El Frankenstein del Facility Management

The Facility Management Frankenstein

The 1817 novel written by Mary Shelley tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, which interestingly enough is the name of the scientist and not the name of the creature he created. The young doctor sought to discover “the mysterious soul of Man”, and to that end he joined parts taken from different corpses to make one body, with the aim of bringing it to life. Something similar happens in Facility Management. It is a set of various competencies with different origins, but which must fulfil a common objective, that of supporting a company.

Necessary alignment

All organisations need to rely on some kind of real estate or infrastructure which has to satisfy demand efficiently. Those involved in the business must also have their operational needs covered. Everything must be integrated under the same umbrella. The work being performed determines the type of support required. Industry trends, the maturity of a region or the culture of the organisation will also affect the support model. Many factors must be aligned: space, operational services, sustainability or internal projects, among others. But this alignment must be collective, not individual.

Our Frankenstein model appears when each area acts on the basis of a particular objective, without aiming to coordinate as one single body. If one leg wants to move to the right and the other to the left, it will never move forward. One of the difficulties lies in the fact that different FM roles may be spread across different departments of the company and, to some degree, may operate independently. They must now either surrender some of their rights or pool competencies for the sake of a larger model, which is no easy task.

Dismembered knowledge

All FM content has been taught for decades at a number of universities. Degree programmes range from 3 to 5 years and cover the entire scope of the discipline, approaches varying depending on the region. When shorter courses are designed, one must decide what to include, in terms of competencies and detail. Nevertheless, a common thread must remain: Facility Management. Where there is no career path, there is no overall vision, leading to a loss of perspective. This is when Frankenstein study programmes appear. They are created by using independent sessions taken from other courses in facilities, industrial organisation, technology, finance or human resources, added together and called a Master’s degree in FM.

We discovered this by interviewing a potential teacher for our course. He told us that “time and stress management is the same for everyone, whether they are part of the FM environment or not.” At this point we understood that all content, even that of the most common subjects, should be prepared by experts with in-depth knowledge of Facility Management. Writing original material to produce 3000 hours of course content, over 2.5 million written words, has not been easy, but it has been worth it. We might say that we have created a human being and not a freak like young Victor.

Frankenstein is considered the first modern science fiction story. Facility Management and what it encompasses is real, but just as with the names of the scientist and his creation, they can be confused. Allowing a being made up of several parts to be autonomous is not the same as creating a person; it must have other elements that make it think and act as such, or it will be rejected in the same way as the monster was.

Finally, a curious fact is that although it appears in many of the films and comics, electricity is never mentioned in the original novel. In FM, on the other hand, we do have to integrate energy and sustainability into the existing model.

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Participate in the Observatorio FM

You can choose between these 3 options to participate:





How to participate?

Collaborating with the Observatorio FM is a personal and voluntary decision, and there is no contractual obligation or economic retribution for it.

Any interested person can apply to participate as a leader of a new project, or apply as a collaborator in an existing one.

A technical committee will evaluate the subject matter of the proposed projects and the applications of the participants, deciding which ones are carried out and by whom.

Each person decides how much they want to dedicate, depending on their availability or type of project. The aim is for it to be an altruistic activity and not an additional workload.

What does it consist of?

To promote and publish studies that help professionals in the sector and to help others understand our profession and discipline.

The results and deliverables are shared openly, always acknowledging the contributions of all authors and contributors.

The Observatorio FM’s activity will respect the objectivity, ethics, rigour and good practices that govern our Research area.

Contributors have access to the best collaborative tools, sectoral information and contacts, as well as the assistance of expert consultants and researchers at international level.

Research

FM Observatory

FM Observatory is a platform which develops and disseminates Facility Management information. It’s accessible to all those who’d genuinely like to participate. Ethical use and objectivity are essential, and all results must be shared. You decide how long you devote to it and what you want to achieve.

You can participate as:

We will provide:

All contributions will be given credit in completed projects.

Research

Projects

We are part of the European research group and we work in international teams to develop different types of initiatives:

We also work for service providers who require support with decisions linked to:

Research

Standardisation

As accredited experts in the drafting processes of European and International standards on Asset and Facility Management, we are the perfect partner to assist you with:

FMHOUSE is the only Spanish-speaking consulting firm that participates in these processes.

Research

Publications

At FMHOUSE we think that progress made in Facility Management should be shared, so we strive to produce and publish the following material:

The “FM Observatory” is open, should you like to contribute with a publication.

Consultancy

Workplace

Our view of spaces or workplaces from a Facility Management perspective leads to a better understanding of such a need as a service, as it is essential to apply the same logic and methodology.

Generally we offer:

We apply our knowledge and experience to offices, learning spaces, shopping centres and the industrial environment.

Consultancy

Benchmarking

In order to make the right decisions, clear accurate market data as well as facts about the organisation itself is essential. In the Facility Management environment, this is even more critical due to the impact it has on business.

Examples of benchmarks:

These services are requested mainly by end users, but also by service providers.

Consultancy

Customer Experience

Facility Management’s overarching goal is customer satisfaction, whether they are internal or external. Understanding their feelings and needs is the key to offering a good service.

Our support is based on:

We strive to understand and get to know our clients’ customers, in all sectors and types of businesses.

Consultancy

Digital Transformation

The Facility Management world is experiencing a major transition to digital environments. We help our clients understand how it impacts them and assist them throughout the change.

Our areas of support are:

We operate as independent advisers, not as brand vendors.

We advise end-users and service providers.

Consultancy

Service Design

All kinds of companies need to define or improve the way in which it structures supporting activities provided by Facility Management.

Our main products are:

Our proposals are structured according to individual requirements.

We help end customers and also service providers.

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