Although every day in health facility management is extremely challenging, no two days that are the same. In my 43 years of managing facilities teams, and assuring each facility was up to the standards required to ensure safe and effective operations, I cannot remember any two days that were alike.
Whether a large academic medical center, a renowned cancer center, or one of the country’s largest and most complex children’s hospitals, the challenges were always frequent and dissimilar. What can remain the same is your approach to managing the onslaught.
The most important tools an effective facility manager must possess are a creative mind and flexible attitude, because every day Murphy will show up to take you away from your plan. Which is the second most important tool; a plan in the physical world that allows you to remain focused and committed to your purpose.
Management, as defined by The American College Dictionary, is the art and process of obtaining productivity from the efforts of the workforce. Obviously, the best managers can obtain the most value for the institution from their team. One behavior effective managers all share is the process of working from a documented plan that was developed to prioritize and support the missions of their institutions.
They also share the innate capacity to diverge from their plan as needed to address unplanned issues and then quickly return to their purpose and plan. There are many days where unplanned issues and emails may keep you in continuous firefighting mode, but this does not deter effective managers. They regain their foothold as early as possible, returning to their plan.
The standard source of truth for health facility managers is their Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS). Effectively managing their CMMS requires dedication and its own plan. In a perfect world, steady state management would dictate that the information in the CMMS is timely and accurate. Its data properly documents regulatory requirements, the operational and capital investments required to maintain steady state operations, and forecasting function to assure an established and realistic decline of net asset values within the portfolio.
In the real world, CMMS is used mainly to document regulatory requirements. Asset conditions, useful life determinants, and investment forecasts are generally managed outside of the CMMS. Primarily because the data technologies used in capital planning, design, and construction are dissimilar to the technology platform of the CMMS. Which means the CMMS is generally a one-way inward data stream and not readily informed by the myriads of capital projects undertaken, nor is it a source to inform the capital planning agenda. All to say, there is almost always a second source of truth used by effective facility managers and institutional executives to manage investment in their facility portfolios, the Capital Plan. This lack of single source of truth structure is the primary reason capital renewal and deferred maintenance are so often underfunded. That coupled with the lack of effective story telling that describes not only the need, but how the investments will impact the missions of the intuitions.
There are numerous responsibilities for effective facility management, but weight is generally heavily placed on regulatory compliance, which is dependent on most of the other responsibilities. Human capital management has only recently been given additional consideration for training and competency evaluation. Like every other competency in the institution, facility technicians require specific and frequent training to obtain the desired competency level to optimize operations.
As discussed, effective facility management requires flexibility, focus, talent, and special competencies. Skills that can ensure the data in the CMMS are salient, timely, and accurate. Talent to make necessary and efficient repairs, investments to update life cycles or replace backlogged equipment, and a plan to ensure all advance amid the firestorm of unplanned activities.
Like every other competency, the skills necessary to properly document in-situ condition of facility assets is critical to a successful plan. Utilizing professionals that perform portfolio condition assessments assures that the data obtained is consistent with the owner’s desired intent and supported by accurate and timely cost estimates. From my experience, Gordian Facility Condition Assessments are a best practice to obtain objective and accurate operational and investment planning utilizing Gordian’s RS Means Data l for regionally generated labor and material estimates.
This is an excellent plan to work from to address the challenges associated with health facility management. In future blogs we will discuss how to operationalize the plan with strategic cash flow solutions and effective story telling. And finally, how to achieve quick and effective project management for stewardship projects of capital renewal and deferred maintenance by utilizing Job Order Contracting. Till then, be your institution’s hero and get that Facility Condition Assessment plan documented in the physical world and begin managing your portfolio more effectively.
