Facilities management goes beyond the tasks traditionally associated with building management.
Today’s facilities manager has to ensure the comfort, safety, and functionality of the buildings in which people work. The discipline integrates people, spaces, processes, and technologies with the structural environment. It’s a big job, and facilities managers must be organized and thorough. They must also keep meticulous records.
Automated workflows can help tremendously with many facilities management processes and tasks, as well as the recordkeeping that goes along with them. Here are seven examples where automated workflows overcome facility management challenges:
1. Maintenance Schedules
Automated workflows for scheduled facilities maintenance can be triggered automatically by dates on the calendar. They can also automatically send out alerts a few days in advance so that facilities staff will be prepared. Automated workflows for scheduled maintenance ensure that no maintenance task is forgotten, and the building will remain as safe and functional as possible.
2. Task Checklists
The people working for a facilities manager must ensure they complete their many and varied tasks completely and without mistakes. Workflows for task checklists can be sent to workers’ mobile devices, so that when they are carrying out a repair or maintenance task, they do it to specifications, without skipping any steps. As a result, fewer tasks have to be redone.
3. Tracking Supplies and Equipment
If a worker needs, for example, a hand truck for half the day, a simple online form can allow them to reserve it, and perhaps scan a barcode when they pick it up and when they return it. Facilities management requires knowing where tools and equipment are at all times, so they can be allocated quickly and effectively.
4. Managing Smart Building Technologies
“Smart” buildings are becoming more common, and though these buildings take care of many tasks (like turning lights off and on, and setting thermostats) automatically, the systems themselves require managing and maintenance. What’s more, the data from these systems can be used by facilities managers to do their job better. Automated workflows for collecting temperature or utility bill data, for example, can make data collection and reporting easier.
5. Emergency Preparedness
Every facility should have an emergency response plan for protecting employees, visitors, contractors, and others in the facility. Developing emergency procedures in advance, along with automated workflows to initiate when an emergency occurs, can ensure that even under stress, all necessary tasks are taken care of. When these workflows are mobile-friendly, it makes it even easier for facilities managers to act decisively in the event of an emergency.
6. Sustainability
More businesses are encouraging sustainable practices and environmentally responsible employee actions. A facilities manager could create an automated workflow that allows workers to, for example, collect recyclables from every collection point in the facility and deliver them to the loading dock on the days when recyclables are collected.
7. Recordkeeping
Automated workflows can be designed to keep records automatically. A completed maintenance task checklist could automatically create a date and time stamp and record the information so the manager can check at any time whether a task was completed. These records can show when planned maintenance tasks took place, who checked out equipment, and more.
Workflow software is the key to empowering facilities managers with the tools they need to ensure the many facility management processes and tasks involved are carried out completely and without errors. PerfectApps is flexible, powerful, scalable workflow software that requires no programming, so facilities managers and their team can have significant input into how the workflows are designed.
We encourage you to watch the PerfectApps demo video and see how automated workflows streamline tasks across all departments. And if you have any questions, we encourage you to contact us at any time.
