Managing The Built Environment

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.

With information about your business responsibilities and about one of your company’s largest assets and expenses, you will get information that you can use to made decisions that improve efficiency and reduce costs. Information is one of the things most execs understand well, in addition to revenue and expense.

Focus on each one of the functions your (future) system will do for you and identify specific and relevant information you will get and what you can do with it that results in $ saved. Then highlight the woefully inadequate information you currently have along with the risks of not having the info (risks are another thing execs understand). Keep it high level and results oriented - Most execs don’t care much about Facilities details as long as the core business is operational.

Here are some simple examples of how you can approach it. You need to fully understand your organization and what they think is important and adapt your approach.

CMMS system (for those who are responsible for maintenance):

• Provides evidence that you have performed your legislative compliance responsibilities. You can produce a report at any time easily without doubting the information. It is auditable and defendable in the case of a lawsuit or audit by the authorities.
• Tracking repair activity and costs by asset provides data you can use to make better capital replacement decisions as well as decisions about maintenance practices, all of which can save $ (i.e. lifecycle, energy, etc.)

Help Desk/Work Order system

• Tracks the work orders (i.e. costs) by type and department. You can pinpoint departments who are accessing costly services more than others and take action to reduce.
• You can spot trends such as departments who have high Move/Add/Change requirements and implement alternate accommodation / workstation / technology approaches that save move and reconfiguration costs as well as reducing the staff’s downtime (inefficiency=cost) that result from MACs.

CAFM (i.e. space)

• Tracks all vacant and underused space efficiently and up-to-date and help you manage down the total requirements by giving you visibility into an expensive commodity – real-estate.
• Time you and your client department spends on reconfigs, shuffling, etc. will be reduced because you have the info.
• Reports on department use of space will help put pressure on reduction or justify tighter standards. Information is used for benchmarking, which can prove your business cases.

If necessary, compare it with other parts of your company. Highlight the fact that they have systems (if they do) which provide them the information they need to run their responsibilities. You have the same needs. Ask how they justified them, if possible, to see what sells in your company.

When you start going down the path, be sure you understand what information you want, how it will fit in your work processes and staffing, what you will do with it and what you really need (your business requirements) before you even think about the process of selecting or procuring a system.