Today’s businesses quickly discover that they must be more agile and cost-effective to remain competitive and profitable in this digital age. To achieve this, companies of all sizes constantly assess their operational effectiveness to identify cost savings opportunities.
One area for potential cost savings is the management of real estate properties, property maintenance, and facility services. In general, Facility Management (FM) refers to the coordination, operation, and maintenance of a company’s physical space.
It includes many activities such as designing and retrofitting office spaces; hiring contractors or vendors, budgeting; procuring equipment; monitoring energy consumption; coordinating cleaning services; and hiring contractors when necessary.
Why is Facilities Management important?
First and foremost, facilities management is vital because it is responsible for tenants’ and employees’ health and safety. In addition, poorly managed real estate can be a hazard for employees, so it is important to ensure your space is maintained properly.
Poor air quality, insufficient temperature control, unsatisfactory noise levels, inadequate lighting, and poorly maintained fire safety systems are all hazards that could be present in your space - if facilities management is not controlled properly.
Poorly managed property facilities can also directly impact employee productivity. For example, if there is insufficient temperature control, some employees may be distracted in their work and need to take breaks more often. Likewise, with poor lighting, some workers may need help concentrating and performing at a sub-optimal level.
Poor air quality can also trigger allergies and create a workplace health hazard. Poorly managed property facilities can also result in financial losses due to poor employee productivity. If productivity is reduced, employees may not be able to meet deadlines which could result in additional costs for the business.
How can facility management help your business?
Facilities management is responsible for efficiently utilising space and can increase your business’s flexibility and productivity.
Today’s businesses operate in a state of constant change, driven by rapid advancements in technology. As technology continues to evolve, how we work will also change. Businesses must respond to these changes promptly, so they can pivot and adapt to new ways of doing things.
Key benefits of outsourcing your FM services
As an organisation, you have many strategic priorities. However, whether you are a CEO, CFO, COO, or any other company executive, you have limited time to oversee all aspects of the organisation.
However, it would help if you considered outsourcing your facilities management services. Many businesses outsource FM because it is a core operational function that must be performed well.
Facilities management software (FMS) makes it easier for organisations to manage real estate assets and operations. It streamlines your operational processes, helps you save time and reduce costs, and can improve collaboration between team members.
FMS can boost the efficiency of your property management team and streamline your operational processes. These practical applications not only make things easier for your team members, but they also make sure that everything gets done on time and within budget.
What is Facilities Management Software?
Facilities management software (FMS) helps you manage your real estate assets and operations. It can be used by any organisation that is involved in real estate management, including property management companies, hotels, universities, hospitals, and large retail chains.
FMS software can help you optimise building performance, reduce costs, and improve tenant satisfaction. Some of the core modules of Facilities Management Software include property management, space management, booking management, service management, maintenance management, and guest experience.
FMS software is an automated system that helps you organise your business processes and manage different aspects of your business. This type of software can be used for a wide range of purposes.
· Active Facilities Management and Contractor Compliance.
· Work orders and quotes can be created quickly and easily using intuitive forms
· Work orders can be automatically emailed to contractors for them to view and progress online
· Different levels of authorisation can be set before sending the work order to the subcontractor or supplier
Streamline your operational processes
With the aid of FMS software, you can organise your business processes and manage different aspects of your business. It can also help reduce the risk of human error and keep your team members on track with their responsibilities.
The best facilities management software enables you to structure your team’s workload, track their progress, and communicate with one another.
Using fit-for-purpose Commercial Facilities Management Software, you can assign work orders to team members, set due dates, and create checklists. Using FMS software, you can also create a schedule that optimises the use of your resources and manages the time it takes to complete tasks.
Helping you stay on track with your operational goals and meet your Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
How Cirrus8 Facilities Management Software Works
· Work Orders can be created quickly and easily using intuitive forms. It is a simple 3-step process.
Orders are then automatically emailed to the contractors for them to reply online.
· Contractors/ suppliers - Your approved list of contractors is assigned to only their categories of work, simplifying it further for system users. The “urgency priorities setting “ensures contractors respond to the most urgent requests
· Click Approved- Different authorisation levels for the work order can be set if a senior manager sign-off is required.
· All using an easy to read Dashboard that gives you complete control of all of the quotes and work orders currently in play
Why implement Facilities Management Software?
Facilities management software creates greater control and will boost the efficiency of your property management team and streamline your operational processes.
With the help of FMS software, you can track progress, view inventory items, and raise alerts if something is missing. You can also automate recurring tasks, schedule work orders, and manage reservations.
On top of that, with FMS software, you can improve collaboration, collect useful data, and generate informative reports.
These combine to help you identify trends, track metrics, and make better decisions.
How to find the right FMS software for your organisation?
When selecting the right FMS software for your organisation, you must first identify your business’s goals. What is it that you want to achieve with this software?
Once you have identified what you need, here are a few features you should consider when searching for the right FMS software for your organisation.
· Detects the correct sub-contractor or supplier.
· Notifies you if there is a possible duplicate entry
· Detects the correct property
· Detects the correct account code
· Detects the correct amount
· Detects the correct GST
· Handles multiple payment options, e.g., Council Rates
· Stores the soft copy of the invoice with the transaction
· Attaches to tenant invoices, if required
· Attaches to Landlord statements if required
· Generates a tenant invoice for on-charges
The Bottom line
Facilities management is a very important component in managing commercial real estate assets. If you are running a commercial property management business, you must ensure that you have a team of experts with the right tools at their disposal - or you will risk overspending and under-delivering.
