Tips for Smart Facility Management

By Dawn-Anne McAneny

What is Smart Facility Management?

Facility management applies to all environments, this could be a leisure centre, hotel, school or factory, and the certain responsibilities the managers undertake will depend on the type of organisation. Whatever your facility, it needs good management to ensure that the day to day running of the organisation is efficient, key processes are established and maintained and that staff are working to the best of their abilities in a suitable environment.

Simply put, smart facility management is organising the people, processes, and the building itself. The goal? To create a suitable environment for employees and customers, and to boost productivity and efficiency within the business.

Managing a facility includes a huge range of things, below I will detail just a selection of tips to help you with smart facility management:

Ensure Facilities are in Optimal Condition:

The facilities you manage always be in the best condition, this includes ensuring everywhere is clean and the space maintained.
Routine maintenance is vital to keep on top of any issues that may occur.
Utilise the space of your facility to always optimise full usage of the building
Keep assets serviced and maintained on a frequent basis, this will help minimise breakdowns and extend their lives.
Report any spills, breakdowns, or similar incidents.

Establish Best Practice Processes:

By introducing best practice processes into the day-to-day working environment facility managers ensure efficiency and predictability for all staff.
Good processes will streamline and add order to the workplace, setting expectations for staff to know how to handle all situations.
Adapt and evolve processes when needed.

Support Staff:

Create an accommodating work environment for all staff to ensure they are comfortable while they work. This in turn helps employees to be happier, loyal to their company and more productive.
Empower employees to help them take control of their own daily objectives.
Use a system to track employee’s tasks throughout the day.
Use software such as OpsPal for employees to flag any issues identified so they can be identified by the facility manager.
Really look at your facility to see if it is appealing to staff, visitors, and customers.

Use Technology:

The use of the right technology can greatly improve the running of the facility.
With software like OpsPal, you can communicate across the whole organisation, manage risk, and risk assessments, keep all your procedures in one place, track tasks and problems and much more.
Technology is becoming increasingly useful in today’s workplace. OpsPal has become a central component for facilities managers to achieve smart facility management.