Facility managers are critical to maintaining a company’s brand image. They oversee maintenance, ensure the facility is in tip-top shape, leverage technology to lower costs, build in-house talent, and ensure success. Having the right facility manager is key to a lasting return on investment. Best-in-class facility maintenance lies in these seven habits of highly successful facility managers.

1. Excels at Time Management

A facility manager’s to-do list includes tasks ranging from urgent needs to strategic deliverables. To effectively manage such a workload, a highly successful facility manager sees time as an invaluable asset and has mastered time management.

2. Communicates Effectively

Facility managers often act as the liaison between facilities, employees, and third-party service providers. Departments need accurate information to schedule, plan, and carry out daily tasks effectively. Facility managers often serve as a communication hub—vendors rely on their instruction, customers rely on their listening skills, and their subordinates rely on their direction. Often, communication breakdowns result in insufficient instruction, incorrect detail, and lack of clarity in direction. Successful facility managers comfortably exhibit effective communication to prevent breakdowns.

3. Adds Strategic Value

Highly successful facility managers do not regard strategic business operations and facility maintenance as two distinct concepts. Rather, facility managers know how to link the key performance indicators of the business operations to the key performance indicators of facility maintenance. As a result, strategic value is achieved. While using analytics to measure facility maintenance objectives and activities has become commonplace, successful facility managers know how to define successful KPIs. These KPIs reflect the fundamental pain points within the company, and facility managers often use a checklist to review reports and metrics. Facility managers go out of their way to ensure everything is complete and immediately address their stakeholders’ feedback.

4. Practices Patience

Highly successful facility managers know that only some stakeholders will simultaneously be on the same page. Timelines and priorities can often conflict between vendors, customers, and technicians. Combined with #2 above, practice patience strengthens buy-in and alignment, delivering more efficient and cost-effective outcomes.

5. Constantly Defies The Status Quo

Businesses are prone to certain obstacles, such as constant change. Regulations may be altered, a new set of employees may suddenly be introduced into the system, and external pressures may impact workplace operations. An expert facility manager can adapt to these changes, be innovative and cost-effective, challenge the status quo when necessary, and ensure that the company's goals are met.

6. Embraces Automation

Highly successful facility managers also understand the value of automated systems in managing work orders, service calls, and follow-ups. These top-of-the-line individuals rely on the latest technologies – including mobile devices – to track and manage facility maintenance processes automatically.

7. Proactively Addresses Business Needs

Successful facility maintenance practices begin with a proactive approach to addressing business needs. Rather than waiting for things to break, proactive facility managers actively look for ways to improve operations. They spend their days planning and scheduling facility maintenance services and attending meetings with team members. Often, they have equipment inspected for additional work in need of completion while scheduled maintenance is being performed to address additional needs while already on site.

The journey from being an average facility manager to one who blazes the facility maintenance trail can seem challenging. These 7 habits are essential to creating a proactive work environment and can help build best-in-class facility maintenance processes for your company's teams.