How to Overcome C-Suite’s Objections of “We’ve Always Done it That Way”

Why do your facilities management processes need to change? When you’re working with management, you need to be able to articulate your needs as a facilities manager and clarify why your facilities are important to your entire organization. How can you get managers on your side as you seek to improve your facility operations? Here’s how better facilities management software can transform your business operations and how you can overcome C-Suite’s objections of “We’ve always done it that way”.

Manage Flexible Spaces and Diverse Employee Needs

Today, facilities management is about juggling the needs of many different user groups. If you’re using inadequate systems to manage bookings or purchases, your juggling may fall flat. Management needs to know that improved facilities management systems will allow you to efficiently rise to the challenges posed by a diverse and flexible workplace.

Decades ago, your average workplace looked quite different than it does today. People worked in their designated office spaces or cubicles, and meeting spaces served a small handful of roles. These days, cubicles have changed into open floor plans, with all of their attendant benefits and challenges. People work collaboratively with individuals from many parts of the office, and they may work from home as well.

You probably have many different informal and formal meeting spaces that are used by a wide variety of groups at different times of the day. While this diversity provides your employees with vast flexibility, it means that facilities managers must rise to the challenge. With diversity comes complexity of uses and complexity of booking these shared spaces. Facilities management software can help you juggle the demands of these user groups so that business flows smoothly.

Go Mobile

We live in an increasingly mobile world. As more and more people from the millennial generation come into the workforce, they expect to be able to work on their mobile devices. In today’s office, your employees are spread out across space, and many of them need to book meeting rooms and juggle other workspaces when they’re out doing business. They can’t simply walk down the hall to plan their next meeting. If you stay with the same old facilities management processes, you neglect your mobile workforce, and you may lose out on opportunities to organize meetings on the fly.

Facilities management software allows your employees to book spaces when they’re out of the office, saving time and allowing them to make plans with clients on the spot. A mobile workplace is an agile workplace, and cloud-based systems are the standard for today’s businesses. Cloud-based systems not only allow your employees to be more mobile, they allow you to access real-time data and help you scale your business so that any number of employees can access your systems at any time of the day.

Utilize Your Workspaces

Your business is smart, and your software should be smart as well. When management asks why you can’t keep track of your workspace utilization using old systems, point out that smart systems will allow you to gather the data you need to pinpoint areas where you can improve utilization of these spaces.

In today’s economy of cutbacks and pressure to produce, managers want to examine why resource are not being adequately utilized. Check your numbers. How much of your space is unused at any given time during the day? It’s probably close to 50 percent. What workspaces experience too much demand, and which ones are rarely used? If these spaces are not being used to their full potential, businesses are now turning to creative options to increase their productivity, including co-working and the sharing economy. This turns overlooked spaces into valuable resources.

Increase Productivity

Staying with the old ways of facilities management was more suitable when offices looked different. In the days of cubicles and corner offices, office spaces were simpler to manage. Today, offices are often flexible spaces that offer many different types of venues for individual and group work, and your facilities management systems need to change accordingly.

As a facilities manager, your job is to help employees manage their workflow in this environment. A chaotic environment is not productive for your employees. When your company is trying to attract new talent or maintain existing staff, you need to meet employees’ needs by providing environments that support quiet and focused work and work environments that facilitate collaborative projects.

The facility manager’s role is changing, and those in the C Suite need to realize that your role is integral to the productivity of your employees. You’re no longer simply managing workspaces, you’re managing the working environment and helping determine how productive employees can be. You’re also in charge of workspace assets, and your work can help determine how to best utilize these important facilities.

As a facilities manager, you have a strong case to bring to the C Suite. Better facilities management tools not only make your job easier, they improve the productivity of your employees and the utilization of your spaces. If you’re considering facilities management software, contact iOffice today and see how our software products can transform your workplace.