To be Facilities Manager as I don’t like the idea of being stuck behind a desk all day, facilities management (FM) Conceivably the best job for Me! and the aim of writing this one is to give an insight into the Facilities Manager’s role and provide “inspiration” to new entrants.
The definition of a facility manager can vary high and wide depending on who you’re talking to. A position on campus under the same name may be completely different from the building just behind. One thing remains constant, the role of the facilities manager is essential, but their daily tasks and the way they work can be quite different. Normally Facilities Manager provides a single point of entry for the coordination of all services relating to the efficient and effective running of a Facility. A facility manager is a person who manages a facility, be it a factory, an office building, a hospital, a recreation centre or an entire university campus. The manager ensures that the facility meets the needs of the people who work in and around it. The manager also ensures that the facility is suited to the work being done by the people, whether it’s talking on telephones or running forklifts.
Facility managers have been around for a long time, but it hasn’t been until the last decade that they’ve had this title. They used to be called physical plant administrators because they were in charge of all the physical aspects of a building and its operations. Facility managers are an important part of their organizations. They help make the most of an organization’s buildings and resources. Facilities Managers are at the “Heart” of the Campus / Building, which is why every Day In The Life of Facilities Manager is so special. Facility managers continue adopting technology to help them manage all of the complexities that they face from day to day.
Facility manager may also supervise a good-sized staff. All this responsibility makes for a busy day. “A typical day for a facility manager is pretty unpredictable. You can find yourself giving a presentation to the CEO on a cost-saving project at 8 a.m., and within the hour be on the roof of a building, figuring out the best repair for a storm-damaged air conditioning unit,”.
Facility managers need an unusual combination of skills to do this job. Much of the job requires technical engineering skills for understanding how buildings work. At the same time, these managers need business skills to deal with budgets, financial forecasts and real estate management. Even people with both of these sets of skills still need to have good people skills to make everything work, say experts. A facility manager may deal with hundreds of people per month.
“My day involves a lot of contact with people, ranging from the customer who is trying to describe their needs to the contractor or trades-person who transforms the ideas from plans to reality. The principal requirement of this job is to be a good people person,”.
This is not an entry-level job. It takes time to learn everything involved in the job and to gain the necessary experience. Many facility managers begin as engineers, building managers and assistants before moving into this senior position.
While many facility managers are employed by large companies or organizations, experts say the trend is towards hiring facility managers as independent consultants. These freelance consultants work with a number of clients at a time.”Companies outsource their facilities management so contract management also becomes the role for facility managers,”.
Facilities Management is varied and multi-disciplinary and a Facilities Managers work may cover aspects from all the following fields
- People Management
- Working with Suppliers and Specialists
- Property Portfolio Management
- Building Fabric Maintenance
- Managing Building Services
- Managing Support Services
- Project Management
- Customer Service
- Environmental Issues
- Space Management
- Procurement
- Risk Management
- Financial Management
- Quality Management
- Information Management
In one Word Facilities Manager is Must from “Journey to Work – Going home back”. Proudly Say Am FM and “Am A Need of Every One”