Steven Ee’s Blog for FM Practitioners

Hi, it’s been quite a while since I last wrote my blog. Thanks to those who appreciate and encouraged me to continue.

Year 2011 has been eventful for me. It had been satisfying experience for me especially working on something what I belief and enjoy doing…Facilities Management.

FMS, the organisation that I am with, was supported by e2i (Employment & Employability Institute) to develop a certification programme, Competent Facilities Practitioner (CFP), to reach out to those who are new and wish to transit into the field of FM. I am privilege to be in the team, made up of researcher and practitioner, to develop modules that will equip learners with knowledge and skills for the FM field.

CFP - FM Essentials

FM Essentials is the Foundation Level of CFP, one of the four modules of CFP. You will learn what FM is as a management discipline and how it is an advantage to organisation. You will appreciate the essential building elements and brief technical aspects of building systems.

At the end of the module, the learner will be guided to produce a Condition Survey Report.

Many have benefited from the programme, gaining knowledge, skills and confidence in their FM practice.

The upcoming module is schedule on 2nd & 3rd Feb 2012. For those who wish to harness foundational knowledge and learn current best practices in FM, you won’t want to miss this.

I will talk to you soon.

To your success!

steven@stevenee.com

The Space Management - M.A.C was organised by FMS Associates Asia on 28th & 29th March, 2011.

The workshop was very successful, delivered by Mr Yeoh Cheik How, an outstanding FM practitioner and a good friend of mine. FMS Associates Asia was priviledge to have him to share on this much sought after learning, on Space Management for FM, despite his busy work commitments.

It was a well mix of participants comprising of interior designers, architects and facility management practitioners, from both private and government sectors. The workshop was very interactive and the sharings by Cheik How were very generous.

Space is an important business resource and in today’s business trends, it is not uncommon for organisation to be constantly move / add / change to follow the dynamic fluid nature of the work.

The success of a facility department will depend on its ability to create a diversity of space solutions that support the flow of work within and between locations of its organisation and at the best possible cost.

I am glad that many have benefited from the learnings, especially the case studies. The nest run is tentatively scheduled in 3rd quarter.

To Your FM Success!

steven@stevenee.com

making a difference in FM….

I have the priviledge to conduct the first batch of IFMA’s enhanced Facility Management Professional, FMP, class in SIngapore.  Project Management was the enhanced FMP’s first module, conducted by FMS Associates Asia (www.fms-1.com)

The two days learning was intensive and exciting. Participants were overwhelmed with the knowledged and kind-of stressed with the need to do the on-line pre-test, chapters’ quizzes and the need to achieve 75% for the Final Assessment (a requirement to pass the module, for the FMP).

It was a good learning experience especially with the exchage of views by FMers from the Philippines and Malaysia.

Though challenging to deliver the course, I was encouraged by the participation and the friendship in the class. I believe the participants have gotten the good knowledge from IFMA.

To your FM Success!

8 more days to BCAA-IFMA Regional Conference 2011!

Come, support, learn, network and get connected.

There will be Seminar • exhibition • workshop • tour • networking dinner

The theme for 2011:

Heighten Productivity Optimise Efficiency, FM for the Future

INTRODUCTION

The BCAA-IFMA Regional Conference 2011 on 31 Mar & 1 Apr 2011 is the second conference on FM productivity jointly organised by BCA Academy and International Facility Management Association, Singapore Chapter (IFMA-SC). The inaugural conference was conducted in April 2010 with a focus on sustainable facility management in the tropical region. This second conference will cover subjects that represent the current and future FM needs, such as workplace productivity, sustainability, industry best practices, relevant case studies and future trends. There will also be a mini-exhibition showcasing the latest FM services and products at the conference. Participants would have the opportunity to get new insights into the industry. In addition, green site tours to facilities which have adopted innovative green practices/systems are also part of the highlights of the 2-day conference.

OBJECTIVES

This conference aims to provide an opportunity for participants to -

• Gain insights into up-to-date information of the FM industry;

• Learn from international and local experts the role of FM in achieving sustainability to improve overall value of the facility;

• Hear directly from building owners, design teams and facility managers of iconic green projects in Singapore to understand the benefits/challenges faced by them;

• Network with regional participants

DETAILS

DAY 1 - SEMINAR

31 March 2011, Thursday

9am – 5pm, Hilton Hotel Singapore

Networking Dinner will commence at 6.30pm

DAY 2 - Workshop & Site Tours

1 April 2011, Friday

9am – 5.30pm at BCA Academy

Fee:  Please refer to brochure for details & discount* available. http://www.fms-1.com/Brochure/brochure-ifma-draft8.3_complete%20set_FINAL.pdf 

* Discounted fee is only applicable for:

• ‘Early Bird’ who register on or before 4 Mar 2011;

• Group discount (min 3 per group);

• IFMA members; and

• BCA Young Leaders.

REGISTRATION

Seats are limited; registration is on a ‘first come first served’ basis. Training places will be confirmed upon the payment of the seminar fees before the commencement date.

Hope to see you there!

steven@stevenee.com

making a difference in FM…….

In a recent workshop, we learnt that in today’s competitive and dynamic business environment, facility management service are more critical and demanding than ever.

