To this day, I love the circus. One of my favorite acts is the juggler – you know the one – the guy or gal that makes juggling three bowling pins look so easy. But life is never that easy. Sure enough, other clowns come into the picture from all different directions and throw odd shaped objects in the air, fully expecting the juggler to incorporate each object into his act. Flaming torches. Chainsaws. Knives. Sound familiar?
Although the “clown” reference may or may not have been deliberate, this analogy isn’t too far from the reality of managing the daily operations of a multi-site facility portfolio. Success in this environment demands that you are at the top of your game – and that you know your limits. This article is about the operational element of the Strategic Asset Management framework and will provide a few tips and tricks to help you avoid dropping the ball (or the chainsaw).
Manage Expectations Through Defined Maintenance and Operational Standards
Put 10 people in an occupied space that is consistently conditioned in the Summer to 74 degrees (with a 55 degree dew point for you engineers) and you’ll always have at least one person too cold and one person too hot. What do people do when they aren’t happy? They complain. When I managed facilities, I’d refer to this phenomenon as the “I’m hot in the lounge” effect. Whether it’s temperature, lighting levels, restroom cleanliness, or the reflectiveness of the waxed floor, people will always develop their own unique opinion of what things should look and feel like in a building. Without clearly defined, exceptionally communicated and mutually understood standards, the facilities manager will constantly be reacting to complaints – many of which may not have merit. This can become a costly and significant distraction that hinders one’s ability to manage an effective facilities program.
Establishing clear maintenance standards accomplishes four things:
- They get everyone on the same page. Although people may not agree with the standards, once they are established and effectively communicated, people will get on board
- They shift the focus toward data and facts. Operational issues often become very emotional. Human emotion does not help address issues quickly and efficiently. Eliminate the emotion.
- They provide a financial baseline. Deviating from standards is always possible – standards help determine and communicate the financial implications of doing so.
- They enable automation. A centrally documented “single source of truth” for maintenance standards lays the groundwork for automated exception reporting (cool stuff that can save both money and workload)
Here’s the challenge: this isn’t easy. Once developed, standards must be socialized, approved, communicated and accepted by the enterprise. This takes time, patience and salesmanship. Build support early with influential stakeholders and be persistent with your communication efforts. Enforce the standards diligently, but always be open to conversations about changing them. This is not a “set it and forget it” philosophy.
Lastly, don’t forget about defining specific triggers, or deviations from standard, that will result in maintenance action. For example – not writing a carpet replacement work order until there are at least 3 gouges 4 inches or longer within a 200 square foot section.
Strong Workflow is the Key to Stability
Over time, process turns an unpredictable environment into something that can be smoothly managed – 99% of the time. Facility operations is dynamic. There is always work to be done. The challenge is to take control and make it predictable. Everyone in the organization – from the CEO to the housekeeper, from the customer to the person behind the counter, should know what to do when something isn’t right.
An effective facilities program leverages strong workflow to ensure everyone’s role is clearly defined
An effective facilities program leverages strong workflow to ensure everyone’s role is clearly defined – they know what to do, when to do it, how to do it, what to expect and what to do when the process breaks down. Most organizations have process and workflow, but is it really working? You know when it doesn’t – that’s when you get the unexpected phone call that forces you to work in the business as opposed to working on the business. Establish metrics to measure how frequently operational issues fall outside of your process. Set a goal. Then work hard to modify your processes, contracts, standards, staffing and workflow to make improvements. Measure again. Celebrate. Repeat.
Here Comes the Chainsaw! – Dealing With The Unexpected
As described above, solid workflow will effectively “catch” and address the vast majority of your operational challenges. But there will always be exceptions – and the successful facilities manager is prepared to deal with them. Several years ago, one facility the portfolio I managed had a systemic comfort issue that simply would not go away. The defined HVAC work order process was utilized several times, unsuccessfully, until the issue finally escalated to senior leadership and suddenly became everyone’s top priority. We were at DEFCON 5.
Having been through this several times before, we decided to establish a SWAT team and process that could be deployed as needed to give these issues the “white glove” attention they rightly deserved. We built a process for these one-off events that allowed us to quickly mobilize the right resources to identify the root cause, develop a solution, and over-communicate along the way. Whether we had an update or not, stakeholders received daily communication letting them know what to expect and when. This proved extremely useful in managing expectations and clearing the noise – giving the team the time and breathing room they needed. Ultimately, the solution proved to be cost prohibitive and the organization decided to change our operational standards for that facility. Frustrating for the occupants, but they now understood, and could live with, the situation.
A strong facility operations program should be able to smoothly and effectively address unexpected situations.
A strong facility operations program should be able to smoothly and effectively address unexpected situations. When you feed lessons learned back into the standard workflow, you should reach DEFCON 5 less and less frequently. No, it will never go away completely – but doing this well will keep you from dropping a chainsaw!
Communication, Communication, Communication
This subject really does deserve its own heading – even though I’ve referenced it numerous times thus far. Whether leading a team of technicians, engineers or operators, these skilled individuals have one thing in common – they want to fix things and solve problems. “I don’t have time to communicate that often!” I’d often hear. “That takes way too much of my time – I need to be working on solving the problem…”. This poses a huge challenge – because it’s true. But it isn’t acceptable – and that mentality will not help take your facilities program to the next level.
Establishing the right communication routines with stakeholders is critical – and it takes some thought, time and the right skillsets to do it well. I recommend developing a communication plan that outlines the following for the situations that create the biggest heartburn for your team:
- What to communicate when an issue is received (We got it)
- What the stakeholder can expect (Here’s what we’re doing about it)
- When they can expect to get the next update (We’ll update you each Monday by 5pm)
- Best guess on when the issue will be resolved (We’ll need 3 weeks to address this)
- What to do if we don’t meet our commitment (If you still have questions, contact XYZ)
Even a perceived lack of communication on the part of an angry or frustrated stakeholder will escalate their anger or frustration. You can choose one of two scenarios – build upon your reputation and credibility or detract from it. Effective communications, coupled with solving problems, is sure to build it up.
Back to the Juggler
The operational element of the Strategic Asset Management framework is all about juggling and meeting occupant expectations by addressing tactical day-to-day maintenance and repair needs across the enterprise – even in the face of surprises. It’s about maintenance standards, workflow, exception management and communications. Without strong operations, it becomes very difficult to excel at the other elements of the SAM framework. What are you doing in your organization to make daily operations both stable and sustainable?
Stay tuned for the next article in the series which will dive deeper into the 3rd element of a Strategic Asset Management program – the importance of technical expertise.