Facilities management needs to be jack of all trades
Facilities managers play crucial roles in companies’ successful operations, which explains why the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the number of these positions will rise about 15 percent between 2010 and 2020. These professionals come from a wide range of backgrounds that can include work on construction or engineering projects as well as education in the field.
BUILDINGS Magazine reports that one-third of facilities managers have a background in engineering, 29 percent studied business and 23 percent pursued degrees in architecture. Regardless of their backgrounds, people in these roles need to have the necessary skills to move swiftly and decisively to handle issues that arise and prevent problems from hindering processes.
“A medium-sized, major headquarters can have 50,000 requests for service annually and four times that number of preventive maintenance items corrected,” according to The Facility Management Handbook Third Edition, as quoted by the source in a separate article.
These service requests, asset counts and maintenance orders serve a number of purposes, including lighting needs, HVAC systems, fire and safety prevention, sustainable operations and expense reduction. To keep close tabs on everything, facilities managers often need technology tools such as an integrated workplace management system that enables them to track and update information in real time.
