State of Facility Management Report

You have no time for nonsense. Equipment needs fixing. Assets need maintaining. Budgets need to be managed.

So when you are looking for facility management best practices and trends, you need a report that gets to the point and delivers insights you can actually use to make you and your team better.

That’s why we skipped the fluff and built a report that is actually, you know, helpful. Our first State of Facility Management report was built thanks to the over 550 facility management professionals who participated. Backed by real-world data, this report covers the current State of the FM Workforce, State of FM Technology, and State of Facilities.

Here are three big things we discovered in this year’s report. Looking to skip this preview and get right into the report? Download the full report here, you go getter. 

COVID-19 has taken a heavy toll on facility teams

It’s not just your waist band that has been feeling extra pressure due to COVID-19 (thanks quarantine). While many people have transitioned to working from home, facility teams have been on the front lines keeping facilities safe, healthy, and operational. Enhanced cleaning and disinfection practices, changing space layouts, and new maintenance schedules are just some of the ways facility teams have been contributing to reopening spaces and keeping communities safe.

These changes have come with a cost. Many respondents highlighted that their already strained budgets (see below) were further cut due to revenue loss and COVID-19 needs such as PPE. Even with diminished occupancy, operations and maintenance tasks still need to be completed on top of all the new responsibilities being placed on facility teams. As one respondent put it,”It seems to have fallen on all of us Facility Directors.”

On a personal level, many facility folks are feeling the stress of these increased demands. If you are managing a team, now more than ever you should  be paying attention to potential signs of staff burnout. Talk to your team about how they are feeling and make sure it is passed along to senior leadership. Open lines of communication help team members feel appreciated and heard, while allowing leadership to proactively respond to red flags before they become issues.

Your facility team has gone through a lot over the last year. Now is the time to repay the favor anyway you can.

Only half of FM teams have the budget they need to accomplish their goals

Doing more with less. It’s the battlefield cry for facility teams everywhere but one that often isn’t fully appreciated by non-facility folks.

If you have ever felt like you should start a GoFundMe to help pay for your facilities maintenance, you aren’t alone. Only about half of our respondents agreed that they have the budget they need to accomplish their goals and priorities.

This lack of budget tells us two things:

1. Facility Directors, Managers, and Technicians are real world MacGyvers
2. Facilities are woefully behind in terms of maintenance needs

In this situation facility teams are forced to prioritize the tasks that are absolutely essential and defer everything else. While there are healthy levels of deferred maintenance that organizations can carry, when facilities budget deficits are the norm, that list can become overwhelming, leading to unexpected breakdowns, potential safety hazards, and more costly maintenance. This puts further strain on the budgets, leading to more deferred maintenance, and so on and so on.

Proactive maintenance sounds great…but most teams are still very reactive

Look, everyone understands the benefits of preventive maintenance. Much like your car, regularly scheduled checkups, inspections, and maintenance can keep assets in better condition, reduce long-term costs, and extend the useful life of your assets.

What the data tells us is that knowing and doing are two very different things. Most teams find themselves in that “firefighting” mode, running from task to task without having a chance to breathe, let alone think about implementing more proactive maintenance strategies.

This data is extremely valuable, as it shows the gap between what industry experts talk about and what is actually happening in the real world. Best-in-class organizations may be moving to predictive maintenance, but you shouldn’t feel discouraged or way behind if you aren’t there yet. Most organizations are still trying to dig out of a reactive state and implement a successful preventive maintenance program across their buildings.

Download the 2021 State of Facility Management Report

Want even more data and insights into the state of facility management today? We’ve cut out the fluff to give you what you need to benchmark your teams performance and better plan your future needs. Download the full report (did we mention it’s free?) to get your copy today. And keep an eye out this fall for a chance to participate in next year’s report.

Got a question or a topic you want to be considered for next year’s report? Let me know!