As a female facilities manager, I take great pride in being part of such an exciting and multifaceted industry. Women are shaping the facilities landscape by playing pivotal leadership and strategic roles. Their unique perspectives, as well as challenges, that they experience, and continue to overcome, strengthen teams and elevates the importance of facilities work across so many domains.
As women continue to enter and enhance the facilities management field, they bring a high level of integrated problem-solving approaches. Because facilities challenges do require a diversity of solutions, women in the field often do very well at connecting both the technical aspects of the job with the human factors, in turn, leading to more sustainable outcomes.
We see multiple examples of holistic approaches where both engineering aspects and stakeholder needs consistently produce exceptional results thanks to a facilities manager with a woman's perspective! The integrated approach is one that I use at all my locations and is so valuable as buildings are rapidly becoming more sophisticated and occupant expectations more nuanced.
Women in our field bring communications skills that interpret complex building issues into language that resonates with executives, occupants and technical teams alike. One lived experience during my career was a state-of-the-art executive conference room upgrade. As we began the demolition phase, we discovered a structural nightmare! There was a structural slab that compromised the floor's capacity load and was potentially vulnerable enough to cause structural damage and floor failure. I had to sit with the executive team and my contractor to manage the expectations and explain, very strategically, how we had to work on this immediately and extend the project as safety is always paramount. By speaking with them in a calm way, and a plan in place, I was able to turn a very confusing technical issue into effective communication allowing the project to proceed with minimal disruption and stakeholder satisfaction.
Professional women, many times, demonstrate a unique and particular strength in communicating technical concepts to non-technical audiences. This skill increases the chances of career advancement while simultaneously the strategic importance of facilities work.
Women are at the forefront of redefining leadership in our field. In my experience, the traditional command-and-control leadership model is now giving way to more collaborative styles. Women in facilities have proven that technical expertise in conjunction with relationship-building skills creates a powerful style of leadership. I can attest to this with my vendor relationships. I am able to work tactically with all the skilled trades respecting their expertise and experience while at the same time leveraging their expertise with my strategic organizational goals. During one of my most recent office decommissions, I was able to negotiate with my contractor during the close of the office to help me with an impromptu IT issue where my IT department was not available for and because I always ensured that my vendor invoices are paid on time and provided them with consistent work they handled the work for me at no additional charge.
The most effective leaders today demonstrate a balanced approach -maintaining technical credibility while cultivating strong long-lasting relationships with stakeholder and team members alike.
One of my missions, in my field, is to continuously advocate and ensure that the facilities industry be seen as a strategic asset not solely operational and I strongly believe women in our field are leading this charge.
Whether you are a woman in facilities management, a team leader, or an industry ally, consider applying these insights to your own professional facilities journey. Transform facilities by pursuing opportunities like professional certifications, mentor relationships and continuous learning that will help contribute your unique value to our evolving field.
Women are consistently transforming the field of facilities with their unique talents, strengths, leadership and strategic styles and I am very proud of also being part of that transformation, one step at time, while offering tools, advice and opportunities to those upcoming leaders. It takes all of us to take that next step forward to lead and elevate and women are creating the path.
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. Committed to work-life balance, Maria recharges by training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with her son—finding that the discipline and focus required on the mat enhances her leadership approach in facilities management.
