Agile Working And Facility Management: Challenges And Opportunities
Coordinating the traditional workplace setting used to be relatively straightforward for facility managers — not simple, but straightforward. Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, a facility manager’s (FM) work strategy would typically look something like this:
- Have a fixed number of staff in the building at any time.
- Ensure the building and all systems are functional in preparation for daily work resumption at a set time.
- Organize all required resources to boost workflow (solutions, equipment, tools, etc.) based on expected uniform work schedules and occupancy levels.pr
In other words, it was expected that everyone got to work at about the same time and left the building around the same time as well. Also, facility managers didn’t have to find answers to this question for their teams — how to be more productive? Simply because employees are usually more productive under direct supervision.
That said, in the age of remote work, It’s not quite so anymore and companies are basically forced to embrace enterprise agility if they want to survive and thrive.
It’s safe to assume that the traditional workplace has changed for good, as more organizations are looking to incorporate some level of agile working arrangements.
Agile working is a system where staff is empowered to choose how they work, where they work from, and what hours they work. The objective is to optimize workers’ performance by giving them an enabling environment to do their best work. Fortunately, that’s an objective that facility management supports.
Below, we’ll look at some of the challenges accompanying agile work and with what facility managers will likely struggle under agile working arrangements. We’ll also consider what opportunities this new work environment will bring.
What are the challenges?
Some challenges that facility managers may encounter under agile working include:
1) Physical access control and security challenges
With people coming and going at various hours, and some even staying away from the office entirely, there may be periods where the building can be vulnerable to increased security risks. It used to be the norm to lock everything up at 5 pm, now with agile work, this is changing and could mean that parts of a building are left unlocked while vacant.
Addressing this risk will require FMs to research what works best for their facility and employee management system, and then invest in security systems such as:
- CCTV systems
- Visitor management systems (VMS)
- Remotely-monitored intruder alert systems
- Smart access-controlled doors
- Hiring security guards to monitor the building
Also, more people working remotely will mean that digitized work documents will likely be stored on decentralized local servers with little guarantee of security. This is in contrast to the norm where large offices usually had a well-secured central server at their HQ.
Therefore, FMs need to work closely with the IT unit to guard against data breaches via:
- Automatic updates to security software
- Frequent data security training for staff
- Network intrusion detection systems
It’s also vital that work networks are functional at all times to avoid sudden disruptions to work.
2) Maintenance planning and scheduling
A common misconception is that less occupancy equals less maintenance. On the contrary, less occupancy comes with another unique set of concerns for FMs.
Even if fewer people are entering a building, it can be challenging to plan and execute maintenance jobs when they are all coming in and leaving at different work hours. Especially for maintenance tasks that require shutting down entire systems or involve other major disruptions.
In addition, fewer people in a building can also mean that minor maintenance problems in unused areas may go unnoticed for longer. To stay ahead of arising problems, FMs can make arrangements for handling small reactive maintenance tasks alongside their planned maintenance program.
In this case, the maintenance team will need to step up its physical inspection routines to catch little signs of wear and tear quickly. A schedule for inspecting vacant or unused spaces is also vital.
3) Potential inefficiencies
When employers consent to agile working, or other combinations of flexible work, they are effectively taking a gamble. For these kinds of arrangements to work, staff needs to commit to work expectations and deliverables. Because if not carefully managed, flexible working can easily deteriorate into inefficiencies and a drop in work quality.
For example, equipment servicing and repair is still a very hands-on activity. Technicians often work in small groups or under supervision by a trained eye. But agile work requires an entirely different style of management.
Therefore, how can FMs tell whether their team members are really working when they can’t see them?
As a result of this constraint, FMs may feel a lack of control or awareness of the work being carried out by their team members when working on a flexible basis. There may be a communication breakdown if it is difficult to get hold of staff which can negatively impact the coordination of maintenance tasks.
One way to get around this is to deploy a CMMS that is mobile-enabled. With this, FMs can easily receive live updates (through text, videos, and pictures) about work assigned to their technicians and raise queries if the task appears to be taking longer than usual to complete.
4) Choosing technologies for a fast-evolving work environment
So far, we have discussed the major challenges FMs will likely face in an agile workplace. Interestingly, the need for using the right technologies has been a recurring theme because attempting to manually control everything involved in agile work will be chaotic at best.
FMs will need relevant technology solutions to seamlessly manage all the moving parts involved. For instance, coordinating the right tools for multiple flexible and remote workers time and again will require some level of automation. In addition, they’ll need to research the available options out there, implement and integrate these solutions, then get all staff on board with using them.
