immediate steps to mobilize their organization and pursue these trends.

The evolution of facilities management strategy

When facing ongoing pressure to reduce operating costs, companies tends to look for savings without giving much thought to the long-term repercussions. This dynamic makes facilities management a particularly ripe target. During challenging economic times, companies trim facilities management budgets; once the outlook rebounds, spending levels often remain low. This pattern can lead to deteriorating conditions of buildings and equipment, potentially costing more in the long run.

Over the years, industries have accepted outsourcing as a viable option to non-core operations, including facilities management. Companies typically follow a progression that begins with outsourcing noncore activities at individual locations (Exhibit 1). The consolidation, standardization, and bundling of these tasks across facilities over time results in the outsourcing of a comprehensive set of noncore services and management to third parties.

Several economic factors have made outsourcing more relevant for facilities management. Growth is slowing across several large countries as they reach the tail end of current economic cycle. Far-reaching global trade conflicts have created unexpected changes in commodity and finished product prices. Meanwhile, increased tech disruptions in a handful of industries are pushing legacy companies to free up cash for technology investments. Last, lower unemployment rates are pushing wage rates higher for the best talent. Thanks to these developments, the total market for facilities management (both in-house and outsourced) is expected to grow at more than 6 percent a year from 2018 to 2024, hitting nearly $1.9 trillion (Exhibit 2).

Facilities management is ripe for disruption: it lags behind other functions such as production equipment maintenance by both digital maturity and penetration of technology. Although technology is available for facilities management, several obstacles have inhibited adoption, such as a lack of digital skills within the function, other priorities for leadership, and a focus on continuous cost cutting. These factors have made the facilities management outsourcing market attractive for leading vendors that were already engaged directly or indirectly with this function. Several incumbents have developed an integrated facilities management offering in an effort to capture a greater market share.

Six emerging trends

We have identified six trends that offer cost savings or productivity improvement opportunities now or could transform facilities management over the next decade. Since the attractiveness of each trend will depend on an organization’s needs and capabilities, the trends are presented in a manner to facilitate evaluation and comparison.

1. Outsourcing facilities management

Organizations are evaluating their operating model to maximize value creation. Before they outsource facility management to third parties, however, they review the appropriate mix of insourcing and outsourcing based on capability, cost, and coverage. Several factors are altering the equation.

Case example

One large retailer was seeking to prioritize tasks that could be handled more cost-effectively by a third-party vendor. Its team compiled a list of categories that should be kept in-house as well as those to outsource. In-house categories were determined based on which ones could be handled through a shared-services model with high utilization of internal labor. Outsourced categories were defined by current specifications and, separately, by the essential level of service for the organization. It put out an RFP for the outsourced categories with two types of specifications and then selected suppliers that best matched the retailer’s needs. This approach reduced facilities management spending by 15 percent, which was reallocated to support the organization’s investment strategy.

• Growth in outsourcing. Outsourcing has now surpassed 50 percent of the total facilities management market in several regions, including Europe, Middle East, and North America.
• Industry-based adoption. In manufacturing companies, soft services such as landscaping and janitorial are preferred categories for outsourcing. Hard services such as utility equipment maintenance are typically still insourced. Meanwhile, retail, banking, and other non-manufacturing industries are looking to first optimize their operating model by balancing insourcing and outsourcing. If the benefits they achieved are not significant, some players in these industries have opted to fully outsource facility management.
• Penetration of integrated facility management (IFM). IFMs are capturing increased market share in outsourcing, particularly in North America, where IFMs are close to 20 percent of the outsourced category.

Implications

• Cost: Is your operating model optimized and peers still have better cost performance?
• Competitive advantage: Does facilities management provide a competitive advantage over peers?
• Organizational capability: Does the company have experienced personnel in facilities management with intrinsic knowledge of the location as well as highly efficient internal technicians that would be challenging for a third party to match?

2. Integrated value and related services

Companies are exploring the integration of facilities management and related services in an effort to streamline management and improve performance. This offering can include the following functions:

A global financial institution was spending $450 million annually to maintain its thousands of locations around the world. Its fragmented supplier base included more than 10,000 vendors across about a dozen categories. To assess opportunities for outsourcing, the institution undertook a scoping and prioritization exercise, sought to gain greater transparency into spending categories, applied advanced sourcing techniques, and invested in stakeholder management. With the insights gained from this process, the company was able to consolidate its facilities management spending from dozens of suppliers to just one vendor, while standardizing business processes and service quality. Adopting integrated facilities management helped reduce costs by more than $150 million over three years.

