The Top 8 Facilities Management Challenges & How To Overcome Them

Any job has that part of work that takes care of the facility that holds everything together. You may have heard of the term, but the facilities management meaning is close to maintenance somehow, and it’s not that exciting.

What is Facilities Management?

Facilities management is concerned with the process of coordinating works between buildings, infrastructure, energy, and water. It is ensuring the safety and efficiency of these environments to preserve the value of these things for the long term.

Facilities managing is a role that requires two levels of management: strategic and executive. While the strategic level deals with the effects of decisions on providing places and services, the executive level ensures the safety and efficiency of the facility.

Managing Activities as a Part of Facilities Management

Managing activities as a part of facilities management

There are plenty of activities that managers do to achieve safety and decision-making for facilities management. Some of these activities are:

Environmental Health and Safety:

Like building cleanliness and disposing of rubbish.

Mechanical systems:

Which includes HVAC equipment and systems (heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration), indoor air quality, temperature control, preventive maintenance, predictive maintenance (the use of equipment or tests to predict when maintenance will be needed), and the maintenance of elevators.

Energy systems:

Such as electrical stations and backup generators.

A lot of sectors need facilities management, so it is an essential part of the business. Logistics and construction are great examples of sectors that need facilities management. There are many other activities in which the manager can manage facilities, and all of them might encounter problems while working.

Check the facilities management training courses from Sorbonne Academy

The Top 8 Facilities Management Challenges and How to Overcome Each One of Them

Like any job, facilities management faces many challenges and might counter plenty of problems. It is a place that needs maintenance all the time. But even with that, there are solutions to every problem. Here are the top 8 facilities management challenges and the suitable solutions to overcome them.

1-The Cost of Unplanned Expenses on Maintenance

Poorly constructed facilities can cause maintenance that is not planned, not to mention periodic maintenance.

The effect of weather, wear, and tear, and excessive use are the main factors facilities may encounter and could cause an increase in expenses.

However, there is a simple and easy step that companies can make to prevent these things from happening, such as hiring professional facility managers aware of the maintenance requirements of the building.

Watch this Building Services Management and Maintenance Course from the Facility and Facilities Management category.

2-Communication Between Teams

Problems can arise from the disconnect between members and teams. That’s why communication is crucial. These issues are typical among teams, where they still use traditional methods to report an issue or a problem.

This can be easily solved by finding the fastest and most convenient way to communicate. Communicating here is the key, so it must be one of the priorities in the facility.

3-Maintenance of Old Equipment

This requires consistency in performance. Failure or faults are normally there in any facility, and it is very common. Paying attention to lasting faults is crucial. Most of the facilities face this normal problem. Facilities managers should be accurate in observing the details of work.

4-Struggle Managing Time

Time is essential for any work. Managing time is the key for everything to work correctly. Facilities management might face problems with time, deadlines, not organizing schedules, or not knowing how to deal with urgent circumstances.

This requires flexibility and high skills in managing time, such as prioritizing which task to be given to which employee at which shift.

5-Being Left Out of Parties

This means not having the social life everyone wants. Being in the position of facilities management requires a lot of attention and devotion and giving all the time to the place you’re in. If you are in charge of a whole facility, then all work will return to you.

This is challenging, yet it has its ups. Getting the experience the hard way is always better.

6-Decision-Making on the Spot

When facilities managers deal with defective equipment, they should choose the right equipment to replace it with.

Replacing it with the wrong option can go wrong or might be more expensive. Managers should have the ability to decide whether the whole situation is convenient.

7-Dealing With Pressure

You can find this at any job, but facilities manager is one of the hardest. Carrying all the responsibilities on their shoulder is as challenging as it seems and more essential than any other task.

The person who is in control of every detail in a facility must face tremendous pressure daily. They should try to keep it calm and go for tasks step by step.

8-Struggling With Technicals

Everything needs to go smoothly, but one failure in technical support can stop that smooth flow. If anything occurs due to poor facility equipment or something technical, finding that will take time and might not be known at all.

Keeping an eye on technical support is crucial and must be consistent to avoid faults.

How can Facilities Managers Determine the Most Significant Challenges to Prioritize Based on Their Organization's Unique Resources and Needs?

Determining top challenges can seem daunting with limited resources.

Recommend collaborating across departments to develop a challenge assessment survey.

Questions should uncover operational pain points from multiple stakeholder perspectives over the past 6-12 months.

Analyze survey results alongside facility usage and maintenance logs to pinpoint 3-5 areas consistently straining the budget and work environment.

From there, prioritize the easiest solutions with the most campus-wide impact. Routinely reassess challenges as they need change to stay agile.

What Role Might Robust Key Performance Indicators and Benchmarking Play in Continuous Challenge Monitoring and Improvement Efforts?

Key metrics not only benchmark progress but guide mid-course corrections.

Calibrating indicators around user satisfaction, energy consumption, cost-savings, and employee retention signals what’s working and what’s not.

Dashboards with red-yellow-green thresholds provide at-a-glance operating status. Compliance tracking prevents regulatory surprises.

Tying bonuses to strategic goal completion incentivizes a continuous improvement culture.

Data is only meaningful if it transforms decision-making - constantly optimizing processes based on learnings.

Common Questions About Facilities Management

What is the number 1 priority of facilities management?

Ensure safety and security. The safety and security of employees and property should be a top priority for any facilities management team.

What is the main goal of facility management?

The foremost objective of a facility manager is to create an accommodating work environment for employees. This serves many broader goals, including attracting talent, improving efficiency and productivity, and creating a positive workplace culture.

What Are the Responsibilities of a Facility Manager?

Here are some of the responsibilities of a facility manager:

Property strategy, design, and planning.
On and off-site building management.
Implementing a predictive, reactive, or preventive maintenance approach.
Space management.
Maintenance of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC)

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