2021 was predicted to be a bumper year for buying and selling in FM, and so it was.
There is probably no better shorthand definition of sustainability than that.
A couple of months ago I was asked to write a comment piece about past changes in the built environment sector and what might be coming next. My answer might have been different only these few weeks later.
We will long be looking back on 2020 as a landmark year for FM, in the spotlight for facing its own challenges and simultaneously rising to the challenges of its clients.
I’m sure that most of us had already starting planning to meet up with friends, colleagues and clients and were looking forward to the 21st when the last of the restrictions would be lifted….
Data, data everywhere, nor any idea what to think. Apologies to Mr Coleridge, but his ancient mariner’s tale is not a bad parallel for our persistent pandemic experience.
Last week IFMA, the International Facility Management Association, unveiled a rebrand, which included a refreshed corporate identity and positioning statement.
I learned a lot at this year’s Workplace Futures conference. That is, of course, the point of any good conference, to be informative and insightful.
Remember all that talk from early last year about the ‘new normal’ – when would it get here, what would it be? Well, strangely enough, it’s here – this is the new normal.
Has facilities management had its day? Not in terms of what it is FM does, but in terms of defining it, branding it to make it relatable, appealing and attractive to customers, service users and the wider world?
The 2020 i-FM Brand Survey results are out: an intriguing snapshot of how the FM community feels about which brands lead the market.
One of the most enjoyable parts of my job at i–FM is attending conferences, usually a time of discovery: new places, people and ideas.
News that RICS is having to make redundancies is a clear reminder that our professional institutes and associations need to react to market change just as quickly as do commercial businesses.
For several years now the general view has been that technology would be a game-changer for the facilities management sector. So, has it been? How? Or if not, why not and when will it be?
For all the terrible outcomes associated with Covid-19, it is arguable that a handful of businesses are seeing some benefit arising from the situation.
One highlight of the FM calendar has always been 'awards season', a time to celebrate with colleagues, clients and partners, giving recognition to those companies and individuals that have stood out from the rest in advancing practice and the profession.
Boris Johnson announced on Sunday evening that he wanted the UK to begin returning to work. An appealing change from lockdown conditions for some no doubt, but a troubling and even frightening one for others.
The pandemic has brought out the best in many people but also the worst in some; and the same will also be true of organisations and business sectors, too.
There are plenty of reasons not to be cheerful these days; if you are anything less than a determined optimist, you’ll have your own list. But even the most sceptical can see promise in some recent events.
Welcome to a new decade, which I predict is going to be far better for the FM sector than the last one!
Wellness has quite quickly gone from being something one asks about almost automatically (and often with little interest in the answer) to a key concept in current management thinking.
World-renowned business consultants McKinsey & Co tell us that facilities management is “ripe for disruption”. There’s some truth in that, for sure; but just how much truth depends on where you're standing.
Choice is a wonderful thing. Maybe not so much in the 57-varieties American-inspired overload that quickly becomes baffling. But more in the sense of having a few clear options, one of which should lead to satisfaction.
FM has historically been about assisting organisations by delivering services that reduce bottom-line costs, helping to make them as profitable as they can be. But that business model has the seeds of problems within it.
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