What is integrated facility management?

Facility management (FM) encompasses a range of disciplines and services to ensure the functionality, comfort, safety and efficiency of a building environment. It includes operations, maintenance and leverages communications management focused on the efficient and effective delivery of FM and support services for organizations. Chances are, if your company operates within a facility, you have some sort of facility management program. For many companies, FM responsibilities fall on one or a few individuals within the organization, such as an operations manager or operations team. For companies with multi-market portfolios, these tasks usually fall on someone at each location to handle maintenance issues as they arise. These facility maintenance tasks are typically in addition to their full-time role and are almost always reactive instead of being proactive and preventative.

For others, FM tasks are part of an integrated facility management program with strategic oversight by a dedicated facilities team. For these organizations, integrated facility management (IFM) programs create effective and efficient solutions for organizations by consolidating all of a company’s FM tasks and efforts under one strategically united team. These companies reap the benefits of an IFM program by saving money, saving time and enabling their people to focus on their core business.

If you’re considering IFM for the first time, taking the leap can be daunting. While ultimately the choice is a decision process that will take careful consideration of the options, at Colliers Facility Solutions, we believe the first step is understanding the benefits that an integrated facility management program can provide. While the benefits of implementing an IFM program are endless, we have highlighted three of the top advantages in this article.

1. IFM saves your organization money

Consolidating your facility management efforts into one integrated facility management program can save you money. By streamlining facility operations and leveraging economies of scale, IFM can significantly lower your overall facility management costs. An integrated facility management program can provide significant benefits from strategic sourcing and buying power to deliver substantial savings to your bottom line. Effective organizations develop and maintain sourcing strategies by bundling vendor services and contracts and leveraging technology to create operational efficiencies and  enhanced financial planning.

An effective IFM solution can create value for your organization through operational audits and conditions assessments that identify cost-savings opportunities throughout your facility management processes. Lastly, suppose your IFM program is outsourced. In that case, your company can leverage the size and purchasing power of your IFM provider’s more extensive portfolio which typically results in discounts and pre-negotiated rates to save you money.

2. IFM is a simpler, more comprehensive approach

It may seem obvious, but consolidating your facility management efforts into an integrated solution provides a simpler, more comprehensive approach to your FM program. By combining all of your facility service providers, processes and systems into one integrated solution with a singular point of contact, you can streamline the decision-making process, ensure quality assurance throughout the operation and clearly define accountability. The comprehensive approach of an IFM program also enables organizations to leverage the benefits of communication and collaboration within an integrated team, including improved flexibility for your organization, better employee engagement and alignment with stakeholders, increased productivity and an influx of innovative ideas and solutions.

3. IFM helps you dedicate more resources to your core business

Whether you chose to outsource IFM services or consolidate them to a dedicated team of in-house facility management experts, you’re able to direct more of your company resources to what really matters. It removes the burden of facility management efforts on company leaders and instead allows them to focus on your business’s core purpose. An experienced IFM team can ensure better adherence to regulatory standards, enhance collaboration and communication and ultimately deliver a better employee experience in the workplace.

Conclusion

It can be challenging for organizations to take the leap and establish a strategic, integrated facility management program. It is a significant decision for an organization to take the step into IFM, and it requires substantial research and due diligence to identify the right solution. At Colliers Facility Solutions, we hope that we can help start the conversation by highlighting these top three benefits of adopting an integrated facility management program. We encourage you to ask questions to learn more about whether IFM is right for your organization.