American Management Association presents the work of Kathy O. Roper and Richard P. Payant. In the attempt to maintain and sustain Irresistible Environments this book has been recommended too many times to not dive into for personal growth in the field of Facility Management.

Being a new field of study and a critical field to support the potential future growth of both economic stability on a national level and global sustainability, the field of Commercial Facility Management is the cornerstone of global socio-economical sustainability. It would not be far to say that the need for trained Facility Managers is a career that is in critical need across the globe if humanity is to sustain equilibrium against the evolution technological advances in the modern world.

In every single developed country there are modern commercial buildings that dual as gathering places for people of every race, religion, and archaeological background for the sake of expanding the culture forward. The United States of America is but one of many cultures in the world that is currently undergoing the shift from old technology and construction to new. In very few places in the world there are cities or mass gatherings or societies of people that are embracing the luxury of modern technology to its fullest.

Even though there are major concerns considering sustainable power and energy sources, what is seen in first world countries is that technology is finally at the place where sourcing energy us becoming less and less of a fossil fuel issue and more of how private companies can control the marketing profits of easily available energy sources from sunlight, to oxygen, and even water. Regardless, the needs for monitoring energy are becoming more and more prevalent as money continues to drive the global economy.

The Pulse Points listed in the beginning of the 675 pages list as

• both the organization and the facility manager should have a specific philosophy about facilities
• Facility Management (FM) is an essential business function; the facility manager is a business manager and should be placed at the same level as the mangers of human resources and information technology
• There are a limited number of ways to organize FM departments, depending on the mission of the organization supported
• Every FM organization has some element contracted out, so contract negotiation and administration skills are essential for every facility manager. Facility managers need to be innovative in their contracting. Low-bid contracts are seldom appropriate, and partnering with our contractors and consultants while insisting that they perform if they are to continue working for our organization is a best practice.
• Good FM is based on good leadership of a proper organization
• Facility Managers need to have the same level of business skills as their management colleagues
• Facility Managers must know their business- both the FM business and the business they support
• Although it is improving, FM continues to need better basic research and better application of both existing research and best practices.
• Every facility manager should have a facility master plan as a priority. Included should be a recapitalization plan covering at least ten years. These two efforts not only will be key to your management, but will show that you know the language of business and are participating in the business planning of an organization.
• Facility Managers are in a position to influence how substantial organizational resources are spent. Conduct your business with the highest degree of ethics and a sense of stewardship.
• Sustainability, security, and emergency management are functions with great management and customer interest, which every FM must accomodate.
• Never before has there been the emphasis on cost that there is now, and facility managers, to be successful, must realize that fact.
• The FM professional associations as well as individual facility professionals should demonstrate and publicize that effective and efficient FM has a payoff for organizations

Continuing on from the pulse point The Facility Management Handbook begins presenting exhibits that categorize different factors of FM philosophy and lists that directly effect the operations of any organization. After outlining pulse points for background and organization there is a note that IFMA, or International Facility Management Association funded a study that declared that the most dominant concern for the majority of Facility Managers stems from finance.

Exhibit 1-1 labels the common functions of facility management and the list is broken down into sections such as…

• Management of the Organization
• Facility Planning and Forecasting
• Lease Administration
• Space Planning, Allocation, and Management
• Architectural/Engineering Planning and Design
• Workplace Planning, Allocation and Management
• Budgeting, Accounting, and Economic Justification
• Real Estate Acquisition and Disposal
• Sustainability
• Construction Project Management
• Operations, Maintenance, and Repair
• Technology Management
• Facility Emergency Management
• Security and Life-Safety Management
• General Administrative Services

These fifteen categories generously cover most every base in the world of Facility Management, but depending on the unique branch of business being performed within the facilities can differ these categories subtly or significantly. Remaining open-handed is the best approach when acclimating to a new company structure. An example would be the difference between a single commercial building hosting multiple companies, multiple tenants, and multiple types of personas in a multitude of organizational pursuits against managing a hotel where there is constant turnover, far more diversity amongst the public in daily interactions along with typical conjunctions of food service and general hospitality.

To tie back to these fifteen generic categories, each one can be briefly expounded upon and is referenced underneath Exhibit 1-1.

Management of the Organization can be broken into planning, organizing, staffing, directing, controlling, and evaluating.

Facility planning and forecasting can be broken into gathering business unit knowledge, strategic three to ten year facility planning, strategic facility operational planning within a range of one to three years, space forecasting at the macro-level across the organization, financial forecasting at the macro-level across the organization, and capital program development.

Lease administration can be seen as out-leasing, lease-auditing, and general property management depending on contractual obligations.

Space planning, allocation, and management should be paired with space inventory and inventory upkeep, micro-level space forecasting, and general space management whether a space is occupied through lease or unoccupied during timeframes of transition.

Architectural/Engineering planning and design can be seen as macro-level programming for a location or campus, building planning, macro-level estimating and planning, maintenance preparations, disaster recovery planning, design document preparation and updating, code compliance and familiarity with the AHJ, or Authority Having Jurisdiction, traffic engineering, and zoning compliance.

