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“…it’s not something that you necessarily gain from experimental knowledge, you need to go out and actually look at the processes and talk with people to gain the knowledge.” – Robert Blakey, (13:30)
“Typically, as far as operations and maintenance, we’re talking about expenses and operating costs and things that happen throughout the year in just an operational framework, but in order to properly maintain our facilities and to add to them and make them of strategic values, we have to invest in them over a period of time.” – Robert Blakey, (18:43)
“Content’s great…there’s really great content around capital planning, but to really bring that to life, I firmly believe in the instructor-led course approach…Instructors can not only teach you the content, but provide practical examples of how to put this in motion” – Randy Olson, (27:56)
On this episode of FM Evolution, host Shawn Black was joined by Randy Olson and Robert Blakey. Robert is the Director of FM College Inc., and with countless years in the facility management industry and numerous letters behind his name, Robert continues to provide pioneering work in the application of economic decision analysis for facility master-planning. Throughout the episode, Shawn, Randy, and Robert discussed taking the fear out of capital planning, why capital planning is such an important skill set, and why Robert started FM College.
Robert started FM College a few years ago because he felt there needed to be an improvement in the way that education is provided to people in the field of facilities management. In the past, people in the FM profession have been exposed to continued education through a series of brief online sessions. However, Robert had a desire to provide a curriculum that resembles more of a learning environment for an entire year where they are given content relatively quickly through traditional formats. Facilities management education is about applying knowledge gained from books and courses to real-world situations. Students and instructors interact through mentoring sessions as needed so that they have the opportunities to create the meaningful change in their career and life that they are looking for. FM College believes in providing an educational experience that creates a real difference in a person’s function as a facility manager.
“Contents great…there’s really great content around capital planning, but to really bring that to life, I firmly believe in the instructor-led course approach…Instructors can not only teach you the content, but provide practical examples of how to put this in motion” – Randy Olson, (27:56)
Robert’s simple definition of capital planning is the process of rationalizing the existing portfolio of property, as well as future additions and changes with the strategic needs of the organization. The whole point is to start with what you have and then understand what the strategic direction and goals are for the company, then figure out what is needed and how to meet those needs. A lot of what capital planning aims to do is plan for the maintenance and the upgrade of facilities over a long period of time because there are many things that need to be considered beyond a year-long interval. You have to not only plan for what is being spent in the next year, but what is going to be invested in the 3-5 years after that, and what it looks like for facilities over their youthful life of thirty to fifty years. So, capital planning brings all that information into a framework where a business can review it and adapt accordingly to fulfill the needs of their organization or to support their customers.
“Typically, as far as operations and maintenance, we’re talking about expenses and operating costs and things that happen throughout the year in just an operational framework, but in order to properly maintain our facilities and to add to them and make them of strategic values, we have to invest in them over a period of time.” – Robert Blakey, (18:43)
On this episode of FM Evolution, host Shawn Black was joined by Randy Olson and Robert Blakey. Robert is the Director of FM College Inc., and with countless years in the facility management industry and numerous letters behind his name, Robert continues to provide pioneering work in the application of economic decision analysis for facility master-planning. Throughout the episode, Shawn, Randy, and Robert discussed taking the fear out of capital planning, why capital planning is such an important skill set, and why Robert started FM College.
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