From Operational Basement Tactics to Strategic Boardroom Policies

For many years Facility Managers were hiding in the basement surrounded by outdated and inefficient assets while managing a team of contractors with no IT FM tools to assist the process. The only contact the FM'er had with the boardroom was when something went wrong, definitely not when the company was looking at its strategic plan. The FM'er has been so focused on reactive operational issues that they have been oblivious to the proactive strategic decisions being made around them. CFO's tend to look at the Marketing or the Facilities budgets as the first budgets to be cut in leaner times, applying the old adage ‘if it ain't broke then why fix it?' It seems the logical place to slash the budget with many Facility Managers not designing, measuring, tracking and reporting on strategic long term goals. Today, many Facility Managers are surrounded by the latest highly efficient multi-million dollar assets and it is becoming clearer that a small immediate investment in management tools can result in huge savings in the long term.

New government regulations, the internet, new software and of course sustainability have created a path from the ‘basement to the boardroom' for the proactive manager in just a short space of time. With the onset of a slowing economy and the brief shoots of recovery already appearing, the Facilities team is now an important and integral part of the decision making process when it comes to managing a companies most expensive assets. With the use of a good quality FM system the Facilities team can potentially save the organisation thousands of dollars in maintenance costs by quickly identify which assets require replacing with more efficient versions. An FM system should deliver automation, information flow, and detailed operational statistics with graphs for executive level reporting while flagging important dates and critical issues by sending automatic emails to Managers ensuring the latest information when entering the boardroom.

Chief Operating Officers (COO) or Facility Managers have to not only understand the basic FM role but be a strategic change agent always focusing on the organisations strategic direction. One of the biggest decisions a Facility Manager makes is how to get more funding and once it's been approved, how to spend it? The answer to both questions is to stop looking at the FM role and start thinking strategically. One of the most important questions to ask is "How can the organisation improve as a whole, not how can we improve the facilities?" A facility management strategy should be based around the organisations strategic direction and be able to demonstrate how it reduces costs or improves revenue.

Developing strategic partnerships is one of the keys to a successful Facility Manager, especially relationships with IT and HR as they are critical to driving significant change within an organisation. IT has significant power within many organisations and controls the many systems that can be used to assist the FM ascension to the boardroom. The HR relationship can help drive the FM objectives through HR's rapport with Line managers who update the organisations policies and procedures to better reflect the Facility Managers leadership status.

The final step from the basement to the boardroom is by creating and leveraging industry bodies to improve the industry as a whole. Industry bodies can be used to influence Government decisions, improve training and development opportunities and to promote the profession to senior management and the media to increase understanding of this important area across business and the wider community.

The best way to revolutionize the FM department from operational thinking to a strategic boardroom heavyweight is to develop operational excellence alongside strategic thinking augmented by strategic planning. The utilisation of a sophisticated software solution that is easy to use to manage the ever-increasing complexity of the Facility and Property Management industries will ensure you have the tools needed to develop strategic policies. With strategic partnerships, integrated software, determination and leadership qualities the Facility Manager can now start to develop strategic policies in the boardrooms.

If you have any questions please contact us.