When you think about it, facility managers are like the nucleus for corporate and commercial properties. They are the central point of contact for internal clients (corporate users), tenants and vendors, and they control how the building and surrounding area is operated, maintained, repaired, and improved at any given time. That’s a lot of work!
Now, think about all of those roles and responsibilities for one property, and multiply it by 50 sites, located hundreds of miles apart from each other across an entire state. This is starting to sound impossible! And it can be, for many. Even when a facility manager has their routine down, when you manage multiple locations across long distances it can quickly unravel the minute a complication arises and you are the only person who can resolve it.
Don’t spend days putting out fires — that gets exhausting and expensive. Stay proactive and predictable by avoiding these top time-wasting activities.
Unnecessary meetings
Make the best use of everyone’s time by starting every meeting with an agenda, purpose, and timeframe. Keep everyone on point and on task by identifying action items, assigning responsibilities, and implementing a plan before the meeting adjourns.
Poor communication with vendors
Regular communication with your vendors can be challenging, especially when you are managing multiple sites and a variety of trade vendors. Minimize the total number of vendors to cut down on the amount of contacts you need to reach out to. Then, establish a regular line of communication with each that is convenient and effective for both parties.
Unorganized vendor sourcing and project bidding
Create clear easy-to-understand specifications and templated bid forms without a lot of room to go off topic. The more uniform the responses are from contractors, the easier it will be to compare bids from multiple vendors.
High Volume, Low Dollar Tasks
Consolidate vendors of high volume, low dollar tasks such as lawn care, janitorial, and snow removal as much as possible. They are all necessary, but can be a nightmare to track down on short notice. Look for vendors that offer a variety of services year-round to leverage buying power.
Partnering with a third-party sourcing company can alleviate these time wasters by minimizing the number of vendors and leveraging them across multiple sites; taking over the bidding, contract negotiation, and billing process; and establishing effective lines of communication to ensure quality of work and responsiveness. This saves time, money, and lets facilities managers get back to a centralized focus, where they can form the basis of activity and growth.