Very often, the common challenges faced are such that customers have unrealistic expectations with what the FM department can achieve, given the staffing and financial constraints whcih the FM department is expected to operate. In most cases, there are no means of reportng tools to measure the effectiveness of the quality of the FM department’s service deliveries to the customers. As a result, many FM departments were unable to establish what “Customer Satisfaction” should be based on and unable to establish the measurement for success of their FM services delivery.

To overcome these challenges, FM must proactively manage their service deliveries to ensure they are cost-effective, meeting the expected quality and satisfying their customers. The solution is to establish practical and reasonable Service Level Agreements, SLAs, to clearly define the customers’ expectation and to serve as a guide to determine priorities, response time and measurement criteria. That will enable FM to effectively manage the performance of the FM department.

I will touch on SLAs in my subsequence blog.

To your FM success!

steven@stevenee.com

making a difference in FM…..

Outsourcing and cost reduction have been and still are an important trend within facility management, but in recent years, this has been combined with a new trend with more focus on value-add to organisations.

The photos show an activity that reflect the “value Add” efforts to a mission.

You know as well as I do that Value add is NOT equal to Cost Reduction.

Facility Management can add significant value to its organisation by focusing on best practices, ensuring the facilities operates effectively, efficiently and thinking strategically.

Simply, FM value add to its organisation can be demonstrated through: Value Creation, Sustained Value and Value Contributions in enabling FM’s effectiveness, efficiency, and adaptability, in supporting its customers and organisation.

This is workshop that FM practitioners should attend as applying even just one learning from the workshop back to their organisation will can probably achieve the ROI of time and training fee invested.

To Your Success!

steven@stevenee.com

makinga difference in FM……

I received few concerns about what were I doing lately and I like to take this opportunity to do a quick update on some of my involvement:

I had fun doing “SLA for FM”, in Kuala Lumpur. It was the  and contributions by the learners that have made the learning very meaningful and successful. Few key learning that the participants and myself experienced were that SLA document has to be practical and realistic to support the organisations operations’ requirement and the established document has to be developed, agreed and tested by the stakeholders.

That was a course on “Business of FM” conducted in November and my first time conducting a all man class and they are mainly experts and with many years of experience, comprised of learners locally, from Brunei, Africa - USA. I enjoyed very much to be with like-minded people in FM and the course turned up to be very conversational and I believe at the end of the two-day course, all of them became very good friends. That had achieved one of my goal for the course, that is to create an environment where FM practitioners where can network, even after the course.

 I was in Dubai, last month, delivering “Budgeting & ROI for FM” for a group of properties and facilities executive, from a government organisation. It was an investment of time to have the team to spend time to understand and appreciate the need to establish a reasonable and practical budgeting plan and also how to determine the feasibility of projects / ideas. The learning would enable them to consider the learning, the processes to incorporate into their practices. I enjoyed and appreciate very much their hospitality while I was in Dubai.

Till end of December, it will be a time of rest and evaluation for me so that I can better add value to FMers for the coming year. I sincerely wish to thank the support given to me and the encouragements that have pressed me on all these while.  

To Your Success!

Steven Ee

…making a difference in FM.

For the next few writings, I will respond to some of the concerns raised by participants during the recent workshop on “Managing Service Level Agreement in Facilities during Tough Times”.

My opinion why companies would want to outsource the FM and support services is as follow:

• Too much time spent on reactive maintenance
• HIgh employees turnover
• Low customer service
• Budget out of control
• Lack of skills in managing and executing the FM activities
• Lack of tasks priorities
• No way to measure performance
• Unable to project manage change implementations
• Unable to register asset (monitor & track)

Why outsourcing fail?

Organisations outsourced because of:

• cost savings alone
• getting rid of jobs the staff don’t understand or don’t want to take responsibility for
• believing that major changes will happen right away
• Poorly defined goals and measurement means
• lack of communication between service provider and client

There are so much that we can discuss on concerning outsourcing. Keep the questions coming so that we can share on this blog.

To your FM success!

Steven Ee

Making a difference in FM…..

www.fms-1.com

www.fmsolutions.biz

Hi, I was away on 9th (Singapore’s National Day) & 10th Aug, to be with a group of wonderful learners, in Malaysia, doing a 2 days workshop on “Managing SLA in Facilities During Tough Times”

We had a great time of learning and sharing. Some pointer shared are:

• know what FM is, in accordance to IFMA definition & its core competencies (in a very short time)
• know the benefits & why SLA for FM
• SLA may be a potential strategy to transform what FM often viewed as cost centre to PROFIT Centre.
• The importance to be mindful of the Critical Success Factors to support, the KPIs in supporting the core business functions and enabling them to successfully align with the business objectives and goals.
• In tough times, FMers ought to be flexible and adaptable to change. Know that FM is a management discipline….beyond the bolts and nuts.
• Important: What not measured cannot be managed

I like to thank the following wonderful, fellow FMers and learners, for being so participative and supportive towards the success of the workshop:

• Sabri, Rafi, Reza, Nelson, Moly
• Krishna, Anto, Ibrahim, Faizal, Izwan
• Karam, Elly, Rai, Alif, Shariri & Vanz

To Your FM Success!

Steven Ee

Making a Difference in FM…..

Hi,
Welcome for dropping by stevenee.com and I look forward to hearing from you.

Write in to steven@stevenee.com for your comments, feedback or suggestions.

As FM practitioners, let get connected, stay connected and together, let’s make a difference in facility management.

To Your FM Success!

Steven Ee