Before selecting a Facility Management training programme for you or your team, certain things have to be made clear. Twenty years’ experience in analysis and training in the field has led us to create this short preliminary test. We hope that these questions help you make the right choice or clear up any doubts.
1 Areas
Facility Management as such encompasses multiple areas of knowledge which are often not associated with the discipline due to a lack of clarity. Although all of them apply to a greater or lesser degree, each company will decide how to manage them and who to assign them to. Knowledge of them all is not always required, therefore it’s necessary to define in which areas training is needed.
Answer the following question: Which of these generic areas do you want to include in the training? Choose from (i) real estate activities, (ii) support assets, (iii) spaces, (iv) energy and sustainability, (v) operating service management or (vi) information technology and systems.
If you only want part of an area or a more specific matter, then a rather more detailed analysis is required. Make a note of it and go onto the following questions. Next, we need to identify the objective in each area, since it may be necessary to look at some of them more thoroughly.
2 Scope
This point is crucial, yet not simple to decide. Take Service Levels as an example: since they’re fundamental and it’s difficult to talk about a Facility Management course without including them, we can explain what a Service Level is in a session lasting a couple of hours without active student participation. However, if you want to understand the structure, and identify all the elements, it will take 40 hours, in addition to the learners devoting some of their own time to it. On the other hand, if you aim to accurately evaluate and custom-fit a SL, you’ll need around 120 hours of theory and a few more for practicals. Clearly, you don’t need to be an expert in each subject, but you must fully understand the objective. This will also help you to decide on the course’s balance of theory and practice.
Answer the following question: What do I want to achieve in each of the areas? Select from (i) knowledge of concepts, (ii) acquiring knowledge, (iii) understanding and being able to exercise proper judgment (iv) developing new content.
3 Dedication
This is a key factor, since depending on your dedication, you’ll complete one type of Facility Management training programme or another. Try to be realistic and quantify in advance how much time you have or what you want to achieve. It’s not easy to establish the number of hours we’re available, especially if you work in Facility Management, but you need to make a personal commitment in order to make a coherent decision.
Answer the following question: How many hours in total do you want to devote to training, and what is the minimum time you can put in on a daily, weekly or monthly basis?
4 Time intervals
Aside from dedication, the period of time is another determining factor you must take into account. Having a deadline is not the same as looking for something long term or continuous training. Some programmes are more flexible than others when it comes to completion dates, while others are available several times a year or can even start whenever best suits you.
Answer the following questions: When can I start the programme? By when exactly do I want to or need to finish the training? How flexible is that date?
5 Modalities
This point may not have been relevant some years ago, but now you can choose between online, face-to-face or blended training. Decide which option adapts to your situation best. Online training is not for everyone, but face-to-face training doesn’t suit everyone, mainly due to travelling times and/or timetables.
Answer these questions: Is there a face-to-face training programme available which I can attend? Would I be able to follow an online training course? Whichever you choose, particularly if it’s the online option, it’s advisable to try it beforehand or ask for references to avoid making the wrong choice. This will also allow you to see the quality of the course.
There’s always a suitable programme on the market, whether you’re a client, supplier, Facility Management director with little time who wants to stay up-to-date, or you’re simply looking to grow within the department or learn more about the discipline. It’s important to be realistic: you can’t expect to be knowledgeable about all the areas if you can only devote a few hours a week for a few months to studying. You need a much longer period and more dedication, otherwise choose only some of the areas, because if you don’t, you’ll never be satisfied. Making the right choice in FM training is important.
If you’d like help, send us your answers via email and we’ll arrange a call to advise you and answer your queries.
instituto@fm-house.com