• Real estate. This category includes all services related to transaction management, project management, and other services.
• Facilities management. All of the tasks that are involved in maintaining a facility, such as equipment maintenance and building services.
• Energy management. Activities focus on the conservation of energy, including retrofits and procedural changes.
• Production maintenance. The maintenance of production equipment comprises areas such as assembly stations, process equipment, and testing stations.
• Employee services. Services for employees could include mailroom, fitness center, and cafeteria and food service.
• Decision making is easier, as fewer people are involved.
• A comprehensive view of all services with fewer providers eases the management of these categories.
• Suppliers that provide integrated services can become strategic partners for organizations.

Factors to evaluate if the organization should pursue an arrangement with an outsourcing integrator:

• Cost: Are costs higher than benchmarks for peers?
• Geographic portfolio: Does the company have a diverse geographic footprint?
• Property portfolio: Is the property portfolio diverse?
• Organizational capability: Does the real estate function have limited capacity or capability?

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3. workplace strategy.

Workplace strategy is becoming a key tool to enhance employee engagement and retention. It includes several different categories:

One energy company sought to trim its real estate costs while implementing workplace strategies that would maximize its use of space and accommodate evolving employee needs. It pursued a range of densification initiatives, including doubling up offices for employees of specific positions, converting excess conference rooms to offices, and reducing office sizes for certain functions, such as accounting or reception. It also created “hoteling” zones, where employees could secure workspaces on an as-needed basis.

Through these approaches, it increased the number of available seats by nearly 60 percent without expanding its footprint. As important, an internal survey found that employees viewed this reconfiguration favorably.

• Modular workspace. Workspaces can become more modular and activity-based to increase agility and flexibility with changing workforce while decreasing total square footage.
• Coworking. Coworking provides flexibility in selecting the type of space and period of occupancy, which can offer cost savings.
• Lifestyle amenities. Lifestyle amenities such as yoga, meditation, daycare, recreation rooms, and nap areas have become common features to enhance employee experience.
• Wellness designs. Companies can invest in workspaces with appealing acoustics, lighting, furniture, and flooring, among other features.

Together, these categories form options along the continuums of space and well-being (Exhibit 3).

Notably, trends in this category can increase facilities management costs (for companies that choose to invest more in workspace design), but they could also indirectly compensate for these outlays with higher employee productivity.

• When considering workforce strategies, companies need to balance employee engagement and workplace investment.
• Organizations are increasingly looking for suppliers that are capable of maintaining an evolving workplace.

Factors to help organizations determine if revamping the workplace is right for them:

• Geographic portfolio: Is the geographic portfolio of facilities fragmented and consistently changing with customer location?
• Employee productivity: Is current employee productivity lower than peer benchmarked levels, and would wellness design and lifestyle amenities have an impact?

4. Internet of Things (IoT) evolution

A number of trends and developments are spurring the adoption of IoT-enabled equipment by facilities management across a range of applications.

A mining company sought to increase rig uptime and reduce maintenance spending, which accounted for 25 percent of operating expenses. An analysis determined that top drive and pipe handling accounted for 40 percent of all downtime and 10 percent of all maintenance spending. It then conducted a thorough “digital teardown” to estimate specific opportunities in predictive maintenance for each component. To support a predictive maintenance deployment, the company focused on five building blocks:

• Capabilities
• Organization
• Processes and procedures

Its efforts paid off handsomely: the company created an end-to-end system with real-time data collection, storage, and processing to enable predictive maintenance. These capabilities enabled it to reduce maintenance spending by 27 percent while increasing revenue from services thanks to higher reliability.

• Energy efficiency. The implementation of IoT devices, such as motion sensors for lights and automated temperature controls, enabling more visibility into energy usage and management.
• Occupant experience. This factor could be a contributor to the adoption of IoT.
• Computing. Data transmission costs are determining whether edge, cloud, or hybrid computing approach will prevail.
• Stack ownership. Companies are trying to own multiple layers of IoT stack. Hardware infrastructure and/or software are emerging as preferred ownership models.
• IoT security. Security is lagging behind the development of IoT devices and platforms.
• Companies have to upgrade or retrofit legacy systems before facilities can benefit from IoT.
• Lingering skepticism about IoT’s impact means that organizations will have to develop multiple use cases to demonstrate the impact of these technologies on occupant experience.
• Companies should consider partnering with suppliers that have an end-to-end IoT vision and the capabilities required to convert this vision into reality.

