August 04, 2014
A Facility Manager’s Ultimate Checklist
As a facility manager in the maintenance and reliability industry, you have your hands full managing the daily ins and outs of the business. From dealing with employees, vendors, and machinery to jumping in and getting your hands dirty, there is no shortage of work on your plate. Sometimes that can make it difficult to prioritize or keep the important things in sight. With that in mind, here is a brief list of important things all facility managers should keep in mind.
Daily Walk-Throughs
One of the most vital steps a manager can take when caring for a facility and its equipment is to be sure to conduct a scheduled walk-through of the grounds. Over time, we tend to rely on reports, routine maintenance, and work orders to keep things in check, but in reality, a daily inspection of the overall facility and equipment will allow you to see small, tell-tale signs that machinery is not operating properly before bigger problems arise.
The same goes for property. Inspecting key trouble areas will help you spot warning signs early on, saving you money and potential hazard risks. Plus, all of the walking around is a great way to relieve some stress!
Standardized Checklists
Another thing I always advise facility managers to incorporate is a standardized checklist for routine maintenance. Once it's created, make sure your staff uses one for all of their jobs. After maintaining the same equipment for a long time, we often tend to take for granted that we could perform the process in the dark. And while that is probably true for the most part, it leaves open the potential for missed steps, which can cause future problems.
Additionally, checklists provide a means of documenting you and your staff"s work, something that will come in handy if you ever need to execute a warranty for a broken piece of equipment or find yourself in a situation where a facility or machinery breakdown led to an unfortunate injury.
Employ the Use of a CMMS
If you are not currently using a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS), then you are really doing yourself and your facility a disservice. No matter if you are in the healthcare, industrial, hospitality, or any other facility management field, the right CMMS can help you in every single aspect of your day-to-day job.
From storing documents such as user manuals, warranties, and vendor information to issuing and tracking work orders, maintenance software really is key to running a smooth shop. Your CMMS needs may vary depending upon your facility, but at the core, you will want to have a program that not only lets you store documents, track assets and assets information, and issue/ responds to work orders, but that has a strong reporting feature so that you can get a view of how your maintenance system currently works. This insight is crucial to finding weak areas that you can improve upon.
Finally, my last piece of advice is this: Enjoy your job. A happy manager means happy employees, and employees who are in a good mood and trust management tend to work more efficiently. And that, my friend, is what the job is all about!