Editor's Viewpoint
Crisis response
In over 20 years of being a part of the FM industry I don’t think I have ever seen so much change taking place in one period of time, and with such potentially fundamental implications.
Making the case for adding value through FM
Welcome to 2018, the year that is likely to see profitability at facilities management companies coming under more pressure than perhaps ever before.
The good news or the bad news
Negativity sells. We live in a moment when this observable truth feels more acute than ever.
Enduring narratives
While it seems almost unfathomable now, more than 2,000 years ago the Greek philosopher Plato was warning his peers of the dangers the written word posed to intellectual society.
We need to talk about jobs
Crisis may be too strong a word. Challenge might be a better description for the array of workforce issues that seem to be looming up on the horizon for facilities management.
The fight for professional emancipation
By far the most memorable session of this year’s Workplace Trends conference was a simulated court scene in which the issue of flexible working was put on trial.
Brand values: what do you stand for?
Brand is a simple word for a simple concept with which we are all familiar. Everything for sale is branded but the concept extends far beyond that, even to 'personal brands'. Labelling stuff has its advantages in a busy world.
Value for a new age
Not since the end of the Cold War has the future seemed so uncertain. Faith in age-old institutions is dwindling and the global hegemony feels a little less stable.
Breaking free from the echo chamber
The ultimate aspiration for any FM function is to align itself with an organisation's core business. This is a sound bite facilities management professionals hear often.
Adding value
Is this the most important goal in facilities management? Has value become the key deliverable and success in delivering it the key message for the industry?
Trusting your gut
The head and the gut are often presented as antagonistic anatomical forces that compel a person to act either on reason or emotion. Yet science tells us that this is a false dichotomy.
Working out the future of work
If there was ever a thing that might be needed it's probably a review of modern working practices. If there was ever a thing that might be difficult to do, it's probably a review of modern working practices.
It's the ethos, not the stats
I have been fortunate enough to meet some innovative leaders in their inspiring corporate offices over the past couple of weeks. All very different businesses, but they do have one big thing in common: a clear commitment to their people.
Election chatter
Buried beneath the clamour of the snap election and its surprising results last week was a story about something called the Naylor Review.
Leading the charge?
Facilities management is nothing if not a place of change. Policies, practices, expectations and FM companies themselves shift and develop. Could one, Mitie, in the headlines as much for bad news as good in recent weeks, be showing us the way forward?
Looking back to see forward
I realise not everyone finds the history of FM as engaging as I do, but it is nevertheless interesting, instructive and occasionally surprising.
What's it all about?
There was a brief but spirited Twitter discussion last week in which some highly experienced FM players debated the relationship between workplace and facilities management. The two are grappling for primacy at the moment, at least in some quarters.
Lies, damned lies and big red buses
In a recent blog post, workplace commentator Simon Heath criticised The Stoddart Review for its assertion that a 1% productivity gain could add £20 billion to the UK economy.
The long view
A new year is a time for looking forward, of course. But looking forward is inevitably built on a foundation of looking back, at things left undone and things that perhaps aren't going quite as planned. And then there are regrets.
Is FM bulletproof in 2017?
Happy New Year! In some ways, it feels particularly good to be moving on from 2016, which brought with it a few changes and challenges that many of us may be happy to see recede into the past.
Should we be confident?
2016 has been rough.
Triggering a reaction
There's a lot of knowledge and experience behind the idea that certain words catch our interest almost automatically, conjuring up a variety of associations and/or spurring us to action. The history of advertising is the history of key word development.
Fad or future
History has a funny habit of repeating itself. Trends emerge, die and are sometimes inexplicably resurrected.
Where next for the BIFM?
With the swift exit of new CEO Ray Perry and IFMA and RICS now collaborating to focus on the development of the FM profession around the world, BIFM has some major issues on its plate. I addressed this last spring, but agreed not to publish.
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