When contemplating the day-to-day challenges in facilities management, the implementation of facility management software proves to be highly advantageous in automating tasks. The primary objective of facility managers revolves around addressing ongoing issues with the facilities themselves.
Facilities management encompasses all aspects related to the physical infrastructure, assets, and equipment of an organization. However, the responsibilities of facility managers extend beyond the physical buildings, as they are tasked with creating a safe, comfortable, and healthy working environment for employees and visitors.
In this article, we will delve into the main challenges in facilities management and explore effective and efficient ways to overcome them.
We have identified five major challenges in facilities management:
Five major challenges in facilities management
Following are some of the top problems faced by facility control. Let’s get started.
Cost Control
Facility managers often face the common problem of being pressured to accomplish more with fewer resources. To address this, they must handle budget constraints accurately. Here’s how they tackle it:
- Consider all types of costs when preparing budget estimates, including fixed, variable, direct, and indirect costs.
- Track inventory.
- Negotiate prices with suppliers.
- Regularly monitor maintenance costs and finances.
- Consider technological investments as value for money.
- Implement environmentally friendly practices to save costs, such as utilizing more natural light, transitioning to LED lighting, and adopting automated building technologies like solar panels to reduce energy waste.
Multitasking and Coordinating Teams
To ensure smooth operations, it is crucial to implement workplace practices that promote constant communication, organization, knowledge sharing, productivity, and innovation. As the modern workforce is increasingly mobile, an ideal solution is to adopt web-based facilities management software that enables the work team to report failures, generate automated reports, and more. This proves invaluable in various operational tasks. Facility managers often face the challenge of juggling multiple responsibilities.
Incorporating the assistance of facility management software can help them stay on top of their duties. Additionally, adopting digital calendars facilitates effective coordination of the team’s maintenance responsibilities and workload planning, while fostering information retrieval. Ultimately, facility managers and their teams should strive to be problem solvers.
Time Management
Facility managers have a multitude of tasks to address each day, ranging from coordinating teams and attending meetings to responding to urgent emails and consulting vendors or suppliers. Numerous workers have questions, and unforeseen issues require immediate resolution. Leveraging technological advancements can greatly assist in overcoming this challenge.
By simplifying task planning and prioritization, technology enables facility managers to manage a wide range of locations easily, efficiently, and swiftly. Storing facility management information electronically, automating responses to frequently asked questions, facilitating task prioritization, and optimizing time management. As the saying goes, saving time equates to saving money.
Handling Failures
Facility asset maintenance is a complex process that necessitates seamless information flow and prompt action. Technological advancements have introduced numerous solutions that facilities teams should adopt to streamline their work. Keeping track of requests becomes significantly easier, forming a vital component of a well-functioning process.
Furthermore, it should be noted that in the coming years, advancements in intelligent technology, such as IoT (Internet of Things) sensors, will enable further automation of activities, including failure reporting.
Maintenance of Aging Equipment and Facilities
As the years pass, equipment and building structures naturally age and develop technical problems. While eventual replacement may be inevitable, taking proactive measures for maintenance and prevention can prove invaluable.
Effective planning plays a crucial role in extending the lifespan of existing assets and coordinating upcoming expenses. Facility managers must proactively prevent, correct, and replace equipment while considering all associated costs, ensuring that a portion of the budget is allocated for emergency repairs and replacements.
Conclusion
To surmount the hurdles in facilities management, an effective solution lies in utilizing facility management software. This software empowers you to effortlessly oversee all operations within your facilities, even while you are enjoying a meal with your family or relaxing with a cup of coffee at home. By enabling access to data from your smartphone, laptop, or tablet, you gain the ability to make prompt and well-informed decisions.
Embracing software like FieldCircle marks a transition to a new paradigm, ensuring that you are not only capable of adapting to the changing times but also thriving and enhancing productivity in an agile and unpredictable environment.
