10 Ideas para ayudar a entender el Facility Management

10 ideas to help you understand Facility Management

Ten ideas to help you understand Facility Management, whether you are a Facility Manager or not:

  1. Facility Management is a Bachelors Degree since 1990 and it’s a three or four year program at over 60 universities in about 20 different countries.
  2. Facility Management is a business discipline which aims to support organizations and always aligned with their strategy. Amongst others, it contains the following areas: Corporate Real Estate, Asset Management, Energy and Sustainability, Workspace, Project Management, Business Continuity and, of course, Facilities Services Management, the best known of all.
  3. Facility Management is a function or a support department and, depending on the organization, its functions and goals may change. This can be a result of the company’s activity or its organizational chart. It is the organization who decides what it assigns to whom and the authority each stakeholder has regarding all the needs that must be met to support the company business.
  4. The Facility Management functions will be closer to the business the closer the company’s activity is to space or workplace surroundings. There will be some relationship between the company’s activity and space at an office or something similar, but this relationship will be closer at a shopping mall or at a hospital and it will be even closer at a hotel, where it is difficult to distinguish between what is business and what is support. The concept that FM takes care of everything that is “non-core” is debatable and it will depend on the type of building and its relationship to the business.
  5. Every company has an area or several areas that take care of the responsibilities and services Facility Management can handle. The main department can have different names, such as General Services, Central Services, Shared Services, Buildings, etc.
  6. Every company has one or several people (whatever their job title is) in one or several departments who develop Facility Management activities. At small companies there will be a person who does a bit of everything and bigger companies will have more people and more specialized professionals.
  7. A Facility Manager (with this job title because he has a degree) can end up working after finishing his studies on the client’s side, on the side of different kinds of service providers or as an external consultant specialized in any of the FM areas mentioned, as a researcher, etc. It’s similar to what happens to someone who finishes any other University degree; knowledge gives them the ability to work in many different things.
  8. A Facility Manager (with this job title because he already works in an organization taking care of buildings or services) will have responsibilities such as Energy Management, Workspace Management, Property Management, Service Management or a bit of all of these, if the buildings he manages are not very large.
  9. Doing Facility Management at a company is not contracting one or several services to a sole provider. This is outsourcing and it’s a solution for service provision that has been done for many years. Outsourcing to just one provider of many services without a FM model (or professional model) is not doing FM; that is contracting a multiservice company.
  10. A FM contract may contain one or more services, but it always has to contain professionalization elements. These elements make it different from a traditional contract and are characteristic of a Service Level, which is the foundation of FM models, such as risk transfer, control and a complete relationship with every group with-in the organization. They will always bring along with them (whenever outsourcing is necessary) a supplier that understands what the client demands, this is to say, a FM provider.

Author: David Martínez, PhD. Strategic consultant, coach, researcher and international speaker. Renowned Facility and Asset Management expert. Specialized in multicultural property management models and productivity applied to workplace.

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Do you want more information about what we do in Consultancy, Training and Research en Facility Management?

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Participate in the Observatorio FM

You can choose between these 3 options to participate:





How to participate?

Collaborating with the Observatorio FM is a personal and voluntary decision, and there is no contractual obligation or economic retribution for it.

Any interested person can apply to participate as a leader of a new project, or apply as a collaborator in an existing one.

A technical committee will evaluate the subject matter of the proposed projects and the applications of the participants, deciding which ones are carried out and by whom.

Each person decides how much they want to dedicate, depending on their availability or type of project. The aim is for it to be an altruistic activity and not an additional workload.

What does it consist of?

To promote and publish studies that help professionals in the sector and to help others understand our profession and discipline.

The results and deliverables are shared openly, always acknowledging the contributions of all authors and contributors.

The Observatorio FM’s activity will respect the objectivity, ethics, rigour and good practices that govern our Research area.

Contributors have access to the best collaborative tools, sectoral information and contacts, as well as the assistance of expert consultants and researchers at international level.

Research

FM Observatory

FM Observatory is a platform which develops and disseminates Facility Management information. It’s accessible to all those who’d genuinely like to participate. Ethical use and objectivity are essential, and all results must be shared. You decide how long you devote to it and what you want to achieve.

You can participate as:

  • Leader: define the topic and coordinate the activity
  • Collaborator: help with development

We will provide:

  • Current situation and trends regarding the subject
  • Access to experts and advisers
  • Collaborative tools
  • Design assistance and dissemination platform

All contributions will be given credit in completed projects.

Research

Projects

We are part of the European research group and we work in international teams to develop different types of initiatives:

  • Public financing
  • International bids

We also work for service providers who require support with decisions linked to:

  • Positioning
  • Product launches
  • Finding partners
Research

Standardisation

As accredited experts in the drafting processes of European and International standards on Asset and Facility Management, we are the perfect partner to assist you with:

  • Standards alignment
  • Assistance with certification
  • Specialised training

FMHOUSE is the only Spanish-speaking consulting firm that participates in these processes.

Research

Publications

At FMHOUSE we think that progress made in Facility Management should be shared, so we strive to produce and publish the following material:

  • National and international trends
  • Industry analyses
  • Market studies

The “FM Observatory” is open, should you like to contribute with a publication.

Consultancy

Workplace

Our view of spaces or workplaces from a Facility Management perspective leads to a better understanding of such a need as a service, as it is essential to apply the same logic and methodology.

Generally we offer:

  • Assessment and optimisation
  • Design strategies
  • Solutions and scenarios
  • Wellbeing and productivity

We apply our knowledge and experience to offices, learning spaces, shopping centres and the industrial environment.

Consultancy

Benchmarking

In order to make the right decisions, clear accurate market data as well as facts about the organisation itself is essential. In the Facility Management environment, this is even more critical due to the impact it has on business.

Examples of benchmarks:

  • Operating costs
  • Resource use/allocation
  • Audits and compliance assessment

These services are requested mainly by end users, but also by service providers.

Consultancy

Customer Experience

Facility Management’s overarching goal is customer satisfaction, whether they are internal or external. Understanding their feelings and needs is the key to offering a good service.

Our support is based on:

  • Satisfaction assessment
  • Customer perception
  • People-oriented models
  • Change management

We strive to understand and get to know our clients’ customers, in all sectors and types of businesses.

Consultancy

Digital Transformation

The Facility Management world is experiencing a major transition to digital environments. We help our clients understand how it impacts them and assist them throughout the change.

Our areas of support are:

  • Process digitization
  • Viability and integration
  • Digital culture
  • Technological response

We operate as independent advisers, not as brand vendors.

We advise end-users and service providers.

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Consultancy

Service Design

All kinds of companies need to define or improve the way in which it structures supporting activities provided by Facility Management.

Our main products are:

  • Status diagnostics
  • Service dimensioning
  • Grouping and models
  • Help with tenders
  • Assistance with implementation

Our proposals are structured according to individual requirements.

We help end customers and also service providers.

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