The Top 7 Facilities Management Challenges & How To Overcome Them

Posted on Jan 12, 2023 at 10:01 PM

Inevitably, you will face Facilities Management Challenges, especially if you need to be more organised and kept up to date with the latest updates in the field, including training courses and information.

So this article is the key to guiding you and helping you easily overcome facilities management challenges. But first, what is meant by facilities management? What are the challenges that you may face in this task?

What is Facilities Management?

Facilities management means a professional management system keen to provide logistics and other support services efficiently and effectively, especially those related to real estate and buildings.

The task of facilities managers (such as buildings and others) is not limited to taking care of all matters of the building, from furnishing or maintaining it, but rather more than that. 

Facilities management requires dealing with all the necessary developments and reforms and the need for permanent development and improvement. It is the responsibility of facility managers to create a safe, comfortable and healthy work environment for their employees and visitors.

Dear reader, have you ever wondered about the size of the daily management challenges (such as managing an institution or service facility)? These challenges are what required him to strive to plan, organise and understand all aspects of facility management. The reason behind this is to overcome any possible problems that may occur.

The Top 7 Facilities Management Challenges 

The owners and managers of organisations in the facilities management industry face significant challenges. Accordingly, we decided to introduce you to the most important ones so that you have a good idea of the most considerable part of them and know how to overcome them:

1- Adjust budget and costs:

Utility owners ask managers to minimise costs. However, reducing costs requires resorting to the most beneficial and lowest-priced solutions in all requirements, which requires studying the budget well and eliminating the use of everything that has a high price or replacing it with a lower price. 

Therefore, the facilities manager must have negotiation skills, which enable him to obtain the best quotations from suppliers.

2- Maintenance of old equipment:

What makes facilities management good is the attention of the manager and the administrative and organisational staff of the facility or institution to faults that can be fixed. 

This attention is particularly evident in some assets and equipment whose problem is simple and does not require significant maintenance or the need to replace them with expensive ones. 

Therefore, in this context, the manager must constantly and accurately follow up on all the accurate details of the work, no matter how small they are. For this reason, his focus must be high on overcoming facilities management challenges and obstacles; he seeks to make their work successful and prolong their life.

3- Enjoying the ability to coordinate and manage Multitasking:

In cooperation with his team, the entrusted manager in the facilities management sector forms the cornerstone for resolving any problem at work. 

Therefore, you must have the ability to coordinate and distribute tasks among your team members. To achieve the highest degree of coordination in the distribution of functions, the manager must rely on computer systems and programs on the Internet to organise work and manage facilities as required.

The manager's dealings with his work team and ensuring its productivity constitute a real challenge for managing any institution or public utility. Therefore, this stage is the bridge to move the fourth facilities management challenge, Time Management.

4- Efficient time management:

Time is precious; it fuels production. One of the priorities of any company or organisation seeking to achieve profits and excellence is that its manager and employees are committed to time.

The Facilities Management Officer must have time management and planning skills for his and his team's tasks. The facilities management official must also use everything that may help him organise time, such as (applications) that define functions according to the specified time. Of course, Saving Time is Saving Money.

5- Ability to decide on the replacement of technical equipment:

We all know that replacing some equipment in the company may cause an imbalance in the budget allocated for the work of the facilities as a whole. 

Therefore, careful planning leads to the reduction of unnecessary expenses and the maximum utilisation of public or private utility facilities. In this context, part of the budget should always be set aside for necessary and emergency repairs.

6- Maintaining higher results with tremendous work pressure:

A facilities manager faces significant challenges in operating and managing facilities successfully. This is especially evident when his superiors authorise him to monitor all the work details carefully and see how to perform all tasks to the fullest. 

So, he needs constant planning to survive failure in serving many jobs.

7- Zero Social life and Isolation:

This challenge represents one of the biggest facilities management challenges. The reason is to consider that it was born as a result of your hard work and significant responsibilities as the manager of the entire facility. This, in turn, makes you forced to apologise for many social occasions to get your job done.

Let's be frank here; it is the person in charge of managing the assets and facilities facing tremendous difficulties and challenges in all aspects of work. But there is no doubt that it is possible to escape from it by solving and overcoming problems. How can facilities management challenges be overcome?

Strategies to Overcome Facilities Management Challenges 

“Management is an intellectual game, and the better you think, the greater results you will achieve. So, think carefully, choose those who think, and work with those who think.” “Dale Carnegie”

This tip summarises the solution to overcoming the facilities management challenges and difficulties. 

How is that? It is based on proper planning, logical thinking and business organisation and requires several facilities management skills, the most important of which are: communication skills, team management, time, and organisation. 

Therefore, the most important tips to overcome all the facilities management challenges and difficulties are:

• Facility maintenance automation:

Reliance on artificial intelligence (AI) in facilities management helps keep the work organised and clear and improves efficiency.

• Customise facilities management processes to suit your organisation's needs:

The manager should be prudent in spending money to maintain or manage facilities or schedule tasks.

• Regular preventive maintenance:

Implementing a PM preventive maintenance plan for your facility extends the life of your equipment and reduces downtime.

• Using the latest information and data to measure performance and track facility management operations:

Integrated information should be collected on sustainable operations in the facilities management sector, such as (emergency repairs, serial numbers, warranty information for equipment, and tracking of employee working hours). 

This information gives you a clear view of the profits or losses that your facility will earn.

• Benefiting from the data and achievements of the Internet of Things:

No dispute integrating technology and technology into work guarantees its success. 

Therefore, the ability to employ the Internet of Things data will lead to overcoming many of the challenges facing any manager in the management of facilities or buildings, as the technology of the Internet of Things helps to change the traditional way in which facility leaders usually think.

The application of these solutions today contributes effectively to saving time, reducing costs, achieving more profits for the company, and finding a solution to overcome facilities management challenges of all kinds.

In conclusion,

The weapon of science and organisation triumphs in the end and achieves better results. Therefore, attending professional courses in the facility management market will impact your success in managing your facility.

Due to this importance, the LPC Training Centre is honoured to invite you to attend Facilities Management Training Courses in Barcelona. 

This course includes several important axes, and undoubtedly after completing it, you can guarantee that your company will progress and achieve the most profitable returns with the lowest problems.