When you mention the term “facilities manager,” most people think of a well-dressed individual with a clipboard, running around and micro-inspecting everything. In reality, it’s a lot of responsibility with several functions critical to any enterprise. Here’s a short introduction to why they’re essential to any business and how a facility management system may make or break your organisation.

What Is the Role of a Facility Manager?

A facility manager takes on a role similar to the caretaker of the established infrastructure. They are responsible for everything from making sure that the canteen’s filled up to the adequate supplies needed to run a specific location. Moreover, they must tend to the needs of the maintenance staff, ensuring that they show up on time and perform all required cleaning and repair jobs as needed.

It’s also why you’ll find them directly involved in any budget meeting held for your workplace. For instance, say that you have a warehouse that plans to expand. A facility manager may provide their inputs for optimal warehouse management practices and determine the pace of expansion so that the current operations retain a smooth functioning.

What Are Some of the Main Priorities of a Facility Manager?

Given their enormous responsibility, facility managers are under plenty of pressure to determine that all facility operations go unhindered. Still, there are a few priorities that they must focus on more than others. A few notable ones are detailed in the following section.

1. Assessing the Facility’s Needs

A facility manager must treat their assigned workplace with care. They form the last line of inspection for the supply chain, so it stands to reason that they should assess the needs of the facilities. Those include the monthly inventory restock, energy demands, physical and digital resources, staffing, and transportation.

That can prove challenging to manually analyse and print a report, especially at regular intervals. It’s why a facility management system integrated with all official assets can help take some of their load off.

2. Creating Strategic Plans

A facility manager is critical to the planning of upcoming operations, more so in the case of special events like investor meetings and recruitment drives. They can convey the visitor requirements and create models to prepare best for upcoming changes. They can also assign specific roles to existing employees or contractors to ensure that strategic modifications can be met without a hitch.

3. Managing Existing Space

The physical space of your facility becomes more critical as your organisation grows. Facility managers are crucial to make the most of it. They can deliver precise statistics for how specific areas are utilised for various purposes. Their job also includes managing the ingress/egress of visitors and employees to that space with utmost comfort and safety.

4. Incorporating New Technologies To Increase Efficiency

Whenever you desire to integrate emerging automation trends within your organisation, it’s best to run it through your facilities manager. They’re the ones most familiar with the impact of your current and planned setups. If you want to create a genuinely smart workplace, your vision must remain concurrent with the requirements your facility manager highlights.

An intelligent workplace doesn’t necessarily have the most advanced systems. Instead, it has a system that best suits your facility’s needs. You can’t install an integrated digital system if only a few employees know how to use it. A facility manager has to highlight those issues and save your capital from unrealistic investments.

Concluding Words

A way you can appreciate the roles of your facility managers is to give them the tools that make their jobs easier. One proven method to do that is to maintain a facility management system. It can streamline their daily inspections and allow a neutral platform to receive feedback from all personnel. Qbasis is committed to providing you such a solution that suits your budget. Connect with us for a free quote for visitor management and asset tracking solutions today.