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The Importance of Space Management for FMs w/ Randy Olson & Manuel Medina

Quotes

“It may really end up changing the purpose of the office going forward. If you think about office space, or even a retail space or a restaurant space, that purpose is changing over time. It’s not just a place to necessarily show up and go to work. It may end up being a completely different experience going forward, and the facility manager is on the front end of that.” (13:20)

“There’s a lot of change wrapped around waiting for other authorities to release and let us do what we need to do and really kind of prep for that.” (29:16)

“Looking at ProFMI and our organization and how we work, there’s so much of this going on now – so much video. And that’s something we had done in the past, but not as much. So as we return to that hybrid environment, how do we then appropriately accommodate that? How do we plan for that? How do we make that available to everybody?” (34:49)

“We need to adapt our offices, our common areas, our cafeterias. We need to give them a lot of visibility, a lot of communication on how we manage everything. And I think that with that visibility and the way that we communicate, all our effort to help them [will make for a good return in 2021].” (38:19)

“We need to communicate with our employees and be able to communicate key things out to them to support what I think is most important – and something we’re going to see here going forward – is their wellbeing. So we’ve got to support their wellbeing no matter where they decide their workplace is going to be.” (42:43)

The Importance of Space Management for FMs

For a year now, we’ve been talking about adapting to the changes that the pandemic brought along. How do you better serve customers and clients when they aren’t allowed in restaurants and storefronts? How do you recover from everyone working remotely on a day’s notice? Where can you find toilet paper in March and April 2020?

Finally, it’s time to begin discussing how we prepare for the reintroduction to life that somewhat resembles pre-COVID times where people interact in person. One of the most critical topics that FMs have to consider with this is how we handle space. Will everyone want to continue working remotely? How comfortable are people in full-capacity buildings?

“It may really end up changing the purpose of the office going forward. If you think about office space, or even a retail space or a restaurant space, that purpose is changing over time. It’s not just a place to necessarily show up and go to work. It may end up being a completely different experience going forward, and the facility manager is on the front end of that.” (13:20)

As FMs, we must think about these questions and adapt our buildings and spaces accordingly. Randy Olson and Manuel Medina, two FM professionals, joined Shawn Black on a recent episode of the FM Evolution podcast to discuss this very topic.

While we have to prepare space for the reassimilation of ordinary life, we know that we’ll be working with short notice.

“There’s a lot of change wrapped around waiting for other authorities to release and let us do what we need to do and really kind of prep for that.” (29:16)

One key piece of reopening our cities will be ensuring that everyone has the space they need in public. We’ll need to adapt our spaces with open concepts that allow people to spread out as they please.

“We need to adapt our offices, our common areas, our cafeterias. We need to give them a lot of visibility, a lot of communication on how we manage everything. And I think that with that visibility and the way that we communicate, all our effort to help them [will make for a good return in 2021].” (38:19)

We’ll also need to address that many people will choose to work remotely or in hybrid systems. Is it our job to make sure they have quality, productive work environments at home? While we can’t visit every home and set everything up for them, we can listen to what they need and prepare them for success.

“Looking at ProFMI and our organization and how we work, there’s so much of this going on now – so much video. And that’s something we had done in the past, but not as much. So as we return to that hybrid environment, how do we then appropriately accommodate that? How do we plan for that? How do we make that available to everybody?” (34:49)

Another way we can support employees who work at home is by keeping up with their well-being.

“We need to communicate with our employees and be able to communicate key things out to them to support what I think is most important – and something we’re going to see here going forward – is their wellbeing. So we’ve got to support their wellbeing no matter where they decide their workplace is going to be.” (42:43)

In a time full of uncertainty, one thing is undeniable: We are heading into another year packed full of changes and transitions. It’s up to us as FMs to adapt and prepare our buildings, restaurants, storefronts, and offices. Are you up for the challenge?

Summary

For a year now, we’ve been talking about adapting to the changes that the pandemic brought along. How do you better serve customers and clients when they aren’t allowed in restaurants and storefronts? How do you recover from everyone working remotely on a day’s notice? Where can you find toilet paper in March and April 2020?

Finally, it’s time to begin discussing how we prepare for the reintroduction to life that somewhat resembles pre-COVID times where people interact in person. One of the most critical topics that FMs have to consider with this is how we handle space. Will everyone want to continue working remotely? How comfortable are people in full-capacity buildings?

Shownotes

  • (1:01) Intro
  • (3:32) Welcoming today’s guests
  • (10:14) What are you reading?
  • (12:47) The importance of space management
  • (15:35) The pandemic in Panama
  • (20:08) Adapting to constant change
  • (31:10) Preparing for reopening
  • (38:58) Are FMs responsible for creating quality remote workspaces?
  • (44:08) How can FMs prepare for unknowns?
  • (48:57) Wrap up

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