Crowdsourcing FM Soltions

Some will tell you that crowdsourcing is one of the main drivers in the race to the future of business.  In crowdsourcing work traditionally performed by one individual (usually an employee) is outsourced to many people in an open call.  Those responding to the call may compete for the work or be part of a virtual collaboration team.  Open competition enables a close talent match to the specific task or project and generates ideas from multiple perspectives that would not otherwise be available. 

As you might suspect, there are a number of online venues to bring those with need and those with talent together.  Innocentive, CrowdSource, YourEncore and Elance are examples of sites where you can connect with talented people all over the globe who are waiting to help you solve everything from graphic design projects to hard science and engineering problems.

All well and good, but how does this help FM?

Crowdsourcing is not just about finding talent to work on your projects.  It is also about capturing information and intelligence in more efficient ways that allow deployment of resources to solutions rather than data collection.

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is the second largest school district in the U.S. with over 700,000 students on 730 campuses and a budget of over $7 billion USD.  In other words, it’s big and it’s complex.  In 2011 LAUSD deployed a smart phone app to staff and students which allows any of them to immediately submit work orders complete with GIS data, photographs, and text information.   In other words, the district is crowdsourcing its inspection and work order data entry system.  Every staff member, parent and student brain and eyes are now remote sensors feeding real time data to the system – a much more efficient methodology than relying on a call center.  Now, resources that went into locating and reporting problems can be applied to fixing them.

LAUSD’s partner in this effort?  IBM’s Maximo.  Think IBM is investing in this effort for the benefit of one client?  I don’t.  Maximo is one of the industry giants and I suspect we will be seeing and hearing more about this technology shift.

Crowdsourcing benefits can be significant.  Reducing the cost of labor, increasing the alignment of need and talent, lower labor costs, improved cycle time, a distributed workforce that can respond on a targeted basis on a global scale are reasons to consider crowdsourcing.  That said, it does require a different mindset with a focus on “tasks” as opposed to “jobs.”

A modified version pre-qualifies talent and establishes a pool of competitors who compete for each assignment.  This option provides a higher degree of control and therefore confidence, and is typically adopted for more complex tasks. 

Quality typically matches and often betters that provided by dedicated resources in both open and closed variations of the model.  This is not necessarily because the talent is better, but crowdsourced workers are not multi-tasking or burdened by administrative requirements.  Also, crowdsourced assignments typically have tight specifications and the buyer has a customer mentality – “get it right before getting paid.”

Crowdsourcing as an FM strategy.  In some ways we’ve been doing it since the beginning, but not like this.  Use it to gather condition and work order data, or source talent to solve specific problems.  It is another tool in the kit, another option, and another opportunity.

The Power of Surprise

Listen to Soren Kaplan describe an epiphany he experienced in a Paris coffee shop, and the journey it led him on to discover the power of surprise.

Most in business think surprises are negative and work hard to avoid them.  Whole bookshelves are filled with volumes teaching us how to avoid surprises.  Yet, surprise can be a monster motivator.

Surprise can lead to investigation, discovery, and change.  Surprise can create new businesses, change perspective, and enrich lives.

Good job by Soren here.  Enjoy the listen.

Facility Management's (FM) Role in Sustaining Recovery

Investment capital will become more available as global economies emerge from extended malaise .  Competition for that capital will be intense.  Important and challenging business and social issues are present everywhere we turn.  A growing and aging world population, demographic and power shifts, healthcare costs and capacities, geopolitical stress and transition,  the protection and sustaining of natural resources to name just a few.  The list could go on and on, each important on its own merits.

Therein lays the problem.  The list is long, capital is short.  There is not enough money available in all of the world to fix all of the world’s problems.  What are we to do?  What role can FM play in the search for solutions?

FM has a responsibility and a need to lead in the development and implementation of effective solutions.  While we are not charged with saving the world from all of its ills we are the stewards of a large portion of its assets, represented by the existing built environment, new facilities and the natural resources consumed in their development and operation.  How we exercise this responsibility is determined by our day to day actions and the decisions we make. 

How then shall we go about contributing in a manner that informs our organizations, elevates FM’s leadership role, properly preserves and deploys capital, and stewards natural resources for which we are both consumers and interested in sustaining?  Here are a few thoughts.

Recapitalize the built environment:  As recovery makes investment capital available we must make good decisions about where and how to invest.  Much of that investment must be in recapitalizing the existing built environment, including facilities and infrastructure.  It is too large and too important to do otherwise.  Further, recapitalization extends the useful life of assets and avoids unnecessary diversion of funding to new development, which also lessens consumption of resources.  Your job:  Perform condition assessments and develop informed strategies and plans.

Improve FM’s financial skills:  As capital comes available there will be enormous competition as long pent up initiatives in all areas of business reach for the same resources.  New product development and maturation, sales, marketing, research and talent will all be consumers of what is a finite resource for every company.  FM’s ability to understand the business as a whole and develop solutions that solve enterprise problems and make economic sense will be a lever for increased capital flow to projects that make a difference.   Your job:  Improve financial analysis capabilities inside FM and develop strong links with your CFO.

Build effective business cases:  Effective business cases begin with objective analysis of accurate business data which leads you to the right projects and initiatives.  Once you have the right capital investment strategy and portfolio it is up to you to effectively make the case and gain executive approval.  The very best plan and strategy in the world is absolutely useless if not acted upon.  Too often FM fails in gaining project approval because it does not present a balanced and compelling case.  Your job:  Improve or add effective communication and presentation skills to the FM suite.

