The rapidly evolving world of remote facilities management

If you work in facilities management you’ll be familiar with preventative maintenance, managed rollouts and making data-driven decisions. They’re all effective ways to lower spend and extend asset longevity.

But the way you carry out your work is changing. Remote facilities management could be the new normal if hybrid styles of working take hold.

You may already have added wellbeing checks, including fresh water and plants to your checklist. Post-pandemic, your responsibilities will expand beyond operational efficiency to ensure that employees feel safe, comfortable and healthy in the workplace.

Challenges for remote facilities management

Buildings age. The chances are that your building lacks the ability to seamlessly upgrade to the next generation of remote technology. It’s likely that you’ll be struggling with legacy control systems that may not be fit for purpose when it comes to remote operations.

The big challenge for remote FM is digital transformation. And while employees have made the most of IT solutions for remote working, cybersecurity is always a challenge. At the end of the day, any business will need physical workers, but whether ageing buildings are up to the challenge of hybrid working is a conundrum that facilities managers will be expected to solve.

Is your data and connectivity up to the job?

To handle remote facilities management effectively, data is key. But do you have the resources and tools in place to collect, analyse and act on that data? And do you recognise the difference between applied and actionable data?

The good news is that you already have transferable predictive analytics skills that can help you meet the challenge. Actionable data tells you what you need to do to achieve an outcome. Applied data means you know what to do with that knowledge. In the new era of remote facilities management, you can rely on data to know what happened, what will happen and when, and what actions you need to take for a positive outcome.

Embracing remote FM

These are the actions you need to take to be on top of the challenges that remote FM presents:

– Rework your facilities management playbook to include improved use of data and remote reviews of your work

– Re-examine your building priorities in light of the new hybrid world of work

– Implement a cloud-based computerised maintenance management system (CMMS) to centralise data and ensure it’s applied correctly

– Use applied and actionable data to understand the needs and activities of users in the new normal

– Upgrade infrastructure controls to support digital management as part of your ongoing digital transformation

– Think beyond the pandemic to areas of improvement including an effective recycling programme and encouraging healthy behaviours that stick

– Re-evaluate your third party suppliers and ensure that they follow hygiene, social distancing and other safety measures you may have implemented

– Be open and transparent with all building users

Harness the power of remote management

More than ever, you have a unique opportunity to put facilities management at the centre of your organisation’s response to the post-pandemic world. Embracing remote management will help you prioritise measures that ensure the safety and comfort of employees as they return to work.

If you’re looking for your next role in FM, get in touch with Catch22 and we’ll be happy to help.