Executives should consider the following factors to determine if now is the right time to adopt IoT for facilities management:

• Cost: Is the cost of IoT conversion in facilities comparable to current expense of maintenance and operations?
• Change champion: Do IoT initiatives have C-level sponsors beyond the CIO?
• Device compatibility: Can systems be retrofitted with IoT technology ?
• System compatibility: Is the building management system (BMS) capable of integrating with devices and software? Does the organization have the data management and security capabilities necessary to support IoT-equipped devices?

5. Advent of robots

Robotic automation is well suited to take over repetitive and hazardous tasks. Thus far, Asian and European companies are leading in adoption of robotics for services such as cleaning and security; widespread adoption could occur within the next decade.

Leading companies are in the process of integrating robotics into their facilities management operations for tasks such as floor cleaning, window washing, and power washing. Innovations in early stages of development include robots for security patrol, lawn mowing, and snow removal, among other tasks. The promise of such robots is threefold: beyond the opportunity to reduce operating expenses, these machines could free up existing staff to focus on higher-value activities while mitigating some of the risk associated with these tasks.

• Repetitive tasks. Activities that follow the same process every time, such as sweeping a floor, are prime opportunities to integrate robots into operations. Several companies are currently designing and building robots to automate repetitive tasks such as power washing and lawn mowing.
• Hazardous tasks. The use of robots for certain jobs—for example, security patrol or HVAC duct cleaning—could enable companies to reduce costs and risk.
• Applications of robotic process automation are still in the early stages for facilities management.
• Repetitive and hazardous facility management tasks are prime for disruption by robots.
• Organizations can pilot robots for repetitive tasks or partner with suppliers that have expertise in the deployment and maintenance of robots.

Factors to evaluate if now is the right time to invest in robotic automation:

• Cost: Is the cost of owning or leasing a robot less than current costs?
• Market support: Has a service supply chain for the equipment been established?
• Effectiveness: Is the quality of work similar or better than current processes?
• Technology maturity: Will current technology change dramatically in the short term?

6. Augmented reality

Technology players are developing end-to-end AR solutions that have the potential to transform facilities management.

Companies are experimenting with various applications of AR to support workers in selected tasks. A remote assisted maintenance toolkit, for example, includes endoscopic and thermal cameras, a microphone, and a portable computer. With these tools, the equipment operator can connect remotely to an expert, who can guide him through the maintenance procedure. AR maintenance also offers operators support through an integrated helmet with special glasses and software that details proper maintenance procedures.

• Hardware. Smartphones and tablets are dominant in the hardware market, while wearables are still in low levels of market penetration.
• Content source. Information is limited to content pulled from maintenance manuals and through user interaction. Content sources from IoT-based devices are also in the early stages and would ideally be enhanced further by data collected from IoT sensors.
• Interaction. Information can be visual, instructive, or interactive. Technologies are developing across all areas, but visualization is currently the most mature.
• Mapping. While mapping is still limited to spatial tracking, marker-based and shape imposition technologies are being developed.
• Software development kit. SDKs are well developed for consumer applications such as gaming but are still in the early stages for facility management applications.
• Augmented reality is still in the early stages of development for facilities management.
• Organizations would have to coordinate across several functions to use AR effectively.
• Companies should work with partners that are actively engaged with AR providers and pilot technology when market is ready with a solution.

Factors to evaluate if now is the right time to implement AR

• Market support. Has the service supply chain of hardware, software, and content been established?
• IT infrastructure: Has IT infrastructure been developed to support AR on a few controlled applications?
• ROI: Does technology have a good ROI when considering technician time, number of visits, safety, and ease of process use?
• Workforce skill level: Is the current workforce sufficiently technology savvy?

Revolutionizing indirect procurement for the 2020s

Actions companies can take now.

Facilities management leaders can’t simply flip a switch to harness these trends. Some companies will need to adjust their strategy, organizational capabilities, and culture. And considering that a few of these trends are still in their infancy, executives should focus on laying the foundation. Several actions can help.

Elevate facilities management to a C-level priority (with a focus on COO/CFO engagement).

Many industries have traditionally kept facilities management on the backburner, but this category can be a goldmine of savings. One company, for example, was under pressure to reduce costs, but the procurement team was skeptical of addressing facilities management because of sensitivities within the organization. The indirect procurement team asked for support from CPO and COO to back a transformation of facilities management, and this support created an actionable pipeline of savings for the next three years.

Establish a cross-functional team.

