I’m very happy that my article “Make Your Memos Hit The Mark” is the cover article for the January issue of Buildings Magazine. This is a great US based magazine for both Facilities Managers and Building Managers.
While it’s nice to have your ideas and concepts features by a magazine like Buildings, I’m glad that Buildings is putting focus on the non-technical skills in the industry. Continue reading »
Getting your senior management to approve implementing a system is tough, whether it’s Computer Aided Facility Management (CAFM) or a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS).
To start, they may not understand the Facilities Management function and it’s importance, so they may not recognize the benefits of having a system. Rather than trying to focus on the facility related details, I suggest you focus on information as a key selling point. Continue reading »
When’s the last time you got out of your office? If you don’t attend Facility Management or Property Management related trade shows and conferences, you aren’t keeping up with the industry and your colleagues and you aren’t discovering solutions and products that will benefit your company. Continue reading »
At this year’s IIDEX / Neocon Conference in Toronto, I had a chance to speak to a room full of facility and property management professionals about promoting their FM role within their organizations. In most of my discussions with facility managers, their profession doesn’t get as much recognition in their organizations as other departments or groups. It’s time that changed. Continue reading »
I was pleasantly surprised at how many people attended my seminar on Benchmarking at IFMA’s World Workplace in Orlando earlier this month. As usual, I brought some take-home material for the audience, but I ran out. In fact, a number of people had to stand at the back of the room.
I think it’s because the topic wasn’t just about traditional benchmarking. I emphasized the ‘Beyond’ part of benchmarking where traditional benchmarking, compare published results with yours – is only the first step in a process.
Here is a quote that pretty well sums it up for traditional benchmarking:
“what gets copied is the symptom of success, not the cause” – Dr. Ed. Baker, Ford Motor Company
I had the pleasure of being invited to speak at the 2009 International Maintenance Excellence Conference recently. (IMEC.ca) Here is the blurb:
Do You Want Better Results? Don’t Just Measure Performance, Manage It!
Performance isn’t just about measuring results. You must implement management techniques that use performance measures proactively to drive behaviour and improve results. Start with measurement data and KPI’s, understand their impact on employee and subcontractor behaviour and implement a management approach that influences behaviour and drives results.
The conference is hosted by the University of Toronto’s Centre for Maintenance Optimization & Reliability Engineering (C-MORE) and organized by the publishers of Maintenance Technology Magazine.
My topic was a little different for the conference, which has an emphasis on technology, statistics and science to improve reliability, often for production facilities, factories and other organizations where high reliability and minimal unscheduled downtime are critical.
Continue reading »
I recently delivered a workshop on Strategic Writing to a group of FM professionals. It’s the same workshop I’ve given for other Property Management and Facility Management organizations who want to elevate their ability to write well, and present a good image and influence others.
Some of the participants had the same concern that others have had related to memo’s or letters. The approach I teach is focused primarily on communicating information and influencing the reader to do what you want, whether it’s agreement, approval or to follow directions. Since the writing has a clear purpose, I teach techniques that support the purpose. Every Facility Management professional needs to know how to communicate effectively to be successful yet this soft skill is often overlooked.
To that point, here is a very relevant quote:
“The only people in the world who can change things are those who can sell ideas” - - Louis Wyse, advertising executive
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