FM Notes from the Field: FMO Competencies
In “FM Notes from the Field“, industry veteran Jim Turner focuses on the Facilities Management Organization (FMO) maturity model and IWMS. Today he describes the FMO Competencies I’d love to hear your comments about this post!
The organization element
For this first post on the FMO competencies, we’ll discuss the “organization” element. Organizational structure flows from the basic functions assigned to the group – the operational characteristics of the buildings, grounds, utilities and equipment being managed, as well as general management principles. This post draws on the work of Harvey H. Kaiser, David G. Cotts, and Stormy Friday for additional background – drop a note to me at jim.turner@iwmsnews.com and I will send a reading list.
The concept behind the FMO management maturity model is to ensure that traditional FM activities, such as budgeting, planning, monitoring, and controlling, are integrated into a broader, strategic context for effective facility management. We use terms like “mission” and “goals and objectives” when we talk about strategy – each public and private sector organization has its own set of guiding principles, so each FMO needs to tailor the model to address key issues that apply to them: utilization, cost management, technology integration, master plan integration, operations and management, and other support services.
Basic Responsabilities
Basic responsibilities that most FMOs are responsible for include property management, strategic facilities planning, capital budgeting, new construction, renovations, space planning, operations and management, and administrative support services. Some organizations handle the architect-engineering functions in house as well, although they are frequently outsourced.
In the end, the maturity model is flexible enough to accommodate unique qualities and support elevating the department to a high-performing state. Because it emphasizes a proactive approach, based on accurate, enterprise-wide forecasts of requirements, and because it recognizes the complexity of the operational environment – the maturity model supports flexible, cost-effective, and justifiable solutions.
Functional Branches
Kaiser’s book groups the FMO activities into functional “branches,” including:
- the property management branch, where daily decisions about buying, selling, and leasing are made;
- the facilities planning branch, where master planning is done, as well as feasibility studies, design and construction;
- the facilities operations and maintenance branch, which oversees the facility’s daily functioning and serviceability requirements;
- the facilities support services branch, an ad hoc grouping of activities that support overall facilities management, which often includes fiscal management and data management.
Cotts’s work takes this organizational concept a bit further, by comparing the FMO’s requirements against the scale of the enterprise it supports – he lists five constructs: the office management model, where the company resides primarily in one building; the one-location, one-site model; the one-location, multiple-sites models; the multi-location, centralized management model; and the fully international model, for large and complex property portfolios.
Finally, Friday’s work builds upon these organizational constructs with insight on how to:
- Understand and influence group behavior,
- Motivate the staff to reach higher levels of excellence,
- Strategically position the department, and
- Prepare the department for challenges and change.
With the advent of IWMS systems, the FMO now has access to management tools that genuinely enhance its productivity and results. For example, within the operations and maintenance tasks alone, these tools simplify the assignment to manage and reduce facility deterioration, minimize equipment and structural failures, ensure the environment is safe and secure, improve O&M cost effectiveness, and improve planning, scheduling and performance measurement – all requirements that Kaiser outlines for the O&M branch. IWMS offers broad capabilities for the other functions as well.
Next weeks’ post
The “organization” competency, along with “policy” and “inventory,” forms the first step in the FMO maturity model. Next week’s post will cover the policy competency, and inventory will be next after that. These basic competencies provide mastery of the portfolio assigned – a key to effective management and the facility manager’s ultimate success.
Thanks again for reading this blog and thanks to Steven for hosting it here on www.IWMSNews.com. As we noted before, we welcome your comments and questions. Drop a line at jim.turner@iwmsnews.com and we’ll get back to you promptly.
Until next week – Jim