Develop a long term budget lens:  Not that FM can drive this one, but we can encourage and inform the dialogue on investment return.  The traditional short term focus on investment return marginalizes long term benefit generation.  Investors require a quick return so we build projects and operate in ways that maximize short term return.  Sometimes in doing so we accelerate future capital deployment.  Not paying attention to a growing deferred maintenance backlog is one example.  That backlog will most likely continue to grow, asset condition will continue to deteriorate, and eventually (sooner rather than later) it will need to be replaced.  The short term focus also works against adopting new technologies that improve building efficiency.  In today’s world of rapidly changing technology this issue is not to be discounted.  More efficient buildings provide greater productivity, lower operating costs and higher occupancy rates, each a key competitive lever in its own right.  Your job: Present business options that explain Total Cost of Ownership over the entire life of the asset.

Improve your sustainable profile:  Sustainability has moved deep into the consciousness of the business world primarily because it makes good business sense.  Nearly everyone cares about doing the right thing, but when you can do the right thing and improve competitiveness and the bottom line you have a real winner.  That is why your Board of Directors is putting pressure on leadership (and don’t think they aren’t) to improve sustainability.  You should be doing it for yourself as well.  Sustainable initiatives can improve quality, lower operating cost, allow redeployment of resources, extend life cycles and a host of other good outcomes that you care about because they make your life easier.  FM is one of the biggest levers for sustainable performance and should be one of its biggest champions.  Taking a leadership position on an important issue with executive level visibility which provides social and business benefits improves FM’s credibility and perception as a savvy and visionary partner.  Your job:  Become a Subject Matter Expert in sustainability and how it can be leveraged to improve your business.

Innovate:  Innovation can be a game changer.  Whether it be by integrating technologies in a new way, rethinking your business/service model, developing new space paradigms that improve collaboration, or partnering with other parts of your business to add value – all have potential to improve FM’s performance and value.  Innovating, however, requires taking risks, something that many FM leaders are reluctant to do.  Risk is minimized by thorough due diligence and that should be your approach.  Have a good idea?  Think it through.  Engage others.  Model it.  Run a small pilot project.  Innovate!  Your job:  Be alert and receptive to new ways of doing old things, and new ways of adding value in your area of responsibility.  Be willing to fail on occasion on your way to wins that make a difference.

Getting A Stalled Project to the Finish Line

I’m sure we have all had the experience of working on a project that seems like it will just never end.  When that happens each team member has a responsibility to share in ownership  of the problem and the solution.  In highly analytical environments just getting a project approved or started can seem daunting.  Once it is approved, however, tight execution and driving to the finish line should be everyone’s focus.

Why is it then that some projects, even those with solid work invested in them, can’t seem to finish the last five percent of the course?

When a project is stalled project leadership or organizational management have the primary responsibility to get it back on track.  What can they do to get it reinvigorated?   Let’s start with these…

• Ask the hardest question first:  What am I doing or not doing that is contributing to the delay?  Leadership’s number one responsibility is to remove obstacles to the success of others.  Are you really doing that?  Are you getting past the happy talk and searching for root causes, then taking ownership for those that only you can effectively mitigate?  Better yet, are you the root cause because of indecisiveness or lack of attention?

• Use analysis as a decision tool, not an implementation tool.  Once the project is authorized and funded the time for analysis paralysis is past.  If you did not take the time beforehand to conduct thorough due diligence then it is probably too late to do it now.  When projects are approved they come with a schedule that has consequences for late delivery.  Post-approval is not the time to be developing options – it is the time to get the project done.

• Change the mindset of the project team.  If they are bogged down they know it without you telling them, and they likely aren’t feeling very good about it.  Here you need to be a bit of a cheerleader while also instilling a new sense of urgency.  As a leader you can step in to motivate, assist and remove barriers, but avoid the urge to take over at all costs unless absolutely necessary.  Let the team retain accountability for the outcome but help them get to it successfully.

• Augment skills or knowledge.   You may find that the team has designed a good project but does not have all the skillsets/knowledge it needs to implement it successfully.  For example, solving a vexing process issue may require the intimate knowledge of those closest to the process to investigate, process map and re-engineer a solution.  As good as that solution may be it is useless if not implemented correctly.  If implementation requires technical expertise, say developing or modifying an application, then the team may not have the requisite expertise.  Get it for them.

• Re-plan the project.  Refusing to recognize reality by sticking to a plan that everyone knows is not working only further demoralizes the team and adds unnecessary pressure.  This is where leadership must be candid with itself.  Take a breath.  Recognize reality.  Develop a new plan to complete the project from its current state, communicate and vett the plan with the team to achieve their buy-in, then work the plan…and work it hard. 

• Kill procrastination.  If you were too uninvolved in the initial effort then pick up your game.  If you were indecisive then make this project a priority and move it along when it is in your own space.  Stay better informed and create a sense of urgency by requiring frequent status updates.  Ask what the team needs from you to break current deadlocks and then deliver the goods.

Not every project (at least in my world) runs perfectly.  That does not mean, however, that they must be unsuccessful in the end.  In fact, overcoming the challenges of difficult projects is a big learning tool, experience addition, and character test.  Successfully recovering a project in trouble is a big plus in any project manager’s toolkit.

Could Big Data Drive Public Policy?

Interesting blog post about the potential of using data to drive public policy decisions, as opposed to our current "politics first at all costs" mess.  Not to make a political statement here, but regardless of your political persuasion the current polarized environment is anything but effective.  I wouldn't mind giving data a real chance as the author suggests.  You can read the post here.