Freely translated from an article published on IFMA Italia website.
Original content at:
All credits related to the content go to IFMA Italia.
(English Version)
This is a personal translation of the article published by the webpage of IFMA Italia
http://www.ifma.it/index.php, all credits go to the author.
EN 15221- 4:2011: “Person responsible for the facility management organization who is the single point of contact for the client on strategic level; leads the FM organization, ensure quality and continuous improvement and conducts strategic projects and tasks. (if he is member of the board of the organization, the facility manager is also called Chief Facility management Officer – CFMO – or Chief Facility Executive – CFE)”.
Facility Management requires the integration of a series of activities and a management structure that, in addition to economic-financial skills, must possess specific engineering, architectural, organizational and relational knowledge. This management structure is called Facility Department, headed by the Facility Manager.
The Facility Manager’s responsibility is very broad and includes the strategic, analysis and control and managerial-operational area relating to the instrumental real estate assets, technical services, accessories, general, etc.. The first two areas are to be considered strategic for the company and constitute the predominant activity of the Facility Manager, to which he dedicates, or should dedicate, most of his time and energy.
This professional figure is characterized by a high level of managerial skills; the Facility Manager needs to know in depth the company’s strategies in order to design services and work spaces useful to facilitate change and contribute to the achievement of company objectives.
Going into more detail, the Facility Manager carries out different but at the same time integrated tasks during his working day:
- Relational and decision-making activities, which are carried out concretely through meetings with Top Management and/or Managers of the various Business Units, with the aim of defining strategies and policies for facility management and identifying service needs;
- Economic and financial management, i.e. expense forecasts, budget drafting, benchmarking, analysis of budget and balance sheet deviations, definition of cost allocation methods, etc.
- Control or analysis of management results (through reports provided by service providers), inspection visits to monitor the quality of services, meetings with suppliers, etc..
He is also responsible for the design of services (drawing up operational procedures, defining maintenance strategies and plans, etc.) and operational management (receiving requests from the Internal Client, contact with suppliers, etc.). These activities are carried out directly by the Facility Department structure (which may be internal, external or mixed).
The Facility Manager must also have the skills of a Project Manager as he or she plays this role when organisational change projects are underway involving the creation of new workspaces, the relocation of the company headquarters, new constructions and/or renovations, interior design and planning, etc.
Ultimately, the Facility Manager must not only know how to handle numbers and budgets, and manage resources, but also be able to interpret the company’s strategies, grasp current and future needs and use the best tools and the most suitable control methodology. It must also know how to use the most suitable tools to influence the company’s choices and to convey change; it must therefore be able to intervene in the context of business development with a considerable capacity for involvement and integration of people, resources and structures.
(All credit for contents to IFMA Italia).
farfrombeingjustfm.com 