Facility Management Tools Every Company Needs to Consider

Alan Rita — June 1, 2017

As a discipline geared towards efficient delivery of support services for businesses, facility management has become an indispensable asset for any company on the rise. Its interdisciplinary approach covers topics ranging from provision of space for clients and working crew, services management, building safety, building maintenance and general business planning; measuring the potential impact, our decisions can inflict over these variables.

Then again, under such innovative premises of a profession that has been acknowledged as an academic discipline just 20 years ago, many people might feel overwhelmed in their pursuit to conquer a highly-awarded reputation if the path still doesn’t seem to be clear enough to explore. For all that and much more, please consider the following tools explained below as elements needed to reach your goals.

Photo courtesy of Unsplash

The Proper Mindset

What’s the point of taking the road of an innovative career if you don’t consider essential aspects about it like teamwork, long hours of planning, staying in touch with the latest trends and mostly being available when work requires your presence?

This isn’t your typical 9-to-5 job where you sit in front of your desk and start typing; you need to be in constant movement, always 2 or 3 steps ahead of what the managerial area of a company you happen to work for might be considering to do. Therefore, if as a company you are making your numbers on whom to hire for this task, take enough time to research if the person or business in charge of doing this job has enough tactfulness for solving inconveniences on the go, plus that drive to constantly improve the work accomplished.

Facility Management Software

We can’t ignore the fact we live in a digitalized world. Therefore, investing resources in acquiring the best facility management software available in the market to date isn’t just a whim but a necessity. Let’s see some interesting options on this behalf:

1. Amilia – Capable of handling tasks as Online Registration, Reports and Payments, while also featuring a CRM Database, this software is intended to make the management experience for places with a large number of affiliates a smoother one; hence the reason why Camps, Gymnastic Clubs, Associations and many other similar organizations are choosing this easy-to-use interface to keep tabs with what’s going on at their locations.
   
2. FaciliWorks CMMS Software – With an unbeatable reputation in providing services for organisations worldwide, this software helps us to track, analyse and report every single event taking place at the current moment, regardless of how many facilities we have.
   
3. ServiceNow Facility Management – By creating alerts and incidents on IT information, this software proves to be the ideal tool for measuring the impact of your decisions in your business for both short and long term.
   
4. AwareManager – Ideal for being in touch with any commercial property, school or residence, this software is capable of keeping inventory control, scheduling tasks for maintenance services, managing vendors and visitors, plus some other interesting features to consider.

The Ever-Loyal Checklist

How many times have you forgotten the tasks you need to accomplish along this week? It isn’t your fault, as stress is a well-known cause of memory lapses; therefore, the bigger our customer agenda builds, the more valuable this tool becomes.

Be sure to invest time to make your very own checklist of aspects to control, classifying them by topics like:

• Total Energy Use: One of the most critical issues to affect when dealing with a tight budget, as companies are still reluctant to invest in energy-saving technologies.
  
• Security System: Proper usage of security tools like cameras, sensors and other control panels must be ensured as you can’t predict when a nasty event like a burglar intromission may happen at the building.
  
• Work Schedules: Depending on the amount of responsibility put on your shoulders, it might be one of your tasks to ensure the deadlines for the projects is taking place at your contractor’s company is met.
  
• Paperwork: Why is this called “management”? Simply, you need to keep close tabs on deadlines, contracts, workers, etc., which automatically translates into paperwork.
  
• Space Management: A proper space utilisation proves to be essential for any organisation. Thus the advantage some Facility Management Software can bring to our business. You should be checking on a constant basis those misused spaces so you can organise a much efficient working environment.

This list above, of course, needs to be prioritised by date and project – in case you handle more than one company’s facility management services. By sticking to a checklist, best if made in paper rather than digital, you are constantly reminding yourself of the tasks that need to be completed while at the same time increasing your productivity.

Photo courtesy of Unsplash

Life Cycle Calculator

Lastly, there is no best tool to make a proper budget than knowing, beforehand, when it’s needed to make some extra expenses to replace faulty/worn out equipment and furniture. Consider the many options you can find on the internet or just take enough time to build your life cycle calculator based on the data you can gather from manufacturer’s site and the estimated usage you consider each item might have.

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