The facility manager is in charge of assuring that all things are properly set. They are responsible for meeting the needs of people working with them. Some of the works are building maintenance and services, checking equipment and stocks, cleaning services, parking, and security. The facility manager has a lot of things to take care and this role requires knowledge and competencies in several areas. According to Technopedia website, facility manager must have excellent skills in the following: business, project management, finance, technology, and communication.
For instance, a facility manager takes care of the budget for the maintenance of the building. They need to use financial management software to organize and track the organization’s financial activities in an easier way. In addition, project management software is another tool that needs to be learned by the facility manager. This system tracks projects on departmental and enterprise levels. Lastly, effective communication is also a big factor in appropriately managing the facilities. Network communication does the integration of collaborative and efficient communication across enterprises and organizations.
Another relevant qualification of a good facility manager is a degree holder of facilities management courses or equivalent. Engineering, management, and business courses are also related and relevant degrees for becoming a facility manager. There are some other companies that develop in-house training and other facility management certifications to establish a better qualification. The role of a property manager is difficult because you are not just managing the building maintenance, but you are also handling people. As a property manager, you should establish a good relationship towards your staff and other involved parties like suppliers, subcontractors, and contractors.
The duty of managing the office system including IT and office equipment is also a part of the facility manager’s role. They are also responsible for keeping the legal standards and safety requirements of the building. Thus, refurbishment, upgrades, and other overhaul activities within the building is also under the role of the facility manager. Often times, owners of the buildings are hiring facility manager from third party companies. They are usually called as facility manager but they vary depending on the nature of the business. Other titles are business services manager, contracts manager, or support service manager.
Traits of the Best Facilities Management Software
There are several advantages when you use facilities management software for your business. It does not only increase the production of your business, but it also helps every facility manager to focus on other things. As mentioned earlier, the duties of a facility manager are numerous and it is a difficult role to handle. The problem of most facility managers is they are using different kinds of systems to manage every area of the business. Communication, finance, technology, and business project management are some of the areas that require much attention of a facility manager. Normally, each area has a corresponding system to use and managing all the systems simultaneously can be confusing.
The good thing about facilities management software is it sums up all the areas that a facility manager is working with. You do not have to use different systems to accomplish every task but you can start focusing on other things like connecting to your staff in a much deeper way. There are countless systems for facilities management but to filter the best system, one should know the traits. Here are the top ten traits of becoming the best facilities management software:
- Ability to Generate and Assess Work Requests
This feature allows the facility manager to generate work request with complete details and notify other staff and personnel on what type of service is in need. The work request should be concise, clear, and complete so that the recipient will have a comprehensive gauge of what needs to be fixed.
- High Importance for the Work Requests
Another feature that you need to look for is the ability to put “priority” on important work requests. This feature helps every manager to determine work orders with high importance or orders that need to be done immediately. This will give the recipients such as contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers to take this request or order in high importance.
- Work Orders Are Track
This feature allows you to track the history of every work order for future reference. The main goal of tracking work orders is to determine the trend of orders monthly, quarterly, or yearly. This will help you to evaluate the areas that require much attention and focus. It will make the job of every facility manager to become efficient and effective.
- History of the Data
The data of your equipment including the history of issues, errors, and problems need to be tracked. It is necessary to track those events of the equipment so you can prevent experiencing redundant issues. Hence, it helps to minimize repair cost of equipment that is getting the same issues or defects. The next time it happens, you can just check the history of the equipment’s data and generate a conclusion on how you can prevent facing redundant issues.
- Track Contractors and Subcontractors
It is a useful feature to track different vendors that you are dealing with. You can easily identify which are in-house, volunteers, or external companies. The manager can categorize the name, role, contact details, type or nature of business, and relevant function of every supplier, subcontractor, contractor, and vendor. The system also allows sending automated work orders which save time and money. It also lessens human error in every transaction as it is generated and processed by the system.
- Process E-mail Notification
The automated notification process must not be missing in any facilities management system because its role is to notify the manager of the service request. Additionally, it also notifies the manager about the estimated time of arrival of the product sent by the vendor. The system is also capable of notifying if the work is complete and if it will exceed the expected amount of the project. This feature saves a lot of time on both ends.
- Work Orders Assignment to Equipment and Tracking of Asset
The assigning of the work order to your equipment and tracking those equipment orders must no longer be a problem. A good facility management system must have the feature of tracking and assigning work orders to a different type of equipment. When you have a record or catalog of equipment, it will be easier to assign work orders to that equipment. Do not buy the system without this feature.
- Tracking of Consumable Inventory
As an effective facility manager, it is important to be proactive by identifying consumable things that require scheduled orders. Some examples of consumable inventory are tissues and light bulbs. There must be a stock of tissues and light bulbs to keep your tenants from becoming annoyed. The manager should also know how many light bulbs and tissues should be reserved.
- Preventive and Schedule Tracking of Maintenance
This is one of the critical components that a good facilities management software should have. It is important to track the date of scheduled maintenance of the building. The facility manager is also responsible for maintaining the building at its best and complies with all safety standards. The facility manager needs to take care of all legal processes of the building and those important schedules will not be missed through the help of facility management software.
- Web-based Applications
The increasing demands of accessing work files if even you are not in the office or you are not using your work computer have paved way for this feature. The applications enable every facility manager to access the system on their mobile devices, tablets and personal laptops. This feature helps you to address urgent matters and access important files without the burden of rushing back to your office.
Tips for Choosing Effective Facilities Management Software
There are many things you need to consider and steps to take in getting the best facilities management software. The first critical step is to identify your needs in getting facility management software. Next is to check if there are free trials because it will help you gauge the system. This will also give you an idea if it’s worth pursuing and implement the system into your business.
The third tip is to check the reviews of different facilities management systems using google and other search engines. This will help you to have a better idea of what product will fit your business. Now that you have a background about the different companies who offer facilities management software, the next step is to check their websites. Try to contact their customer service and check if they are easy to reach during down times.
Lastly is to compare best facilities management software reviews. By comparing different reviews, you can narrow down your choices and you can come up with a firm decision. This process will generate the best facility management software for your business. All these procedures and steps require a lot of time to accomplish, but do not worry, CrowdReviews has done it all for you. Read the reviews of best facilities management software at CrowdReviews.com and pick the right system for your organization.
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