Top 10 Facility Management Trends from 2020 to 2022
The development of a facility comes with clear signs that innovation and adaptation to Facility Management trend is a priority going forward. Facility management as a profession ensures the functionality, comfort, safety and efficiency of the built environment by integrating people, place, process and technology.
The 2019 global pandemic changed the narrative as to how business can be done and the techniques needed to make facility management experience unique. Facilities have had a hard time adjusting to some of the new practices and workplace trend, however, forging ahead through the challenges has made Facility Management trends to excel in helping the interests of all age groups and creating healthy working habits in the built environment.
Below are the latest trends in Facility Management
This concept is focused on office workers, freelancers, public and private sectors, and some career fields, creating flexibility in working hours and a moderation of the daily scurry to the office and rush hour stress. To easily adapt, Facility management professionals work to ensure that employees have access to some days in the week where they have to carry out essential works in the office and the other days where, they can simply work from home with their laptops and phones. Adopting a friendlier approach in the belief system of professional facility operations like creating virtual meeting/conference rooms, virtual offices and installing equipments in the Facilities to help users adapt to the new normal. Convenience and safety measures are the major factors for the work from home phenomenon. Meetings, seminars and conference discussions can be held via video calls on social media platforms or using tech tools like Zoom, Skype and Google meet.
In today’s workplace, companies have updates and new features that enable easy going and stress free works for employees. This is the use of office space with connection to a broadband of technological advancements to help make the energy flow at optimum. Fire hazard protection, convenient parking space, lighting system, artificial intelligence with the use of robotics; virtual reality like virtual assistants, metaverse are part of smart technological building. This is being utilized to create an enabling workplace for productive work. It’s one of the prerequisites for balance and standard management in a building. These cutting-edge nuggets help speed up high performance and expand intelligence quotient of employees.
BIM help to plan the future of a building through providing information for the architectural design, modeling, and structural composition of the building. This helps for future addition, maintenance and repair of a specific part in a building. This is highly recommended for storey buildings and public sector Facilities. Building Information Modeling System (BIMS) gives a blueprint of the hardware make up of a building and how best to sustain it.
A user experience accelerates and boost the confidence employees have in working in an eco-friendly building. The environment is serene and provided with latest technologies and to ensure lasting experience for the users of a Facility, adequate attention is paid to comfortable services like adjustable desks, up to date performance checks with employee experience apps, user experience apps to ensure the best treatment when doing business and providing services. Companies now have more tea breaks during work hours for employees, lunch meals, simple recruitment process and application, employee’s benefits and allowances, and also health insurance to cover staffs well-being.
Facility Managers uses Data Analysis when strategic decisions need to be taken more meticulously. It helps to effectively describe the level of critical information that can be used in real time to evaluate the performance of a building. About 60% of facility management in real estate and survey plans will require data analytics for accuracy. One can tour a facility using Virtual Reality headset through this. Also, important tasks, audience conversion, references, schedules, finance and budgeting could be tracked.
There are always concerns to the privacy and security of classified information both physically in the office and on the digital space. Professional institutions have suffered from various degrees of hacking and cyber security bridges. It is a zone where user’s information has to be protected heavily with iris scans, strong fire walls, facial recognition, updated encoding and visual capture through high-tech camera monitors. Office space should have secured VPN and encrypted end-to-end data sharing. This reduces risk management and also, future-proofs the company.
The increased need for companies to have a presence in the digital space that is easy to locate has been trending. This is a focal point to getting over 3 Billion internet users on the digital cloud to be aware of the facility site and the work done. Companies like Johnson & Johnson, KFC, Tesla, Manchester United Football Club amongst others have a strong presence offline and also in the digital space. The metaverse will provide a virtual space for companies to facilitate business in the 21st century, where they meet and exercise cooperation and exchange of services. Users can now share vital information, files, and document management systems, local data back up through secured server services apart from the comprehensive physical back up.
This is helping to connect people to their workplace and adapt to the shifting trends towards a green public environ. It shows great transition from the ethical transactional activities between the company and employees and the company and clients to being concerned about the working conditions of both employees and clients. Safe environment with quality spacing, Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) services, natural and artificial lighting, green vicinity, clinic bays and wellness rooms are useful tools to keep employees highly motivated and energized. This addresses the issues of mental health and work related stress. Appreciating the level of benefits and employee’s programs like brainstorming, mentorship, coaching is a new drive to inspire team work in a hospitable environ
Facilities are branding the type of dress codes, logo designs and trademark services they will love to be known for, permanently leaving a first impression. Top companies like Apple inc, Macdonald’s, Samsung, fashion giants like D’or, Adidas use this effective tool to distinctively station their mark on the global stage. Branding involves a lot of funds, from billboard advertising, TV airing rights, to celebrities using these brands, has seen over 5 Billion dollars spent on endorsements and outreach. More than ever, companies and facility managements want to stay visible and competitively active to drive popular demands from customers and lucrative cash flow. This is a powerful trend that any facility looking to stage a spectacle and eat from the digital and offline cake would have to invest huge sums of money and brilliance to come out successful.
The decor of a building is a forefront showcase of comfort. Facilities appeal to the sensational level of personalized experience for clients and visitors when they consider interior decoration as a necessary tool to increasing productivity. It sets the tone and mood the employees and prospects would love to associate with, with energy and in high spirits. Mind blowing architectural designs with interior designs spark creativity and in a nutshell brings to life an elite eloquence that has large working space, color, dynamic lines, texture, pattern settings that is simple yet highly valued. Matching tools, modernized furnitures and desk, lighting combination, ceilongs, floor plan and aluminum glass systems are stands out in interior decoration. The physical outlook captures the mind to thinking this is definitely the right place to be, work and do business.