Is There A Number for Everything?

“We must consider the possibility that if we can’t measure something , it might be the very most important aspect of the problem.”

That from a blog post by Roger Martin, Dean of the Rotman School at the University of Toronto and one of today’s preeminent business thinkers.

It does raise an interesting question which I think is relevant in the FM domain. Have we become so focused on measuring, metrics and quantitative analysis that we have lost sight of the “soft” side of our business? And, exactly what are the elements we cannot measure but which are important never the less?

Is emotion an important business value? What about motivation, caring, empathy, mentoring, experience, and instinct? I would argue that all are important values and that we too often do a poor job of balancing them against the hard numbers we measure our performance by every day. SLA’s and KPI’s are fine but they do not present a whole picture of your performance or business health.

Take a look at your own organization and ask yourself, “Are we emotionally healthy around here? Which is correct most often, the spreadsheet projections or my gut?” You might be surprised at what you learn.

Three Pivot Points That Are Influencing the Future of FM – Part 3

This is the third and final in a three part post on issues the author feels are affecting the FM profession


Pivot Point: The Explosion of FM Data

As building operations have increased in complexity over the years so has the data available from building systems and the need to analyze data and make fact-based decisions. FM’s and their cohorts are challenged to make sense of and synthesize data from different systems to present a complete and rational picture of operations. Not to say that we have arrived at a juncture of data and rationality, but at least we can see the intersection from where we are today.

Expanding beyond the building envelope, managing portfolios of multiple properties only increases the complexity of the equation and the challenge of reaching that desired intersection. While there have long been portfolio management systems and building management systems the two have not often worked hand in hand. Too often, in fact, they have not been viewed as part of the same equation. The real estate folks have their systems and the operations team has theirs. Seldom are they integrated.

In today’s world that simply is no longer acceptable.
Large portfolios represent large investment that must be optimized in all dimensions to support financial health and strength. That means that real estate portfolio management and operational systems management should be viewed as part of one whole, not two separates.

Corporate Real Estate (CRE) professionals care about strategic planning, forecasting requirements and business drivers. They understand the financials of the deal but not necessarily the life cycle operating costs of the deal. They need to track inventory, utilization, depreciation and implications to the corporate bottom line. Like FM’s, their operational cousins, they typically deal with a number of different systems to accomplish all of this.

FM’s who are focused on building or site operations deal with a different set of requirements, systems and data. On the building side of their domain they care about operating costs, risk mitigation, compliance issues, energy efficiency, lean processes and meeting service level agreements.

The two worlds seem different but are interdependent. New generations of software will integrate them in ways that improve operations on both sides of the equation, making the interdependencies visible and actionable. Portfolio information about asset management and utilization will help operators understand building profiles. Service KPI’s will be tracked across the enterprise and integrated with financials. Energy management will be dashboarded and enable financial modeling and troubleshooting using the same analytical tools.

One of the positive effects of the economic meltdown will be an increased focus on efficiency coming out of the experience. Capital investment will flow to programs and systems that help to lean operations, improve performance and increase efficiencies.

The Open Standards Consortium for Real Estate (OSCRE) has taken on the challenge of expanding the alignment agenda beyond organizational boundaries, with the goal of unifying core processes industry wide, including standardizing how information is shared. OSCRE aims to accomplish this by establishing standards that will be the framework for unifying information flow and execution. Already, standards for Work Request and Work Order Fulfillment, Lease Abstract Exchange, Lease Delivery, Occupiers Cost and Portfolio Information Exchange are in place, with others such as Investment Valuation in process. OSCRE has plans for the operational side of FM as well.

“Facilities Management: An interest group is forming to extend the seminal work on neutral work request and work order exchanges. Work management is fundamental to many categories of capital asset management, accommodations, and maintenance management. This group will first establish market drivers for ongoing initiatives and then start multiple technical workgroups and/or engineering initiatives.”
Excerpt from OSCRE website

FM organizations are now awash in data. But what are we doing with it, and how are we doing it? Is it coherent and meaningful data, or are we simply counting to count? How effective are we in gleaning wisdom from data, and what changes as a result? These are key questions to be dealt with if you have not already. Now and more so in the future, the FM suite will be home to analysts who sift data and look for patterns and trends, discerning nuggets of information that reveal truth, risk and opportunity.

There are others of course, but these three pivot points are vital to our profession in the coming years. Understanding the implications of the social and economic changes that seem to be everywhere these days, aligning ourselves and our organizations to improve speed and agility, and taking advantage of the information explosion are all first level concerns that demand diligent attention and action.

Our world is not the same as it used to be. Most people realize that fundamental changes are occurring. Those who interpret this as good news, as a chance to create and achieve will embrace the changes required to turn opportunity into reality.

Where Is FM Headed?

Every once in a while it is fun to gaze into the crystal ball, not only for the amusement factor but also because it is a strategic activity.  Strategic in the sense that you look outside your current circumstances and try to discern likely futures, and doing that can in turn shape the shifts you make in anticipation.  

So let’s do a bit of strategic gazing.  As we look at the future of Facility Management what do we imagine might be different in the coming years?  Here are a few suggestions.

Budgets will be determined at the strategic level and given to FM to prioritize and manage.  This shift will be driven by the need for agility in executing corporate priorities and the importance of aligning capital spend and operations in an increasingly complex and integrated technology environment.  It recognizes that executive leadership is best positioned to prioritize strategy while business unit leadership is best positioned to prioritize investments within a strategy.

FM will be elevated to the C-Suite.  There will be a second “CFO” in the suite, the Chief Facilities Officer (alternatively, the Chief Asset Officer).  The sheer value of FM is rising to the level that it demands front office executive attention.  As a result, business acumen will become the number one FM executive skill and many FM units will be headed by leaders who do not have a technical background.  MBA’s will lead FM, PE’s and professionals will remain in their traditional roles.

Service Level Agreements (SLA’s) will be prioritized to extend asset life cycles.  Financial investment in capital assets will be recognized as a significant lever on the overall health of an organization.  With this the primary emphasis of SLA’s will be shifted to maximizing the life of assets and contributing to productivity. 

Global recession fallout will be with us for the foreseeable future.  The forms this takes will be many.  Reduced capital availability and higher cost will limit options, placing an emphasis on space efficiency.  Coupled with a younger workforce and their work lifestyle expectations the trend towards increased use of alternative office strategies will continue.

The line between FM and IT will continue to blur.  Said another way, FM will become more and more dependent upon IT.  The mantra will continue to be streamlined processes that operate intuitively and require less and less intervention.  By definition that means a more complicated data sharing and dependency environment. 

Worker productivity will be the measure for everything.  FM value will be stated in productivity terms, including how the workspace is organized and maintained.  Service initiatives will support increased productivity and outcomes for most projects and initiatives will be measured and reported.  Why?  Because productivity is a root issue.  It leads directly to revenue, space, cost of services and everything else that affects the bottom line.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) will be the development vehicle of choice.  BIM and IPD are here to stay, and that’s a good thing.  BIM contributes to both the development goals of a project and its life long efficiency and sustainability.  IPD is simply what it says, a fully integrated approach to delivering projects.  It means partnering and working in truly integrated fashion, including sharing risk and rewards.  The payoffs are faster delivery, lower first and life cycle costs, higher satisfaction and more opportunity.