As a facilities manager we are always learning and starting over. As the new year starts to take shape, we begin again to maintain, operate and strategize, but how does a seasoned facilities manager keep going? You just have to begin again.
After many years managing facilities, the one approach that keeps me effective is the beginner mindset. I’ve realized that engaging with this mindset and exploring it deeply and constantly isn’t just helpful; it's essential for staying relevant in our rapidly evolving industry.
Not only do I engage with the beginner mindset at the beginning of the year but as a strategy into new perspectives throughout the year. I remember for years personally approving work orders or working on them before it went to vendors. Why? Control? Maybe. However, when I finally let go and empowered the facilities supervisor to approve them, response times improved substantially. The lesson there was that the old way of thinking, “that’s how it’s always done” is actually holding our effectiveness back.
The beginning of the year is always that time of the year that feels like opportunities to begin the improvement process and seize the beginner mindset intentionally. I revisit every process, protocol and assumption with and without my team. At the start of the year I like to execute a 15 minute huddle. It starts with me asking the team in a lighting round mode:
A couple of weeks ago as we conducted our HVAC monthly maintenance routine my vendor recommended that based on last year's work order summaries and reports that perhaps instead of monthly routine inspection we could possibly move to quarterly or annually. Since this was coming from a new HVAC service manager, I thought they don’t have enough time working with our unit and maybe that’s not a good idea, however, my beginner mindset said, “wait, sometimes the newest person sees what the experienced person misses because they are not carrying the weight of assumptions.” I warmly replied that I would like to sit and discuss his recommendations and value his expertise and that opened a chat about helping us reduce our service contracts costs too.
Being willing to unlearn what you think you learned is perhaps the hardest trait. I've been in facilities management for many years. I've managed many emergencies. And yet, every time I step on the Jui-Jitsu mat as a blue belt, I'm reminded that expertise is just the platform from which you begin learning more deeply.
In facilities management, this means questioning your own assumptions regularly. Why do we schedule preventive maintenance this way? Could there be a better approach? What if the "best practice" we've followed for years isn't actually best for our facilities?
During our recent disability audit, the inclusive spaces consultant pointed out accessibility issues I'd walked past hundreds of times. My first instinct was defensiveness—I'm a certified facilities manager who does regular site walks! But the beginner mindset asks: what can I learn here that I don't already know? When I truly listened instead of defending, I discovered blind spots that have now made our spaces genuinely more accessible. Having the ability and willingness to humble yourself is essential in Jui-Jitsu and in Facilities.
Beginning again, for me, is a constant practice. A constant necessary reset that keeps the learning mode and ensures my team is too and that makes the rest of the year focused and mobilized to respond with the right approach. As I start this new year as a blue belt—on the mats and in my mindset—I'm reminded that beginning again isn't failure. It's renewal. So this January, I invite you to begin again with me. Question one assumption. Listen actively to a different perspective. Step back and watch your team lead. Let go of one outdated method.
Because the facilities managers who thrive aren't the ones who know everything. They're the ones who remain curious enough to keep learning. And that takes the courage of a beginner, every single day.
Maria Ruiz is a Facilities Operations Manager at UNICEF USA with 15+ years of cross-sector expertise. Overseeing multiple national offices, she applies Lean Six Sigma methodologies to create sustainable, efficient workspaces supporting humanitarian missions. Her writing champions women in facilities management by blending technical knowledge with practical insights that empower professionals in this traditionally male-dominated field.
