4 Tips for Developing Facilities Management KPIs
Businesses' quest for the next decade will be to find quantitative, measurable performance-proof points. Facilities Management (FM) is no exception. In many ways, FM companies are under increased pressure to prove value demonstrably via solid performance metrics. In a densely populated market, selecting an FM company that rigorously measures the right Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) becomes a competitive advantage for firms looking to streamline operations while maintaining corporate values, quality standards, and operational efficiency.
Selecting the right Facilities Management KPIs for your company is simple if you follow these four tips:
1) Align KPIs to your company's strategic goals
All metrics are measurements, but to qualify as a KPI, the metric must be a targeted measure that maps to your company's strategic goals, critical success factors, and client expectations. KPIs that map in this one-to-one way help firms optimize FM operations, considering them a part of strategy rather than just tactical events.
2) Always remember that your KPIs Must Facilitate Decisions
KPI reporting can be a challenge since, by nature, KPIs are living units of measure that change on a day-to-day basis. Typical reporting is a monthly snapshot of where a company is or what it's achieved. This static reporting robs your KPIs of their decisive power. It's critical for monthly KPI reports to be supplemented with daily and weekly reporting to facilitate better-informed decisions and rapid re-adjustment if performance is lacking. For this to be effective, there must be a commitment from the ground up to:
All reports are actionable.
Issues will be followed up on, escalated, and resolved promptly.
Everyone is accountable to defined performance standards.
Client expectations will be shared and understood by all.
3) Make sure your partners are fully aligned with your KPIs
At Lakeside Project Solutions, we understand that the KPIs we measure internally are only sometimes crucial to our clients. That's why we work collaboratively early in the client engagement process to establish meaningful KPIs that represent the client's strategic goals. We also work to establish a reporting cycle that is meaningful to them and meets the project objectives and timelines.
Collaboration is critical when you're working with an FM company. You set the tone with the KPIs that matter to you—but to make it work, your partners must be fully committed. Select a Facilities Management partner who will understand your goals and work with you to ensure everyone is aligned. Ensure your FM company establishes a meaningful reporting cycle for you so that your project objectives and timelines become theirs.
4) Be Critical of your own KPIs
Tracking your KPI results should yield insights that lead to quality improvements, efficiencies in execution, cost savings, improved revenues, etc. If your reports have KPIs that do not generate insights, it's ok to re-evaluate that unit of measure. The FM company and client should establish check-in dates where KPIs are reviewed to see if they are the correct measures for specific projects, if they need to be calculated differently, or if they are cast aside altogether for a better measure.
Five Example Facilities Management KPIs
Reactive Response Time (Days)
Emergency Response Time (Hours)
Completion Time
Average Project Cost
Average Invoice Time
The concept of performance measuring comes naturally to Lakeside Project Solutions; we take our cue from the great service professionals we have on the job sites who always know to measure twice and cut once. KPIs provide insights into our daily operations, allowing us to see opportunities for improvement in internal and client-facing processes. With over 10 years of business experience and hundreds of combined experience among our affiliate FM service professionals, Lakeside Project Solutions has cultivated a proprietary list of winning KPIs that informs our strategic, operational, and tactical decision-making and drives our company growth.