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That said, modern technology makes agile work more achievable now than ever before. Two examples of software that can help FMs significantly are:
Maintenance software
A computerized maintenance management software (CMMS) is an indispensable tool for modern facility managers. It will streamline and facilitate every aspect of physical asset maintenance. Especially with CMMS brands that are mobile-enabled. FMs can:
- Create work orders, assign to technicians, and track work progress on the go.
- Communicate with maintenance team members and update everyone in real-time.
- Plan and schedule all maintenance activities.
- Update and access maintenance records from anywhere.
Space management software
Space management solutions are an essential part of the agile workflow process. This software enables FMs to gain insights into the available workspace, identify potential problems with space utilization and see chances for improvements. Space management software comes with several noteworthy functionalities for streamlining an agile work environment, especially the following:
- Surveying, collating and documenting information about available space for different end-users.
- Mapping and implementing social distancing arrangements for the workforce.
- Keeping track of space and all physical assets on the premises.
- Handling a broad and complex array of information. Anything from digitized floor plans to asset tagging and personnel information. Facility managers get a bird’s eye view of the entire property.
- Customizable and adaptable to different sizes of facilities, from a single office block to an entire campus spread across different locations.
What are the opportunities?
Let’s look at a few areas where agile work gives facility managers unique opportunities to make organizational improvements.
1) Boosting employee retention
By providing an enabling agile workplace, FMs can help companies in their employee retention efforts. This is an effective win-win situation for all parties because these days, some professionals actively seek jobs that will allow them to work flexibly. In fact, offering flexible work arrangements can help with attracting and keeping top talent.
It’s so important that the lack of flexible work can be a dealbreaker for many jobseekers. Possibly because they have caregiving responsibilities or other equally important commitments, or they simply want to achieve a better work-life balance.
For facility managers, attracting the best talents and keeping them in the same organization for longer is an opportunity to reduce the resources and time spent with training and onboarding new staff at frequent intervals.
2) Higher cost-effectiveness
Agile workplaces offer organizations a unique opportunity to save costs. Companies can increase their workforce and boost productivity without the burden of the higher overhead costs typically associated with using larger office spaces (like higher energy bills and rent).
3) Improved well-being
Employee well-being has always been a serious concern for organizations all over the world. One constant area of contention has always been workers’ desire to achieve more autonomy and creativity in how they work.
Offering flexible working to employees can help them achieve this autonomy, significantly boost their morale, and improve their physical and mental well-being. For one thing, they may not have to commute for long hours to work every day like before.
Thus, they will likely be less tired and better rested, reducing the risks of fatigue, burnout and stress. Also, by not commuting as much as before, they can start work earlier from wherever they are. As a result, they will be empowered to give their best daily.
How can FMs make agile work successful?
In addition to all we’ve discussed above, here are a few quick tips to help FMs optimize agile work even more:
- Create an agile work policy detailing guidelines and expectations then distribute it to all employees.
- Consider providing maintenance support if staff will be working from anywhere (WFA) with company equipment.
- Avoid last-minute logistics problems by over-communicating with staff. For example, any changes regarding desk space or tools availability should be communicated to the affected parties immediately.
- Ask for feedback at intervals even if everything looks fine. Workers may be unknowingly struggling with some issues.
- Plan for the unexpected by having backup arrangements like placing technicians on “call” or on standby especially on days where there are major activities planned (e.g. large meetings, conferences, or repairs of critical systems).
- Make the most of the available space by planning for common areas, quiet zones, and huddle spaces. As much as possible, aim to fit these areas with audio and video conferencing equipment.
- To make all this work, your facility will need shared computers, laptops, and ultra-fast Wi-Fi to improve the use of cloud-based applications.
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Final thoughts
Although agile working brings a new set of challenges for FMs, it also offers major benefits and opportunities that can not be overlooked.
Ultimately, it’s all about balance. When this arrangement is well managed, all parties benefit; staff members can produce their best work under minimum restraints while their employers can reduce costs, improve output, gain staff’s commitment, etc. Facility managers are the catalyst that can make this happen smoothly.
Author Bio:
Bryan Christiansen is the founder and CEO of Limble CMMS. Limble is a modern, easy-to-use mobile CMMS software that takes the stress and chaos out of maintenance by helping managers organize, automate, and streamline their maintenance operations.
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