A facility manager is responsible for the running and upkeep of a premises. They are tasked with coordinating and inspecting all installations, maintaining safety standards, and ensuring all structures are in place.
Facility management is a challenging position that requires a diverse set of skills to come out on top. They need to have strong interpersonal, professional, and emotional skills to solve conflicts daily. While also managing the changing needs of the workforce. In addition, with the onset of the global pandemic in 2020 and the changing needs of workplaces to function both physically and virtually, it will be good to reflect on the facility management and adopt attitudes that are most in-demand in the modern workplace.
Today, we are going to look at a few essential facility management skills and how you can master them.
One of the most critical facility manager skills is making rational, informed decisions with confidence and assertiveness. For this reason, facility managers should be confident in every choice they make. Working to ensure that each of their decision is validated by adequate evidence and research. They should be able to persuade people to change the way they work.
Decision-making skills are of utmost importance during a pandemic. While some employees may be comfortable coming to the office, others may prefer working from home. In these times, facility managers should make prompt decisions about how both virtual and physical teams would collaborate, what technology should be in place and which processes need to be made simpler.
Since the primary role of facility managers is to ensure smooth functioning across departments and facilities, they should also have the ability to cross-network between HR, administrators, executives, and employees. Each of these forms an essential part of your administrative team; building a solid relationship with them is crucial.
With many teams working virtually, it is more important than ever for facility managers to ensure a smooth intersection between physical divisions and virtual teams. Since other departments at your organization, such as HR, may have overlapping responsibilities, it becomes vital for facility managers to have the ability to cross-network laterally. Take a bird’s eye view of the facility to figure out how to optimize processes and make people’s jobs easier.
IT plays an essential role in how organizations conduct their day-to-day operations. It is essential that facility managers stay up to date with the latest software developments. They have a strong understanding of which software can simplify processes, or what workplace technology fits their operations.
With the onset of the pandemic in 2020, workplaces have transformed profusely in transitioning from purely physical workspaces to half virtual and half physical. Further, for this smooth transition, offices and organizations have to automate processes, including managing security, deliveries, visitations, and even cloud environments. As such, facility managers need to stay updated with technology trends to create a wholly transformative workplace.
Moreover, the need to stay on top of technology trends also makes facility managers quick learners who can help them innovate and develop new ideas for the workplace.
Ensuring workplace security and safety is one of the essential facility management skills to have in any organization. Further, with flexible work environments and many employees choosing to work from home, cyber-security threats to a company have significantly increased. Previously, facility managers could take security precautions like install anti-virus systems or provide employees with official devices to work on. However, the lack of office-provided equipment for virtual working means that employees are increasingly using their devices that make company data more vulnerable to threats and risks.
Cyber-crimes can tarnish an organization’s reputation and expose the company’s data and a massive amount of customer’s personal information. It is the responsibility of a facility manager to identify loopholes in the system. This helps to identify where malicious attackers can find their way through. They should also make sure that employees are trained and aware of how malware can affect their hardware devices.
With shifting workplace standards and flexible work environments, the responsibilities of facility managers have extended beyond on-site duties. They have to deal with various workplace challenges every day. This requires high levels of vigilance in order to develop practical, creative solutions on the go.
This is where Sine helps facility managers by offering solutions that optimize workflow, handles the staff, manages the contractors, and provide a streamlined visitor management system. It also enables them to automate their everyday processes. Aiding them to reduce repetitive tasks to save time and focus on other productive tasks.
Facility management skill is a meaningful career path that cannot be ignored if you are looking to transform your workplace.
