Search Results for: management

Seven thoughts on the UK facilities management association merger

by • Comment, Facilities management

New broomWith breathless excitement a press release announces the proposed merger of all of the UK’s major facilities management and support services trade associations, or rather notes that they: “have agreed to the concept of forming one single and united body to represent facilities management and support services.” With a sense of crushing inevitability the first step has been to form a steering group to address how these and other organisations could come together into this single body to meet the needs of the industry and the professionals that work within it. With this in mind, I proffer a few pieces of advice in the form of seven thoughts for those involved in these discussions.

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UK facilities management trade associations announce plans to merge

by • Facilities management, News

gordian_knotWe’ll react to this later but here is the press release announcing the proposed merger of all of the UK’s major facilities management and support services trade associations: “The British Institute of Facilities Management, Asset Skills, the Facilities Management Association and the Cleaning and Support Services Association have agreed to the concept of forming one single and united body to represent facilities management and support services. As the facilities management and support services profession and industry have matured and evolved, so too must the bodies representing and leading them. This proposed merger recognises the growing demand for a stronger, unified and collective voice that represents and promotes what is a fundamental component of our economy and day to day businesses.

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What Søren Kierkegaard can teach us about workplace design and management

by • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

KierkegaardSøren Kierkegaard was a Nineteenth Century Danish philosopher and proto-existentialist. Not for him the hazy, romantic ideals of many of his contemporaries. He was one of the thinkers who gave birth to the Twentieth Century with its focus on the individual, reality and life in a sometimes uncaring world, although he was no atheist like many of the true existentialists. If he’s generally well known for anything these days it is for a single quotation that reads like a greeting card aphorism but is no less true for that. He said: ‘Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.’ Looking back can give you a real handle on the present. I moved offices recently and as these things happen, a number of books that I routinely ignore fell open while I was looking for some displacement activity.

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Is facilities management evolving into workplace management?

by • Comment, Facilities management, Technology, Workplace

EvolutionNot so long ago, there used to be a lot of talk about the overlap between facilities management and professions such as HR and IT, much of it to do with the endless search for the true meaning of the nascent FM profession. Now there is open talk of convergence of these three and other disciplines as we adapt to the changing world of work. The nature and implications of this new order for those professions, and the role of facilities managers in particular, is the subject of a new book called Moving On: Facilities Management to Workplace Management by Graham Jervis.

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Rigid attachment to best practice “killing” talent management

by • Knowledge, News, Workplace

KPMG talent management white paper

A rigid attachment to ‘best practice’, rather than a focus on business needs, is preventing many organisations from unearthing and nurturing staff to drive their business forward and the danger of such an inflexible approach is killing organisations’ ability to properly manage talent. According to Anna Marie Detert, KPMG’s UK Lead for Talent – a tendency to copy or adopt the latest fad or fancy must be challenged if employers are to understand the talent they truly need to succeed, and plan effectively to find and keep it.  (more…)

Survey: Work and poor management biggest cause of stress

by • News, Workplace

Stress-300x193Work is the most stressful factor in people’s lives with one in three people (34 per cent) saying their work life was either very or quite stressful – and the top cause (32 per cent) is frustration with poor management. Research commissioned by Mind found work more stressful than debt or financial problems (30 per cent) or health (17 per cent).  However, employees don’t believe that managers are actively tackling causes of stress in the workplace, with only one in five people saying they felt their line manager took active steps to help staff manage stress (22%) or mental health conditions (19%).

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Time to mothball facilities management’s stuffed shirts

by • Comment, Facilities management

Stuffed ShirtMuch hand-wringing and angst in the world of Facilities/Workplace Management at the moment. The usual existential paranoia about relevancy and the need for a seat at the top table; the search for differentiation when pretty much the whole industry does the same things in the same way; hoping to standardise as much as possible under the guise of best practice and looking for ways that add value that won’t put a further pinch on already tight margins. As ever, new legislative and regulatory frameworks will keep the talking heads occupied and BIM (and other new tools) will continue to keep the cash tills ringing at software companies.

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Room for improvement in public sector workplace management

by • Architecture, Facilities management, News, Public Sector, Workplace design

Portcullis HouseLast week technology company Citrix announced that the UK Government could cut its property costs by a third by adopting flexible working policies. It used a Freedom of Information request to discover how much space each public sector employee in the UK is allocated and how much it costs then applied a formula to work out how this would be affected by greater adoption of flexible working. What was interesting was not just the up-front argument you would expect from an ICT provider but also the discovery that the average employee is allocated 1.1 workstations with some enjoying 1.6. (more…)

As hybrid working resets the office’s purpose, its small rituals carry more weight

As hybrid working resets the office’s purpose, its small rituals carry more weight

by • Company news

Hybrid working has changed the arrangement. Many employees can now complete focused work elsewhere, often without a commute or the interruptions of a busy workplace. A trip to the office therefore needs to offer something beyond access to a desk and a screen.The question of what the office is for has become harder to answer. For much of its history, the office had a clear practical role. It was where the people, information and equipment needed for work were located. Attendance was largely assumed, and the working week developed around that shared presence. Hybrid working has changed the arrangement. Many employees can now complete focused work elsewhere, often without a commute or the interruptions of a busy workplace. A trip to the office therefore needs to offer something beyond access to a desk and a screen. (more…)

The Crown Estate unveils two major West End office developments

The Crown Estate unveils two major West End office developments

by • News, Property

The Crown Estate has announced two major mixed-use developments in London's West End as part of what it describes as the largest programme of office developments in its history.The Crown Estate has announced two major mixed-use developments in London’s West End as part of what it describes as the largest programme of office developments in its history. The projects at 10 Piccadilly and 21–29 Glasshouse Street will deliver a combined 169,300 sq ft of office, retail and hospitality space, continuing the organisation’s programme of refurbishing and redeveloping heritage buildings across its central London estate. The schemes form part of The Crown Estate’s wider strategy for its 10 million sq ft London portfolio, which combines office development with retail, leisure and public realm improvements aimed at maintaining the West End’s appeal as a business and visitor destination. (more…)

Are we designing workplaces around evidence or assumption?

Are we designing workplaces around evidence or assumption?

by • Comment, Facilities management, Property, Workplace design

People no longer use workplaces in the same way every day, every week or every season, yet many of the decisions shaping the future of our workplaces still assume that they do.A sudden, intense summer heatwave does more than test a building’s cooling systems; it exposes just how difficult workplace management has become across Europe. During these spikes, employees rethink their commute, meeting rooms fill and empty at different times, quieter corners suddenly become more attractive places to work, and facilities teams work hard to keep buildings comfortable while managing rising energy demands. While these changes may only last a few days, they serve as a useful reminder that workplaces are far more dynamic than we often give them credit for. People no longer use offices in the same way every day, every week or every season, yet many of the decisions shaping the future of our workplaces still assume that they do. (more…)

The best building access control systems for offices

The best building access control systems for offices

by • Company news

As the use of office space has grown more complex and smart buildings have emerged, access control protocols need to adapt to meet new challengesA locked door is a foundational image in security. Though the methods of securing an entryway have changed over the millennia, from intricate slabs of intertwining wood to industrial steel padlocks and digital readers, the basic idea has remained largely the same, until now. As the use of office space has grown more complex and smart buildings have emerged, access control protocols need to adapt to meet new challenges. Hybrid work patterns cause daily fluctuations in occupancy, flexible work schedules mean employees enter and exit outside of the traditional 9-5 window and temporary personnel, be they part-time staff, contractors or cleaners, all now factor into how offices must manage their access control systems. (more…)

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