Workplace planning, allocation, and management leans on the design of the space, furniture specifications, furnishing estimates, furnishing specifications, ‘as built’ maintenance, code compliance, MAC record keeping, or ‘move, add, change’ management. M.A.C. record keeping can be categorized as alteration management, renovation management, furniture installation, information and communication technologies installation, provision of furnishings, art program management, equipping, relocations, procurement (to move, alter, or change), preparation of ‘as built’ and updates, and encompassing project management of these tasks.

Budgeting, Accounting, and Economic Justification can be broken down in programming, work plan preparation, budget preparation for the next one to two years, administrative budgeting, capital budgeting, operations and maintenance budgeting, and chargebacks. Other factors include economic justifications, financial forecasting, budget formulations, and budget executions.

Real estate acquisition and disposal are broken into categories of site selection and acquisition merged with environmental due diligence when applicable and legal due diligence always. Along with these are factors like the building purchase itself, potential lease preparations if desired for business model, and ultimately real estate disposal or disposal preparations.

Sustainability is a large category under-looked and undermined far too often when concerns of financial instability come into play. Financial instability notoriously pulls the common facility manager away from big picture planning and can cause too much innate focus on micro-level issues. Sustainability is all about the long game, and so if there is financial pressure and fear of future failures, then the concept of sustainability is forgotten. If sustainability is not amongst one of the priorities of any and every organization then an end is imminent or inevitable.

Sustainability includes the factors of site selections to minimize environmental impacts, environmental policies to minimize waste and reduce resource usage such as recycling program management, transportation management, energy audits and retrofits, building commissioning and recommissioning, building system audits and retrofits, purchasing policies for reduced environmental impacts, vendor relationship management for sustainability, and indoor air quality management.

Continuing along with sustainability includes project management in compliance with environmental regulations at the federal level, the state level, and the local level, sustainable guideline adoptions like LEED, or leadership in energy and environmental design, Green Globes, or Energy Star along with other third party entities that encourage earth friendly industry practices.

Other ways to encourage sustainability come in workplace improvements for productivity such as daylighting, indoor air quality, and thermal comfort. Aligning design with business functions also aligns with sustainable maintenance and operations practices, and social responsibility reporting.

Construction project management categories include project management, construction management, procurement management, preparations of ‘as built’, punch- list preparations and executions, post-occupancy evaluations, and project evaluations.

Operations, Maintenance, and Repair focuses are exterior maintenance of roof, exterior sheathing and wraps, along with window systems, preventive maintenance scheduling, breakdown maintenance, cyclic maintenance, grounds maintenance, road maintenance, custodial maintenance, pest control, trash removal, hazardous waste management, energy management, inventory of systems and equipment, maintenance projects, repair projects, correction of hazards, disaster recovery, and general procurement.

Technology Management is arguably the most complex fields of study within Facility Management due to vast competition, understaffed and undertrained technicians, and an ever changing landscape when it comes to what is considered both industry standard and innovative for larger returns on investments. The factors of technology management include operations, maintenance, voice and data system operations and reconfigurations, network management, ‘as built’ maintenance, integrated workplace management systems including selections, installations, and operational training.

Technology Management is not overlooked in the era of digital data transfer, but the hardest part remains in the unknown for the common person. A facility manager relies are professional input, but there is a large proportion of misinformation, mis-regulation, and uninformed sales reps who routinely sell off branded, non-recommended technologies without caring as much for whether or not the organization truly needs the product being sold. An example would be in cyber security being sold to a candy shop owner to ensure that no one is breaking into critical data like how much a Hershey bar is upsold for profit. Organizations get roped into ‘good’ deals being sold by charismatically trained sales people to the demise of many institutions when capital is the life blood of the organization.

Beyond the needs of more awareness in technology, there is the requirement of Facility Emergency Management in emergency preparedness planning, threat assessments, command, control, and communications, mitigation strategies, training, drills, and exercises, along with disaster recovery planning.

General administrative services include food services, refreshments and vending, reprographics, mail and messenger management, fleet management when applicable, property tracking and disposal, moving services, procurement, health and fitness program management, day care center management when applicable, concierge services and on-site vendors when applicable, records management, storage management, assembly management, and security support when applicable.

Lastly, Security and Life-Safety Management is the most important field of study in the career of Facility Management. Safety and Security is without a doubt the most import factor in all of Facility Management, and any person or teacher who says otherwise is performing malpractice and should be reported. Mistakes do happen, and people do tragically die, but preventive measures ensure not only the safety of all peoples on any given property, but tragedy can ripple across organizations and communities in a way that can literally leave scars upon entire societies and civilizations.

September 11th, 2001 is a date burned into the core of both the United States and many places across the globe. Although terrorism is one of the hardest things to prepare for and prevent, the way the emergency response is handled can directly effect the total number of people impacted or lives lost.

The Seven critical factors for ensuring proper security and life-safety management falls into code compliance, general operations, crime prevention through environmental design, access control, physical deterrents, electronic security and technology support, and third party vulnerability assessments.

These competencies in the field of Facility Management all lead into the formation of personal Facility Management Philosophy. Although the building blocks remain the same whether the organization is for-profit or not-for-profit, the philosophy for each Facility Manager will differ based on the unique needs of any given organization.

As Always, God Bless,

James Arthur Ferguson