create a vision
I am being asked more and more every single day. Paint a picture for me of what your Vision is of the future of the PM/FM industry?
The Vision is about growing a business using common sense methods and ideas. Exploiting what is there and available. Truly the basics.
It is about…
…being able to do more with less effort and stress.
…being able to add clients without adding staff.
…being a leader in the industry with a profound story to tell the world.
…doing it better than anyone else.
…receiving compliments from clients and tenants about the excellent service being delivered.
…being a place where the best people want to work.
…people being eager to learn more everyday and being able to expand their personal knowledge base.
…eliminating all unnecessary busy work.
…being able to celebrate each time a new property assignment is awarded.
…people being able to celebrate when a property assignment is added to their portfolio.
…people being able to communicate effortlessly, both internally and externally.
…providing 24/7/365 service to its clients and tenants.
…being open for business 24/7/365.
…being able to orientate and train new people 24/7/365 and it is so super easy to cross train people for back up or promotions or job changes in general.
…providing an orientation of a property to a new tenant and their entire staff, 24/7/365.
…sharing information across the entire organization with ease.
…eliminating repetitive work.
…doing a property transition in digital format. (properties that sell) The new property data is uploaded/imported into the system rather than being manually typed.
Acronyms to Keep You on Track
Touching It Once. (TIO)
Management By Walking Around. (MBWA)
Managing What Matters. (MWM)
What is happening is not obvious to us until we start to think about all that we can actually do today with internet basics and the power of connectivity.
For instance, what, where and how are we physically doing various tasks each day?
What are we touching or handling physically? Are we handling paper or opening digital files?
Is there a way to approve documents digitally?
How do we eliminate paper filing and as many filing cabinets as possible?
Can we speed up our response time to customer requests?
What do we have available or is readily available now? Can we connect, via our smart phones, tablets and laptops to our content while in the field? Yes.
What does this all mean to me as a PM/FM or someone in the PM/FM Industry? Is my job threatened by the changing world and the changing PM/FM industry? Yes and no. In any part of history, innovation brings change. The change can be embraced and learned or not. It is up to all of us. As an industry, we are like farmers. In the past farmers would hire farm hands to work the fields and harvest the crops. Today, a farmer can farm thousands of acres with the proper machinery with virtually no farm hands. We are no different.
Today’s PM/FM problem is about changing the way we look at what we do. We have data inside our accounting systems that should be shared. Can we share it with the entire company to gain insight and what is called business intelligence?
Absolutely and it is starting to happen at your company now.
Examples
I attended a commercial real estate technology event and happened upon an exhibitor that was demonstrating the touch screen virtual manager. It sounds so basic to have a large panel LCD screen located where all can access it. But are we using this technology today? Why can’t our customers touch a screen menu to make selections in our lobbies? One selection can be talking to the management office. The person can see a human being and actually conduct a conversation and obtain the information needed. Sounds like a crazy idea, but it is being done today and even with fully automated machines for so many industries.
At another exhibit was a simulated lobby and security desk. Behind the desk there was an LCD screen on the wall that is set up for the fire department. Yes, the fire department can go directly to the screen and get all of the pertinent information needed about the property. Floor plans, special instructions, information about tenants, whatever you can imagine. It is being introduced to fire departments all over the country as a way to help the firemen when they enter large properties and need to know things immediately.
Those ideas are not really high tech, but use of today’s current technology, in rather simple ways. Those connectivity opportunities are becoming the norm. As PM/FM folks, we really need to see what is happening out there and embrace it. Our building owners and building customers expect it. We as experts in running properties and facilities have to consider all of these approaches and solutions today.
You must be aware of the Global PM/FM Industry as well……
Open Standards Consortium for Real Estate http://www.oscre.org
Our goal is to consider the potential, develop it, test it and implement it.