Facility managers serve a very important role in commercial properties.
Typical tasks for facility managers vary per location but generally include coordinating building maintenance, repairs, tenant satisfaction, building security, contract management, budgeting, in addition to day-to-day operations. This is a very demanding role that is often overlooked and is a lot of work!
Without a facilities manager, most businesses would struggle to improve the efficiency of their properties to ensure occupants are happy and the facility is in the best working condition in order to generate revenue.
These responsibilities are for just one property, imagine this workload multiplied times 50! Multiple tenants, times multiple vendors, times multiple contracts, times multiple problems. It can be exhausting being a facility manager with all these responsibilities and not having enough time in the day. Here are five time-saving best-practices:
1) Effective vendor coordination and sourcing
When managing multiple sites, vendor bidding, scheduling, and coordination can be challenging, especially when you require various trades. Effective vendor coordination and sourcing can be achieved by selecting vendors that offer multiple services and prioritize communication and reporting. Additionally, create clear scopes of work with the appropriate technical aspects in order to receive consistent bids from multiple vendors.
2) Less Reactive Maintenance
Preventative maintenance translates into cost reductions.
Despite the widely proven benefits of switching to preventive maintenance, around 60% of facilities are still relying on reactive maintenance as a major part of their overall maintenance strategy.
This strategy can be costly as emergency-services can add up quickly. This not only impacts your budget but also the tenant's experience. With preventative maintenance measures, such as consistent reporting and inspections, you can save headaches, and ultimately save money long term.
3) Consistent reporting and communication
A facility manager is responsible to keep track of the points of communication, maintenance, repairs, security, aesthetics, and tenant communication in addition to day-to-day operations for each property they are in charge of.
So it should come as no surprise that keeping track of all this information for each property can be hectic and easily unorganized.
Having a centralized point of communication provides for consistent reporting, easier access to maintenance files, logs, work orders, and property history, all in one place.
4) Service consolidation
Hiring vendors that have expertise in multiple trades and work in multiple geographic regions not only saves time but money as well. Keeping track of all the necessary tasks involved with vendor management, you would need full-time dedication in order to screen, price, schedule, and coordinate with each one. This is even more time-straining when there is an emergency situation. Look for vendors that offer multiple services to leverage buying power and increase the value of each minute of the day.
Partnering with a company that can consolidate these tasks and increases capabilities across a larger geographic scale. If a company can take over the bidding, negotiations, reporting, and scheduling, this establishes consistent communication and quality of work.
5) Industry expertise
Expertise in the industry and within each trade reduces maintenance work and increases productivity. Inexperienced staff can be costly and mistakes tend to be more expensive than doing it right the first time. Working with experienced technicians can help spot problems before they happen, establishing a pro-active maintenance program rather than a reactive approach, achieving total cost reduction in multiple ways.