True cross-functional collaboration between procurement and operations is required to create sustainable impact. Companies should form a team that includes the COO, CIO, a facilities management leader, a strategic sourcing leader (for facilities management or innovation), and a project management office leader, among others. Without alignment, facility management initiatives face a difficult path. One company’s procurement team identified savings during the RFP process and moved to adopt integrated facilities management, but some stakeholders were not on board. During implementation, an operations team found that the prescribed specifications were not aligned with its equipment. Within a few months, the IFM contract was nullified after some heated conversations between procurement and operations. In another company, procurement leaders were adamant about pursuing IFM. Although it was the right strategy, they first sought to gain alignment and support from the operations team before the process kicked off.

Assess the organizational maturity and capabilities needed to manage vendors and support digital technologies.

Capabilities, both from a relationship and content standpoint, are important. Vendor relationships can be built by acting on stakeholder satisfaction surveys, organizing joint meetings with suppliers, and managing supplier performance as a team. Organizations can develop content-based capabilities by introducing supplier-led training on digital technologies and investing in external expert trainings. For instance, a client set up a meeting cadence between suppliers and stakeholders to identify and address issues every quarter.

Build the business case for investment in selected trends.

Companies can support the adoption of emerging technologies by doing controlled pilots. Projects that apply augmented reality to simple tasks and experiment with IoT can get the organization acclimated to technology. Successful pilots can provide the business case for scaling; a similar rationale can be used for opportunities to integrate robots. The hotel industry, for example, is adopting robots for bell service and housekeeping through pilots in certain hotels.

Partner with IFMs and set up a robust governance mechanism.

A company can view IFM suppliers as a partner to achieve savings and manage portfolio, but it must first establish a robust governance mechanism to maintain trust with suppliers. A regular auditing cadence can ensure that any savings are contributing to the bottom line. In addition, companies should make decisions collaboratively with IFMs on topics such as specification standardization and computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) technology. At one manufacturer, a factory manager set up a regular auditing cadence to review IFM initiatives with the finance team to ensure that savings flowed to the bottom line.

Design an implementation road map.

Companies should develop a comprehensive, long-term category strategy to incorporate all facilities management trends. A sequencing exercise can help companies to prioritize initiatives. Since technologies will continue to evolve, facilities management leaders should establish a regular strategy review process of all categories to refine and hone their vision.

Traditionally overlooked, facilities management is on the cusp of disruption. Companies that track emerging trends and invest in the right organizational capabilities will be well positioned to reduce costs and increase the impact of their facilities management spending.

Sourav Das Adhikari is a knowledge expert, Steve Hoffman is a partner, and Britta Lietke is a senior knowledge expert in McKinsey’s Chicago office.

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How to Create a Marketing Plan for Facilities Management

Though many facility managers may think marketing doesn't fall within FM's core competencies, the facility management team must consider how it markets facility services in its contact and conduct with customers. In this respect, customer service is vital. The terms marketing and customer service are not synonymous, however. While customer service provides opportunities to reinforce positive images of a facility management department, marketing involves first researching who the customers are and then selling and promoting facility services to them. The main responsibility falls on the shoulders of the facility management department leader.

All facility managers should understand the following basic concepts of marketing:

• Know the market. Each type of customer, what their needs are, and how they perceive facility management. Know and anticipate their needs.
• Know the facility management department’s strengths and weaknesses. What is done well, and where does it fall short? To do this, facility managers should identify what skills are involved in marketing, which of these skills are performed, and how well they’re performed.
• Develop a marketing plan that serves as a road map.
• Recognize the importance of quality customer service. Every facility staff member must realize how every interaction with a customer can serve marketing objectives and foster a positive image of the facility management department.

Know the market

If a facility management department is one of the administrative services supporting the core business departments, it is unlikely that much thought has been given to marketing the facility management department. Instead, the market was guaranteed: Corporate customers had to get facility services through the department. Today, many facility management customers are given the option to outsource facility management. Facility managers now compete with contracting firms that have developed considerable marketing skills.

As the struggles for market share intensify, workers in all companies have been besieged with entreaties from their leaders to be sensitive to their customers. This issue has particular urgency for facility managers, whose customers have become increasingly aware that they have choices of where and how to obtain facility services. In many companies, executives openly permit departments to shop for facility services, putting corporate facility management departments in direct competition with outsourced providers.  

In recent years, facility management customers have become quite sophisticated. They are smarter, better informed, and far more cost conscious. Many have substantial experience in marketing their own products and services and expect others to market their goods and services similarly. They may know as much as the facility management team does about topics such as indoor air quality or accessibility for the disabled.

Facility managers must also understand that their customers are not people whose needs, motivations, and objectives are identical. Most companies have several different types of customers. From the facility manager’s perspective, each one constitutes a niche market — a particular population with certain characteristics and needs that are distinct. For example, top management has needs unlike those of administrative support units or core business units.  

