Creating quality facilities using continuous improvement as tool

(Infrastructure Maintenance with Tunde Obileye)

To ensure focus on quality service delivery, continuous improvement should form part of the foundation of operational excellence.

As facilities managers, we set the tone for quality and customer service. No system can function excellently if quality goals are not set and tracked periodically. In so doing, we can either shift or remove them if they are not serving the end users and the built environment.

Operational performance, combined with measuring efficiency, effectiveness, and response, drives quality service delivery.  Over the years, I have realized that continuous improvement is the driver of operational excellence, striving for fewer defects and waste and more quality. However, to achieve this, we must measure, benchmark, reengineer, empower, and engage.

Measuring operational performance is one of the most difficult aspects of FM because it requires the buy-in at all levels, and this may be difficult to achieve despite many FM personnel understanding the need to measure but not liking to do it for fear of being exposed. However, measuring our goals and objectives allows for consistency in the process and captures whether we are measuring against the baseline.

Benchmarking is a great tool for all facilities managers. This allows for measuring services and processes against industry leaders and best practices to identify improvements. It involves comparing performance metrics such as cost, quality, and time to drive efficiency and continuous improvement.

Often, facilities managers have to keep working around policies and procedures for major improvements. This is because processes may become outdated and no longer fit the organizational, employee development or quality goals. What is then needed is a new kind of re-engineering approach to make real long-term change for continuous improvement.

The focus must be on the business processes that do not compromise organizational values and beliefs. There needs to be full support for a reengineering exercise, and this requires training on all levels in order to achieve proper implementation.

Empowerment and engagement are core aspects of any management and leadership acumen. Respect for frontline maintenance teams to ensure they are well-equipped and engaged to handle any situation they are given is a leader’s stronghold.

Therefore, facilities managers should endeavour to give their teams the platform to solve problems and, in so doing, build an empowered and engaged workforce that wants to do the job right the first time.

Many studies, as well as personal experiences, have demonstrated that facility managers and their workers function best in situations where they feel committed and engaged in their work.

In conclusion, facilities managers are advised to never lose sight of the methodology of continuous improvement that must be at the forefront of their quest for quality service delivery in facilities management.