Dan Hounsell: Stepping Through the Door to Opportunitytest

By Dan Hounsell, Editor

April 2014

Facilities change every day. Old equipment leaves, and new technology enters. Occupants change locations. Expansions open for business. Because these changes happen in plain sight, they are apparent to maintenance and engineering managers.

One change is occurring out of sight from most managers, at the tops of institutional and commercial organizations, where a new generation of executives is taking charge. Conversations with attendees at NFMT Baltimore last month revealed that in many cases, this generation of leaders is less familiar than their predecessors with facilities and their technology and operations. Instead, they are laser-focused on the bottom line.

While this transition might create even tougher challenges for managers already accustomed to close scrutiny of spending and budgets, looked at a different way, it also is creating opportunities. No one knows more than managers about the crucial role facilities play in successful organizations, and no one has a deeper knowledge of facilities, systems and operations. Top executives need this information.

The challenge for managers looking to make the most of this opportunity is twofold.

First, they need to access and harness the power of data that has become so essential in making business decisions. Second, they need to put on their marketing hats in order to change outdated perceptions about maintenance and engineering.

The goal is to reach executives who might be less willing than their predecessors to listen to requests for investments in facilities, and to help them understand that such investments are smart business.

Dan Hounsell offers observations about trends in maintenance and engineering management and the evolving role of managers in facilities.

Agree? Disagree? Have something to say? We want to hear from you. Visit myfacilitiesnet.com/danhounsell, and start a conversation.