Sunday 10 April 2016

OPERATIONAL TIPS FOR A FACILITIES MANAGER


1.     KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS (KYC)
Have a clear knowledge and understanding of who your customers are and put up a strategy to understand their changing needs.
Your customers may fall into one of these categories;
·         The Occupants, residents, staffs, co-workers, etc
·         Other stakeholders including: Site Personnel, Contractors/Suppliers, Investors

2.     KNOW YOUR BUILDING (KYB)

·          Know the facilities under your scope of services and develop a functional Asset Register showing the specifications, the history and important manufacturer information about each of the assets
·          Gather relevant information about the current operating condition of the assets through a well-organized and documented condition assessment/survey
·          Plan and execute measures to close the identified facilities / service gaps noted.

3.     UNDERSTAND SERVICE SCOPE & CUSTOMERS’ EXPECTATIONS

  • Timely response to request

  • Proactive approach to problem identification and solution

  • Timely resolution of identified problem

  • Timely notification on service disruption

  • Timely and regular feedback on progress or anticipated delay in commencement or completion of progress
  • Under promise – Over deliver

  • Keep your integrity and avoid negative perception in your word and action

  • Timely delivery of work

  • Care, respect and courtesy

  • Cost effectiveness (manage perception)

  • Professionalism in outlook and in action

  • Good housekeeping

  • Attention to detail in problem identification, scoping/costing and job completion certification

4.      COMPLY WITH SPECIFICATIONS AND STANDARDS (Local & international)

·         Work procedures, policies, etc
·         Fire Safety codes (Federal Fire Service Codes, NFPA codes, etc)
·         Materials standards
·         Tools and equipments
·         HSE Standards, specifications, etc.


5.      SHOW LEADERSHIP AND BE PROACTIVE

  • Be focused on the agreed deliverables and quality expectations.
  • Design & adhere to available Planned Preventive Maintenance.
  • Observe Daily Routine Inspection.
  • Report identified issues and log them in the daily inspection logs.
  • Ensure there are adequate consumables/materials on-site to address unplanned issues.
  • Do appropriate communication and over-communicate if need be in order to meet clients’ needs.
  • Prepare yourself and your team for the unknown (Recourse Management from Top Management is highly required)
  • Develop a lesson learnt log and a risk identification log to avoid reactive work flow.
  • Always plan your work and get a clear overview before execution.
  • Know when to seek help.


6.      MAINTAINING GOOD DOCUMENTATION AND RECORD KEEPING

·         Appropriate record management (Soft copy- cloud based is more preferable).
·         Occupants’ details.
·         Facility plot plan, asset register and condition survey report.
·         Procedures and standards.
·         HSE Plan, statistics and records.
·         Work requests and completion certificates.
·         Important client communications.
·         Minutes of meeting with customers and suppliers.
·         Important company policies and announcements.
·         Staff and contractor information.
·         Equipment maintenance history (Both Planned & Unplanned)
·         Incident, near miss, accident unsafe conditions reports.


7.      EMERGENCY RESPONSE/INCIDENT REPORTING

·         Communicate Emergency Response procedure and contacts to all occupants and staff-Display at strategic points within the facility.
·         Conduct periodical test of site preparedness for emergency e.g fire drill
·         Ensure timely notification of HSE incident or unplanned critical service disruption (e.g. power, water, sewage, lift, swimming pool unavailability)
·         Ensure incident report latest within 48 hours of occurrence after due investigation.
·         Agree on established means of communication with general residents e.g email, bulk sms, etc.
·         Agree on effective communication plans with client representative; who, what and when?

8.      KNOW AND COMPLY WITH HSE PROCEDURES & STANDARDS

·         Be conversant with overall HSE management system of the company
·         Have an HSE plan for specific projects/sites.
·         Regularly review performance against HSE plan
·         Some important HSE issues requiring close attention:
o   Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) for site/project.
o   Safe Handling of Chemicals (SHOC Card).
o   Daily toolbox meetings.
o   Plan keep up to date minutes of monthly HSE meetings.
o   Annual plan & report of fire drills
o   Periodic HSE audit and close out tracking
o   Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
o   Security review report

9.      CONDUCT DAILY ROUTINE INSPECTION

·         Daily MBWA (Management BY Walking Around) is the best way to be on top of your game in FM.
·         Identify and pay particular attention to the “Blind Spot” of the facility (Ares least frequently visited or used)
·         Ensure adequate recording and follow-up to close out identified snags.
·         Provide feedbacks to relevant parties on close out.


10.  MAINTAIN EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION WITH THE CUSTOMER

·         Effective communication is necessary during both good and bad times.
·         Success is determined by how well the communication is handled in terms of who, what, when and how?
·         Know all your customers by first name, also knowing the names of important people to them could be interesting to some of them, e.g children’s name.
·         Research important events about your important customers and use the opportunity to connect with their hearts and minds e.g birthday, children’s birthday, weddings of self or children. Be careful not to overdo this otherwise it could be termed as invasion of privacy.
·         Connect with your customers regularly through the following means;
o   Weekly Highlights.
o   Incident Report.
o   Service Disruption Notification.
o   Monthly/Quarterly Service Charge Account Update
o   Client Joint Inspection and meeting Schedule (e.g quarterly).
o   Customer Survey.
o   Annual Facility Report & Budget.

11.  PLAN TO EXECUTE RIGHT

·         Do NOT start what you have not planned.
·         Execute only what you have planned.
·         Planning gives you a total overview of;
o   The work
o   Resources required (money, personnel, materials, tools & equipment, etc)
o   Critical Success Factors
o   Risks to be managed
o   How success or failure shall be measured and reported.
o   Recovery plan.

  • Engage the right personnel, materials, tools and equipment, processes and systems
  • Execute and monitor progress
  • Know when and where to seek help
  • Determine the stage to activate recovery plan
  • Familiarize with the site operations request handling procedure/workflow


12.  INTEGRATE TECHNOLOGY WITH YOUR FM PROCESS

·         Design your work process flow and integrate appropriate technology to enable your process to save time and money.
·         Remember, use of Technology is just an enabler. If your processes are not right, then you will not add value to your clients. It’s just going to be a waste of resources. This means all your departments (Finance, HR, Procurement, Audit, I.T, and Business Development/Marketing) has to be in sync to have a desired output.

Reference

Lecture notes by Femi Akintunde (2011),'Important Tips in Promoting Facilitis Management'

1 comment:

  1. Providing the best facilities management services to customers is a challenge for the Facilities manager. After reading your article all the confusion has gone. These point you have shared in your blog are very beneficial for the manager. I've learned form your guide, it very simple but effective writing. Thank you for providing such a valuable blog.

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