Facility managers should also know the skills of their staff. Every staff member makes an impression on a customer in every transaction, whether it is by email, telephone, in person, or in a report. For marketing purposes, every worker should understand the customer. Mechanics, custodians, and housekeepers who make contact with customers may exert more influence on them than higher-ranking facility management employees who are seldom seen. 

Develop a Marketing Plan

To develop a marketing plan, it is important to identify the marketing elements already in place. The greatest asset is the range and magnitude of customer contact. There is a fundamental maxim of customer service that applies particularly well to facility management marketing: “If you’re not serving the customer, you’d better be serving someone who is.”  A marketing plan can be organized around the following basic steps.

• Conduct market research — Know the characteristics and needs of your customers; know about the service of your competitors.
• Promote services — Devise a marketing plan that matches services with the right customers. A marketing brochure explaining facility services can be customized for different customers.
• Keep customers informed — Talking to customers directly provides an opportunity to inform them of upcoming developments that may affect them, such as new regulations. This enables you to apply another basic marketing maxim: “Prepare the market for change.” Eliminating surprises, helps facility managers and their customers become allies.
• Evaluate service delivery — Ask customers for feedback on service delivery. In doing so, potentially damaging misunderstandings about facility services are diffused. That’s especially regarding sensitive issues such as indoor air quality.
• Create a website — A website can allow users to download standards, post construction schedules, obtain standards forms, and post surveys or questionnaires for research or benchmarking purposes.

To implement the steps mentioned above, an overall marketing strategy is needed. This strategy incorporates several key elements that form the backbone of an effective marketing plan.

This article is adapted from BOMI International's Fundamentals of Facilities Management course, part of the FMA designation program. More information regarding this course or the BOMI-HP™ credential is available by calling 1-800-235-2664. Visit BOMI International’s website, www.bomi.org .

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Volume 43 - Issue 14 - April 4, 2024

State of Kansas

Department of Administration Office of Facilities and Property Management

Notice of Requested Architectural Services

Notice is hereby given of the commencement of the selection process for architectural services for Kansas State University Moore Hall bathroom remodel. The following is a brief description of the desired changes to the Moore Hall bathrooms:

• Match the West Hall bathroom room layout.
• There are 18 community bathrooms on 9 floors (excludes one in the basement).
• Replace all the supply and waste/vent plumbing lines.
• Replace the exhaust fans, controls, and ductwork.
• Add make up air units and ductwork.
• Adjust the sprinkler lines.
• Adjust the fire alarm.
• Adjust the HVAC.
• All new fixtures and finishes.
• All new lighting and electrical.
• Include modifications to the custodial closet and drinking fountain.
• Other unknowns.

The project construction budget is $2,700,000.

An architectural/engineering program is available at http://admin.ks.gov/offices/ofpm/dcc/arch-eng-programs . For more information contact Lisa Johnson at [email protected] , phone 785-532-0379.

To be considered, one (1) PDF file of the following should be provided: State of Kansas Professional Qualifications DCC Forms 051-054, inclusive, and information regarding similar projects. These forms may be found at https://admin.ks.gov/offices/facilities-property-management/design-construction--compliance/forms-and-documents . State of Kansas Professional Qualifications DCC Form 050 for each firm and consultant should be provided at the end of each proposal. Please include your firm name, agency abbreviation, and an abbreviated project name in the title of the PDF document. Proposals should be less than 5 Mb and follow the current State Building Advisory Commission guidelines which can be found in Part B – Chapter 2 of the Building Design and Construction Manual at https://admin.ks.gov/offices/facilities-property-management/design-construction--compliance/building-design-and-construction-manual-bdcm . Paper copies and flash drives containing copies of the proposals are not required.

Proposals should be sent to [email protected] . Proposals received after the date and time noted below will not be forwarded to the State Building Advisory Commission for review. If you have questions about the proposal submissions, please contact Randy Riveland at [email protected] or call 785-296-0749. The PDF proposal submissions shall be delivered to the attention of the State Building Advisory Commission by 2:00 p.m. on or before April 19, 2024.

The State of Kansas, as a matter of public policy, encourages anyone doing business with the State of Kansas to take steps to discourage human trafficking. If prospective bidders/vendors/contractors have any policies or participate in any initiatives that discourage human trafficking, then the prospective bidder/vendor/contractor is encouraged to submit same as part of their bid response.

Barbara Schilling Deputy Director-DCC Office of Facilities and Property Management Department of Administration

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