5 Money-Saving Facilities Management Tips

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected many small businesses and most companies in the U.S. There has been a marked decline in revenues in education, health, leisure, hospitality, and other industries.

The facility management sector has faced many challenges during this period. The pandemic lockdowns imposed by many states and federal agencies closed many workplaces. Limited operations meant most of the work done mainly was essential maintenance.

However, with several aspects of daily life reopening, management must now adapt to the new requirements for COVID-19 safe buildings and facilities. Facility managers must be able to do all the essential maintenance work and at the same time adapt to new health requirements for their facilities, such as deep cleaning and stringent sterilizing procedures.

Facility managers who are masters of saving money must now face the challenge of stretching their limited budgets. Delaying maintenance will cost more in the long run. Facility managers have to do regular maintenance work with more efficiency to save on cost without compromising quality and safety.

1.Evaluate Your Team

As a facilities manager, one of your main objectives is to improve your team’s productivity. An estimated $550 billion is lost every year in the U.S. due to low productivity. If your team members can work more efficiently, they can do more things and cut operational costs.

Have regular meetings with your team regarding time management and punctuality. How often are they late for work, and how long does it take them to finish their work? Involve them in setting common standards on which everyone can agree.

Assess your team and look at their skills, certifications, and special abilities. They will work more efficiently if you assign them tasks that fit their qualifications. Motivate them to engage in more open communication. Evaluate their social dynamics and see which of them work well together.

2. Take Action

How to increase your team’s time management

Deadlines are a source of stress for many people, but they’re essential for managing priorities efficiently. Talk to your team and ask what would be a reasonable time for them to finish a specific task. Based on their suggestions, set an appropriate deadline.

How to communicate better with your team

A project can get completed on time and more efficiently if critical members are informed of their responsibilities and roles. Be clear about assigned tasks and make sure everyone knows their responsibility. Get your team together for a quick update of their work and ask them for issues they encountered while implementing the task. Make sure to address these issues as soon as possible. Have regular upskill sessions for your team to update them with the latest trends, apps, platforms, and technologies.

3. Go Digital

Make use of technology to improve your staff’s efficiency. Use communication platforms like Slack to manage and track documents, pin messages, and have shared channels.

You can also use specialized software to track and streamline maintenance. A computer maintenance management system (CMMS) is an application that centralizes all the critical maintenance information and operations. This platform will help you make informed decisions and help the maintenance staff work more effectively and efficiently.

4. Clear Out Your Storage

Unused supplies and equipment can take up a lot of space and cost money to maintain. You can maintain an inventory of these items and dispose of them properly. Sell items and equipment your department no longer needs to raise money to fund other essential maintenance operations.

Getting the mess out of the way will make day-to-day operations more straightforward. There will be more space to become organized, saving time and money. Removing the clutter can also make your workplace safer since there will be less equipment lying around.

5. Learn From the Past

Review previous budget allocations, expenses, and savings and see how you can improve your operations. Look at specific work cycles and see which procedures worked and which ones fall short. Analyze costly mistakes and make sure you don’t repeat them.

Find the most efficient way to allocate assets. Look out for projects that exceeded budget and time allotment and see how you can improve the next time you do a similar task. Do not be afraid to ask questions from previous facilities managers, especially if you are new to the job. Learn from past mistakes and improve.

More Efficiency is Key

Facilities management is not an easy job. External forces such as the COVID-19 pandemic and government restrictions have made the job even harder. The best way to save precious financial resources is to make your operations more efficient. Do not forget to have open communication with your team to work together to achieve your common goal. Use technology such as a CMMS to help you reach these objectives.