The secret life of Facilities Managers

We know your secret, Facilities Managers. There’s been a lot of talk about how the scope of the role is changing to include responsibilities that used to sit squarely in the boardroom, in IT or in HR’s domain. Responsibilities like creating opportunities for enterprise-wide cost savings, leading culture initiatives for employee attraction and retention, or deploying new technologies for improved productivity. But between us? We know that successful Facilities Managers (FMs) have always taken a larger view of their roles and contributed to their company’s success in many ways that extend beyond traditional FM job descriptions.

Two popular approaches to workplace transformation and space optimization are offering terrific opportunities for FMs to shine:

Create a work space that invites collaboration

Facilities Managers have always needed to translate employee needs and corporate goals into physical workspace design. Remember when employees needed private cubicles and a conference room to be productive? Facilities Managers delivered cube farms to employees and a paper calendar to the Office Manager for keeping tabs conference room booking. Now, FMs are being tasked with creating a collaborative workplace by developing office space that allows employees to hold impromptu meetings, grab a focus booth for a private call, or gather in a café or social area to collide with co-workers in other disciplines. As usual, FMs are listening closely to individual needs and feedback, while using a workplace scheduling tool to make it happen and provide the data that’s required to make better, faster decisions.

Also? Make our workspace “Agile”

The goals of agile working are typically to increase productivity, improve employee experience and reduce cost. What better way to tick all three boxes than by managing where your team works? FMs have the unique ability to meet corporate agility goals by managing how the office operates. From the C-suite to HR to IT, workplace scheduling software delivers. Workplace scheduling systems (including conference room reservation systems and desk booking systems):

• Increases productivity by empowering employees to work when necessary, where necessary. Desks and meeting rooms are managed in real-time.
• Improves employee experience by managing the space needed to achieve the tasks at hand. One person’s canceled meeting leads to an open conference room that leads to an impromptu brainstorming session leads to… an agile workplace where innovation thrives.
• Reduces costs by reducing unused meeting rooms, managing hot desks, and delivering insights into corporate meeting culture. Check out the ROI potential of improving your work space utilization.

This e-book explains more about Facilities Management’s role in creating an agile work place.

Everything old is new again

Facilities Managers are being asked to contribute to the attraction and retention of talent, cutting costs, leverage technology, driving corporate goals and changing how and where work gets done. We say: You’ve got this, FMs. You always have, and we hope your colleagues finally recognize the pivotal role your department plays in achieving their goals.