Five Facility Management Challenges & Ways to Overcome Them
Photo by: Ricardo Annandale
As a Facility Manager, there’s a lot at stake in your line of work. The decisions you make have a direct affect on the health and wellbeing of everyone in the building.
According to a Facility Management Survey conducted by CMM, security was a top issue for many of the 417 Facility Managers who responded to the survey. Heavily prioritized focuses also included pest control, infection control, slip-and-fall hazard prevention, appropriate chemical selection, asset protection, and more.
That’s some pretty serious stuff.
The seasoned Facility Manager knows that the duties required of the role vary from facility to facility. For example, commercial office buildings don’t require the same management that a healthcare facility would. Nonetheless, many challenges are faced by Facility Managers across every sector.
Let’s continue by breaking down ten of the biggest challenges that Facility Managers face, along with strategies to help FMs streamline a solution:
1. Managing Time
Time wasted is money lost. Doing your job efficiently means saving both. The results of this CMM Facility Management Survey show that about three-quarters of Facility Managers are facing increasing responsibilities, but about half of them are not getting more money in the budget to accomplish them. What does that mean for Facility Managers? The ability to prioritize is key.
Save time by actively inspecting equipment, and reporting wear and tear with digital documentation for historical reference. Organize digital documentation with metadata and quickly pull information in the future.
Utilize a CMMS system like these to streamline inventory tracking processes, and set alerts for when supplies are low and need to be reordered.
Automate a preventative maintenance schedule and keep track of completed tasks so that teams arrive each day with a clear task list of work that needs to be done by exactly what time.
2. Maintaining Aging Equipment & Facilities
One of our specialities at S Grace Facilities is helping Facility Managers maintain aging equipment and facilities with routine cleaning and disinfection services. Preventing breakdowns is much less expensive than repairing them, so proper planning is essential in extending the life of existing assets.
Use the Planning Report function on your CMMS system to check the availability of parts and technicians for future dates when work orders are due so that you can reorder parts in advance.
Outsource some preventative maintenance work to contractors who can focus solely on the task of maintaining specialized equipment. You will save money too. Outsourcing Commercial Cleaning Companies like S Grace Facilities is more cost-efficient than hiring, certifying, and training in-house staff.
3. Keeping up with Changing Regulatory and Compliance Standards
There’s little room for error when it comes to the law or the health and safety of your employees, and that’s why the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) exists. Although OSHA, the EPA, and the CDC constantly share updated guidelines and infographics for employers and facility managers, it’s up to facility managers themselves to stay aware of changes and proactively implement them.
Training now saves time and money later. While scheduling in the CMMS system, set aside time each week for employees to train on any updated compliancy mandates. Facilitate discussions and drills to make changes less of a challenge for employees.
Look into on-sight consultations with OSHA, which are confidential and never result in penalties and citations. During the consultation, an OSHA representative will work with you to identify workplace hazards, provide advice for compliance with OSHA standards, and assist in establishing and improving programs that enhance the safety and wellbeing of your employees.
Outsource fully trained and certified specialists in facility management and commercial disinfection to lift some weight off your shoulders. S Grace Facilities’ field technicians are certified by the Global Biorisk Advisory Council, the World Health Organization, and the Department of Homeland Security.
4. Adhering to your Organization’s Progressive, Eco-Friendly Policies
The demand is increasing for conscientious Facility Managers who are capable of implementing strategies that reduce their organization’s carbon footprint and their soaring energy bill. Two of the biggest areas of concern that Facility Managers come to us for are waste management and energy consumption. Our clients want to know which cleaning and disinfecting products are aggressive and earth friendly without breaking the bank.
For a cleaning and disinfecting product to be effective, it must be used properly. Check out this article we wrote titled, Different Surface Types Require Different Disinfectants, and take an inventory of all the surface types found throughout your facilities and equipment. Next, allocate eco-friendly products that are effective on those specific surface types, or speak with an S Grace Facilities specialist if you’re not sure.
Consult with S Grace Facilities to devise a Safety Continuity Plan as part of our Commercial Disinfection Services. We will make your job easier by inspecting your facilities ourselves, then coming up with an EPA and CDC-approved plan of attack that is eco and human friendly, 100% of the time.
Complete waste audits regularly that include: the quantity and makeup of waste generated, the processes generating said waste, and digital documentation of how said waste is currently being managed. Evaluating these audits helps you to identify what waste can be reused or recycled, how you can improve waste segregation, where training is needed to improve practices, and more.
5. Managing the Use of Space within Facilities
Keeping workspaces as minimal as possible saves everyone time, money, frustration, and possibly even injury. Instead of investing capital on expanding spaces, we encourage clients we work with to focus on optimizing the space they already have.
It’s not about how many individuals can be crammed into a facility— it’s about how productive the employees working in the space are, and how you can help maximize their potential. If productivity is an issue among employees, take a look at their working conditions and see if you can create more space for them to stretch their wings.
You need a lot of products and tools to keep your facilities healthy and hygienic places to be. All those items have to go somewhere, and unfortunately, neglected storage closets become messy health hazards all too often. By outsourcing a commercial cleaning company like S Grace Facilities to routinely clean and disinfect your facilities, you get to optimize valuable square footage and save everyone a mess.
Except for us. We like messes!
S Grace Facilities is a national Facility Management Service specializing in Commercial Cleaning & Disinfection Services.
Learn more with these Facility Management Resources:
Speak to an S Grace Facilities representative about Facility Management, Coronavirus Disinfection, and more by clicking here.
Visit The McMorrow Reports for Facility Management insights and news.
Read the fascinating results of the 2020 CMM In-House/Facility Management Benchmarking Survey, through this link. We highly recommend it!